Immersive, different, better, haunting, atmospheric, realistic?
I have only really been playing this for 4 hours or so so I am going to list my observations so far rather than detail everything out.
It is quite different though. No heath bar, no heads up display, very story driven. It is almost like you are in the book going chapter by chapter. But, its a good thing. This game is a true experience unlike anything else I have tried, its like you are living the life of this guy, unlike creating some charater that you are trying to grow. I have been playing for around 4 hours and made it through quite a bit, but I have not made it to Polis yet so im not sure if the game opens up a little or not. The RPG elements in this game so far are completely linear, with no real side quests that I have seen. It almost feels like your doing a tutorial throught the first few mission, but trust me its a good thing. The combat in this game is great and is right in your face, its fast. Its a survival game where ammo is precious, your gas mask is precious, and gas mask filters are even more so. Lots of desperation and decision making. The game rewards you for exploring, but can you afford to expolre further? You might wind up killing yourself by going through extra ammo and running out, going through filters faster and running out, or just gettting jumped and getting eaten.
I feel that the difficulty is just right for this game for me on Hardcore, but I always play shooters on hard or higher. I think it would just be a movie on easy.
This is something you have to check out if you are looking for an awesome experience.