In a nutshell:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCDiCHlcT30 (0:24-0:26)
Ahhh those warm resolute memories of the Zone. Like Cordon(? I think it was) in the original, it's the atmosphere of sitting around a campfire that even FEELS warm through the PC MONITOR. Surrounded by darkness and fear, the fire crackling, you chowing down on some canned pork and bread, and then the guy on the left picks up his guitar...
Listening to some half-masked guy playing on his guitar some Russian song you have no idea what he's saying, he could be singing the Russian alphabet song who knows, but what you do know is the song sounds so folksy and reassuring. And then a wild animal howls in the distance, reminds you of the time you were over-burdened by 50 kilos worth of loot guns from soldiers from the Ukranian Military that got in your way, walking
slowly back to the merchant in the bunker down south in Cordon at 2 miles per hour cursing that you left the Electric burden-reducing artifacts in your stash to carry more ammo. But you EARNED these guns, paid for them in blood, and if your not-strong-enough ass has to haul them at a snail's pace through the unholy mutated wasteland in pitch-black dead of night for a good 30 minutes then that's what you'll do. Thank God for the upgraded night-vision on your new armor, with that old green fuzz you could barely see anything. And getting closer and then carefully weaving your way around that danged tunnel blocked off with irradiated abandoned vehicles swarming with those mutant freak dogs or bulls or whatever, making a huge C-shaped detour, and then you see the dim lights off in the distance...
And the Russian guitar music, you feel such camaraderie with the men sitting around the campfire with you. And why? Why do you have this brotherhood feeling for these men? You don't even know their name until you put your reticle in their hitbox, they aren't your family members, and one of them might wander off the next morning into the woods and get his stupid ass eaten by a mutant dog. And you'll loot his last can of pork and medkit straight from his still-warm body without a second thought.
So why this feeling? Maybe it's the primal brotherhood of warriors in trenches. Of men huddling together, mortals surrounded by a hostile universe, with only the campfire, the shitty canned salt pork, and the guitar music... And who could understand this feeling? Who in that moment knows your pain? Only these men around the fire are with you. All is death and darkness except for the fire... the food... and the guitar. Da... slava bogu...
This music right here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_RFR9z6jj4and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By1b2GLzDUAHear the glory of the Slavs, and be moved:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y3On3qCMtASeriously, I gained a lot more respect for Russian/Slavic military culture after finishing the game...
