The key to sustaining this feeling throughout SoC is that the game never lets you feel like an invincible superhero. It begins with the sombre tones of the menu music and doesn't end until long after the quit to desktop.
The sense of dread is like white noise: pervasive and constant.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl certainly has its share of jump- scares and oh-shit monster moments, but what makes the game so memorable is that the neck-tightening tension never evaporates, even in broad daylight, far from claustrophobic chambers full of mutants. It's quite another to feel just as uneasy in the middle of an empty field with the sun directly overhead. It's one thing to feel an overwhelming sense of dread while crouching in the darkened sub-basement of an abandoned lab at the stroke of midnight.
