Have to admit, when I first played SoC I wasn't impressed. Mostly because of head bobbing (which got me en route to .Ini editing & modding) but because I'd not realised how easy most games are.
I'd got started & was dying far too often. In other games, life was easy mode, but the Stalker series made me cautious. I gave up far too easily.
Quite some time later, I'd made a new computer & was testing everything. Sure enough I got back to SoC et al & stuck with them & damn, been hooked ever since. The game doesn't let you "run & gun" like most other games. In these, you had to be careful & then some.
Ever since then though, it's made all other games seem like a breeze & made me realise how much I appreciate the greatness that are the Stalker series 8D