I'm a veteran FPS/RPG player, but playing this game for the first time. I find Normal difficulty so easy that it's boring. In contrast, Hard difficulty is so hard as to be almost impossible. The difference is so profound that I'm wondering if there's something about this game that I don't understand.

Here's a concrete example. I'm exploring a "hidden lab" early in the game, and carrying "Ol' Reliable" (a fairly powerful unique machine gun). The lab is protected by robot guards. On Normal I can take out a robot with about 1.5 clips from the gun. On Hard, I pump 8 full clips into the thing and it's still at 30% health. I also tried a grenade launcher with shock damage (supposedly effective against mechanicals). After 70 shock grenades (my entire stock), the thing's barely dented.

Another example: I'm facing a group of Primals. On Normal, a couple shots from my plasma pistol takes one out while my companions quickly finish off the rest. I don't even need to reload. On Hard, I can't get off enough shots to damage even a single Primal before my companions are both down and the baddies (all still at 99% health) all attack me and kill me with one hit.

Does this echo other folks' experience? Is there something I'm missing? Any way (e.g., mods) to up the difficulty a bit without making it impossible?

(FWIW I've read numerous posts comparing difficulty settings in the game. The all say pretty much the same thing: Hard is only slightly harder than Normal, and both are easy. That's not my experience.)