Reviews - rubberbandiv

Misery adds to STALKER in more ways than just the challenge. While it is true that, in Misery, you'll be working with fewer resources against more tenacious enemies, the real selling point here is the amount of atmosphere, the amount of flavor added by the mod. The HUD is stripped down to almost nothing - just a few non-obtrusive meters for health, stamina, and ammunition - and it looks gorgeous. The game world is altered heavily from the vanilla game, and appears far darker, more worn down, and more dangerous. The AtmosFear mod handles weather - and it performs admirably. Thunderstorms, heavy fog, and blowouts are amazing, and their intensity makes those moments when the sun finally comes out wonderful. The nights are significantly darker, and the changes to the gear system - you don't start out with a headlamp any more, and most light sources require power! - make this actually matter. A vast quantity of new items makes trading and looting a much more interesting experience.

The challenge added by Misery can be frustrating at times; some of its aspects feel cheap to me. Before you seriously upgrade your gear, enemies can typically kill you in a couple good hits. Mutants are especially troublesome - while they do give you a bit of warning, with a growl or a squeal as they charge you, at the start of the game this is not enough, as you're likely underequipped to take them on, regardless of how much prep time you get.

If you can get past the hairy start and the somewhat inscrutable new mechanics added to the game (repairing items is based around a great idea, but is implemented poorly, with different repair items difficult to distinguish, while food and radiation exposure are given in the realistic-but-not-practically-useful units of kcal and mSv), this is a fantastic experience. I do recommend looking around on the forums for a guide just so you aren't forced to engage in too much trial-and-error while you figure out how to repair that nice new weapon you found.