As someone who loves the game to death, I feel an urge to defend it, all the while recognising its multitude of failings.
Jedi Outcast, that is :P
First off, it was a crappy shooter, no question. Also, I don't recall it being especially pampered by critics, for the above reason, and others. But the lightsaber fighting was the best I'd seen before or since. The `since' part I explain with the prevalence of controllers these days - you can't get this kind of free-flowing movement without a mouse. I always found it intuitive and delightfully elegant in its simplicity - what I've always imagined actual lightsaber fighting to be, without the improbable contortions and acrobatics of the prequels. Of course, once you get to actual competitive (not Jedi role-playing) multiplayer, there are some engine abuses that result in killer one-shot moves; robs all the elegance out of the game, if you ask me. But that's the good old Q3 engine for you - never works quite as intended (and we love it for it).
You mentioned snipers, but those worked exactly as intended. If your defences were up (you weren't running or attacking), you would force-dodge the shot. It nicked your shield but not your health (I believe force sense allowed you to do that in MP). For a hit-scan weapon, this is the most a Jedi could actually hope for. It's a balance issue really, the game was already too easy against normal blasters and snipers provided a pace change and forced you into cover and planning ahead.
As for difficulty in the late game, I guess you had a problem with the three shadow troopers in the swamps. You're not alone. Curiously, I never noticed the encounter at the time, playing on an easier difficulty, but I remember how much bloody trouble it gave me some years later when I played through the game on hardest. Still, they were beatable and I was never the best at the game, not even remotely. Also, if you think those three are bad, the final Desann fight is literally game-breaking: he tends to grab you in a choke and won't let go, pushing or no pushing; on highest difficulty, you don't have enough health to live through one round of this. Yeah, that's annoying. But hey, isn't this why we play and revere older games, why this very site exists? They didn't coddle you, never pulling any punches. Hell, you often didn't/couldn't even finish them. And that was OK. It was a challenge and when you beat it, left you satisfied.
Oh, yeah, Arma. Heh.
I tried the first one once, but it never really appealed to me. It's a military simulator, and I've never been good or particularly fond of any simulators. Again, however, that's just fine. It offers its own unique brand of gameplay, and some will like it, and some won't. Don't bash the game, any game, for being too hard or different from what you're used to. Some years might pass, and you might realise you wouldn't have it any other way (Europa Universalis 2, I'm sorry I ever doubted you).