

Why the comparison? Simple, at the start of the game it's your character that is useless not you as the player. I also died plenty in a game called Gothic 2. Generally not paying attention to the fact I'm irradiated or bleeding and slowly dying. All that said, I have been killed many times. You learn what the faction wars willl entail and the kind objectives you'll be given should you join in. You won't be treated to scripted events here, but you're not asked to do anything difficult alone anyway while securing the area against some renegades. The Swamp area you begin the game in really should be treated as a tutorial. As in the first game you begin with the lowest quality weapons and armour so taking on a group of mutants or human enemies alone is, frankly, going to get you killed as will blundering aimlessly through the wilderness at night into pockets of radiation. The thing the game punishes is stupidity in the early stages.

If you played the first game then play CS then you really won't see it that way. STALKER - Clear Sky: Punishing Difficulty?
