I haven't played SS1, so won't be comparing with that. But compared to SS2, this game feels like one step forward and two steps back. I appreciate the minimap. Compared to SS2 it is nice to have it there out of the box instead of having to put it there myself. However, the large map is awful. No ability to add waypoints. No idea where I am, because there is no description of areas unless you hover your mouse over them. I'd prefer a description of the larger areas and keeping the mouse for actually turning. No idea where I am going, because the triangle is small and doesn't show the direction clearly due to equal sides. If I want to heal, I need to turn on and off filters, because there's no S to show Surgical table, but a large rectangle instead. Compared to SS2 there's also much less screen clarity. We have blinking lights. Overdecorated walls. And various ambient items. But it's not so clear what you can interact with. Not to mention, in SS2 you could destroy a lot of the decorations if they pissed you off. Even on max opacity, the HUD is sometimes unreadable if you're close to a bright area.Maybe the max opacity should be increased. Last but not least, the combat is boring. No more having to be smart about combat, because there's no space for smartness. The enemies shoot at you even when you're peeking the wall. Avoiding damage is impossible thanks to the sometimes pinpoint accuracy of the enemies. Just gun or run. Not being able to run for long distances doesn't help it either - in ss2 stealth was part of the strategy. In this game you don't even have stealth due to the crazy spawn rate of enemies.
