Summary
Fun to play, too hard, bad ending
The Good
The storyline was very immersive - it sucked you in, and you wanted to find out what happens next, and to get to the bottom of the conspiracies.
It also seemed very well researched - with lots of little nuances to give the convincing atmosphere of the 1980's USSR.
The Bad
As every other review said - it was way too difficult. Difficult not in the sense that you needed to stretch your brain too much - but that some solutions were simply arbitrary - they could not be arrived at by logic alone. This means, that in order to complete the game on your own, you have to invest quite a bit of time in trying arbitrary strategies and restarting when they fail, until you finally arrive at one that works. I ended up giving up on this technique out of frustration, and finished the game with a walkthrough guide, just to get the full storyline.
And although the storyline started out strong, and all the plot twists were real "page-turners," I found the end very disappointing. Some elements remained unexplained, and the resolution was sheer deus ex machina.
The Bottom Line
For all its flaws, I enjoyed playing the game. However, I would not recommend a new player to start playing it - because they will get sucked into a story that has an underwhelming conclusion.
If you do have some time on your hands, however, and don't mind repeated frustration, the game can be very rewarding: I got giddy every time I solved a puzzle. Just don't expect much from the finale.
