Yeah I was starting to think that but... its the exploration that should be setting this game apart. And it's the way I normally would play. Beyond that exploration and the occasional puzzle, it's just fairly ham-fisted firefight sequences (ok if you're in the woods but many fights are small room, minimal cover and too many enemies, feels like throwing lots of explosives is the only real way to get ahead) and a lot of scripted running-away-from-things-that-are-collapsing sequences.
It also contains my biggest personal gaming bugbear: collectibles only read out their contents as long as you have them open. This should always be done the Bioshock way, where you can keep playing and listen to the audio alongside it.
Maybe I need to give it another go... in the first area I was really, really enjoying it, the Baba Yaga DLC was great and I adored the first game. One last solid attempt, I'll push on with the story a bit and see what happens