Owned on GOG and now on Switch. Finished playing on Switch June 2024.
I played on easy, out of a desire to see an influential game through in less time. About a third of the way in, I wrote to a friend that it's “a game where you brutally murder a lot of exploited people while ignoring speeches by megalomaniacs through surprisingly linear levels with lovely set dressing.” It did get somewhat better from there, but reveals a lot about my taste in games and how I mostly want this kind of storytelling without the shooter trappings. (Help me, I started Bioshock Infinite promptly afterwards, a game that got a harsher critical reception on release but has also gathered more favorable reviews overall, and has the benefit of being much newer.) I'd heard the Fort Frolic level was the high point, and that held up for me - it had several memorable setpieces and a strong sense of bespoke detail throughout. A bit of director's commentary mentions that they came up with a bit of backstory for every dead body in that level, and tried to convey it through the environment.
I also struggled with what a dark game this is - not thematically, but visually! Even with brightness settings cranked up I spent an uncomfortable amount of combat time depending more on my reticle turning red than on actually seeing my opponents in the environment. It sucked a lot of potential joy out of the play. Infinite may also go better in this respect since it's so bright.