faction for me was when I decided to be a dick and raid the Freedom base with Duty. Not only that, but the faction dynamic is pretty cool, if not so fleshed out. Once you get accurate assault rifles, grenades, and RPG's, the game actually gets exciting. Middle: This is where STALKER really picks up. Well, I endured the first few hours of dying repeatedly, madly scavenging enemies, avoiding dudes with big guns, being raped by anomalies, and learning how to use artifacts, and about 4 hours in the game started getting good.
I actually had stopped playing the game after I first got to the bar/arena, only to give this game one more go with STALKER Complete 2009. Beginning: God damn, does the beginning of STALKER suck.
