History YMMV / Stalker

** In ''Shadow of Chernobyl'' it's probably the Red Forest where nearly everything is radioactive, which makes it much harder to take cover properly.
*** Once you've gotten your hands on a VSS Vintorez and a few armor-piercing rounds (easy enough to pick up from Colonel Petrenko), though, only the initial parts of that level (that take place at close range) are really difficult, because you can stand out in the open and pick off Monolith troopers with silenced headshots from ridiculous ranges. Unless you miss or they don't die on the first shot, none of them will even know you're there. Sometimes not even then. It's pretty funny to see a squad of Monolith troopers standing there calmly like nothing's wrong as each one gets a bullet in the head.

* MemeticMutation: Get out of here stalker

* InternetBackdraft: O sweet, merciful God. Never ever bring ''STALKER'' up in forums not dedicated to it. ''Especially'' [[ObviousBeta the second game]].

** The same goes for the rats.

** The Gauss Rifle in ''Call of Pripyat''. It can kill every human enemy in the game and can take down every mutant that is not a Pseudogiant (though it itself can be killed in 2-3 shots from the weapon). [[spoiler: After you show Cardan the weapon and retrieve the documents concerning about the experimentation of the gun, he will offer you homemade batteries for 2000 RU each, essentially farming unlimited ammunition for your InfinityPlusOneSword.]]

** The Gauss Rifle in ''Call of Pripyat''. It can kill every human enemy in the game and can take down every mutant that is not a Pseudogiant (though it itself can be killed in 2-3 shots from the weapon). [[spoiler: After you show Cardan the weapon and retrieve the documents concerning about the experimentation of the gun, he will offer you homemade batteries for 2000 RU each, essentially farming unlimited ammunition for your Infinity+1Sword.]]

* GameBreaker: When you do get one the VSS sniper rifle is one of the best guns in the game (very light, silenced, accurate, can kill most enemies in 1-2 shots, and is the only sniper rifle you can sprint with, and ammunition isn't that hard to find, at least compared to SVD and gauss rifle rounds)

* ThatOneLevel: While almost the entirety of all three games qualifies, this troper's hat goes off to the rudeness displayed in the 2nd level of Clear Sky, where crossing into the new area by the only available route has you coming out behind a boulder, on the other side of which is a mounted machine gun in the possession of the military. ''Well at least they don't know I'm here'' - wrong; they know you're there and tell you so. ''Well I'll be safe behind this rock'' - wrong again; after a few quick bursts, they send a number of better-armed and better-armoured soldiers after you. If you manage to dispatch them, you then have to figure out which way you can safely leg it.

** If this happens, [[EpicFail You're Doing It Wrong]]. [[spoiler: The two escort missions follow an initial mission with the Stalker squad working for the scientists. Any member of the squad that survives this initial mission will be available for the escort missions. Having the full squad available cuts the the mission time from A Lesser Eternity to A Tolerable Slog, though both escort missions still consume tons of ammo, particularly the swamp. If all of the squad members survive all three missions, the squad is given an equipment upgrade. Useless to you, but a nice reward for them! This troper discovered this on his second playthrough, and has yet to see if this impacts the ending.]]

** [[TwoWords Three Words]]: Magical Homing Grenades.

** And even less people know, that the game is also partially based on another short story of the StrugatskyBrothers, ''The Forgotten Experiment'' (which features concepts of [[spoiler: quasi-natural yet explained origin of the Zone]] and scientists working in the Zone).

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: Every single underground lab complex in the first game (and there are a few). Oh, and most of the third game.

* NightmareFuel: Has [[{{HighOctaneNightmareFuel/STALKER}} its own page]], which it ''earned''.

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: Pretty much every single underground lab complex in the first game (and there are a few). Oh, and most of the third game.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Has [[{{HighOctaneNightmareFuel/STALKER}} its own page]], which it ''earned''.

* SpiritualLicensee There's no official connection to either ''Roadside Picnic'' or ''Stalker'', but so much is clearly lifted from them it's often assumed the game is licensed.

* UglyCute: Pseudodog puppies. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwWCLLXSeh0&feature=related#t=4m51s Dawwww]]

* NightmareFuel: Pretty much every single underground lab complex in the first game (and there are a few). Oh, and most of the third game.

* UglyCute: Pseudodog puppies. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwWCLLXSeh0&feature=related#t=4m51s Dawwww]]
* WallBanger: At the very end of the original we find out that [[spoiler: That, as mentioned before, you are Strelok and are sent by TheBigBad to kill yourself]]. Now you may say, well mistakes happen, but [[spoiler: C-Consciousness captured Strelok, held him for weeks to reprogram him, and then sent him back out to kill himself. That's right a more or less near omnipotent being capable of mass mind control, mind reading, and altering physics in the Zone, couldn't seem to be bothered to remember or keep track of the single biggest threat to their entire operation. And instead delegated it to grunt work, that THEY THEMSELVES HAD TO DO (remember C-Consciousness literally controls every soldier under their command)]]
** On the other hand [[spoiler: the PDA may have been seized by Strelok from the man originally sent to kill him; and PC is suffering from amnesia, so he can only assume that "Kill Strelok" is order meant for him]].
** [[spoiler:You were already suffering from amnesia prior to being captured and brainwashed by C-Consciousness. A shot with a gauss rifle took out your protective headgear while inside the Brain Scorcher and your brain got scorched. When C-Consciousness captured you, you didn't know who you were so they were unable to read your mind to find out your identity and never realized you were Strelok.]] It's convoluted, sure, but at least it makes sense.
*** Save for that when an emission occurs, the results of being caught out in it are either death or becoming a zombie whose main portion of gray matter is now the consistency of snot.

* HellIsThatNoise: The distinctive wheeze-pant of Bloodsuckers, which due to their cloaking ability is the best (and often only) way to determine their location. Even hardened, seasoned players are easily unnerved by the sound, and the first time a player meets a Bloodsucker can lead to full-blown panic attacks.

**** Fortunately, The poltergeists were nerfed for ''Call of Pripyat''. Except for one poltergeist towards the end (that has ''SHOC'''s poltergeists see through walls abilities), ''COP'' poltergeists can only see you if your moving. So all you have to do is stand still, then they will lose sight of you. (Also works for ''COP'''s pyrogeists)

******* Just use a [[knife http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnifeNut]]. They can't pull the knife out the player's hands and the knife inflicts enough damage to kill it in 6-7 stabs. Just don't try it if there's a second burer nearby. Alternatively, use the RPG.

*** The quest can be easy. If you've saved the aforementioned Stalker squad, they'll come with you. If you're '''really''' lucky, there'll be a squad or two of helpful NPCs sitting there already, who'll be very happy to help you hunt down the mutants.