DraQ
Arcane
Obviously I didn't, but there is a definite learning curve to gunplay in STALKER. Basically the key is sighting-in whenever wanting to shoot anything, avoiding unnecessary movement (including tracking), leading targets and taking single, measured shots.I don't think it did. It became quite manageable once you got decent weapons. Once i got my hands on a Lr300 the game became incredible easy. Unless you are telling me you used the first pistol you found through the whole game.
Also, Mozambique Drill is your friend.
Beginning weapons are indeed shitty, but if you do it right you can pick off bandits and dogs reliably even over longer distances with few shots. They are not fully reliable but reliable enough for the start.They nerfed the initial weapons so you had a sense of rpg progression through your equipment
One of my favourite sidearms is P99 which you can find in Cordon and MP5 remains quite effective against both bandits and mutated wildlife (less so against military or Monolith, who have body armor and longer range guns, or controllers/bloodsuckers with their unnatural vitality).
Pretty much the way you should shoot in SoC:
Unless you GOT *REALLY* GUD and like it up close and personal:
You can effectively get endgame quality guns and all-around suit from Nimble right off the boat if you scrounge-up some money.The reason it was so easy is because most of the challenges are based on economy and once you can buy some decent equipment you can trash almost everything with ease.
This happened quite soon aswell because there was money pouring off every hole in COP.
Those are fighting words.About the scary locations, they failed miserably on SOC because they were filled with Humans shooting through everything at one point or another during your exploration.
X18, man.