True, but the prospect of failing tests 50% or more of the time even before dice start getting cancelled is a little....annoying...

I disagree. Combined with Stress, it puts you in the mindset of "Do I actually want to RISK doing that? I could fail and suffer Stress!" It makes situations more test and has you question whether or not it's worth the risk of doing something as opposed to other RPGs where you can just shrug off failure and figure you can pull something off easily enough.

It also goes hand in hand with your PCs being Average Joes/You stuck in the Apocalypse. It's a very difficult situation where you'd be doing things you're just not prepared and/or equipped for. If you are? Well, that's what your Positive Features and equipment you brought are for.