Part of the key is that its a mod of a "realistic" army simulation. This is what makes the slow parts still fun. If you were just bunnyhopping around in a quake

Part of the key is that its a mod of a "realistic" army simulation. This is what makes the slow parts still fun. If you were just bunnyhopping around in a quake engine style thing, yeah it would be boring. The environment is HUGE, and the engine is designed for the maximum draw-distance. When you start, you have no map. When you do get a map, its just a graphic, and your location is not marked on it. All the markings are in russian. Later if you're lucky, you might get a compass, with which you can manually take bearings. Basically, the engine and the setting is realistic enough that you become invested in the apocalyptic survival thing for it's own sake. An important fact not mentioned in the article is that you need regular water and food to survive. This forces you to go into towns to raid buildings, which is extremely dangerous and tense, involving a lot of creeping around in the dark. This turns the "hiding out in the woods" part of the game into a blessed relief compared to crawling in the gutter at a snails pace in the pitch black, gently wetting yourself.