That was kind of the point I was making. They both did it. Not sure why so many people misunderstood that.
Moving goalposts. Moving on.
There's a lot of them. They have armor and weapons that aren't crap. There is at least one sentrybot and merc with a missile launcher, in addition to some turrets. Even just the 3 with one sentrybot and a turret on the easiest route to Rivet City are too much at the very beginning. I should know, because that's what I did literally every run.
XD Whether it feels different? That's one hell of a goalpost shift.
I love how I didn't even have to say anything and people immediately brought up having to use the dart gun, a gatling laser, or a railway rifle even though there's no way to *start the game with them*. It also takes a while to get them, even if you wanted to save scum around with prior knowledge of exactly where to go while avoiding anything that grants exp. Why did I even bother replying. You all sunk the argument without my help.