For Starters, It's great to see that this brilliant game is still enjoyed and talked about after all those years. What I find hilarious is that all those issues regarding 1)short weapon lifespan, 2) lack of ammo and 3)constant respawns actually became non-factors if you picked your skills properly. From the get-go SS2 was touted as being not a first-person-shooter but a first-person-STORY. That difference was the key to making a survivable character because it told you that you had to choose a set of skills that would allow you to interact with the world, not shoot your way through it. I could possibly guarantee that most players who felt the game was too hard because of it's difficult weapon use rules started off as marines. If they had picked the engineer or the psi-op things would have been much easier. These 2 classes didn't start off knowing how to handle weapons too well but seeing as how you had little to no ammo at the beginning of the game it didnt affect your character that much. What was essential at the beginning of the game was resource gathering and exploration, which is what anybody would do if they woke up in a strange place with no recollection of who they are. The best way to explore and manage your few nanites is to be good at hacking. Enter the psychic engineer... Instead of starting off as a powerhouse the engineer with basic psi powers can increase his cyber affinity and turn off all alarms in case he screws up a lock or door hack. Pushing a little further into the game, he can then use an anti-entropic field to NEVER have to repair a weapon EVER. Considering this power lasts 1 minute per psi point and that you'll generally have 3 to 4 points by the time you get this power, you'll be done shooting before your power runs out in most cases. Problem one is solved. If ever you do need more ammo, you get to hack the vending machines and purchase the specialised bullets for less, meaning you wont waste normal rounds on robots because you'll be well stocked with armour-piercing rounds. Furthermore, because you started off with basic research skills, you can research a victim's weak points earlier than the marine and cause +25% damage. Not too shabby. Another key to proper weapon use is to pick the weapons that are cheap to use. for example, the laser pistol can be useful up until the point where you meet spiders as it causes adequate amouns of damage, is compact and is free to recharge. The grenade launcher on the other hand, while being very powerful will always be low on grenades. Instead, recycle the grenades for nanites and buy bullets. Avoid the heavy weapon line altogether and you will have more room in your inventory for useful items such as stims, bullets and melee weapons. Also, because you'll so much more nanites, you can buy extra stims to keep your psi levels topped up. Problem 2 solved. Spawns have two features that are designed to help you. First, they always happen at the same locations. Second, except for the zombie spawn in the first hallway and the robot spawn close to the security station in the lower levels of the ship, they are easy to go around. While some players might not like camping, this predicatability can be used to your advantage as you farm zombies, robots , monkeys and delightful nurses for supplies to recycle for yet more nanites. As the game progresses even further, you psichic engineer will hack anything, shoot without recoil and then become invisible to avoid ambushes. Sure he might have started out weaker, but by the mid-game, his skills have a certain synergy that cannot be matched by the brawn of the marine. After some practice, you'll finish the story in less than 9 hours using the psi-engineer, instead of slogging through a hard 16-hour fight with the marine. You'll also finish the game with more rounds and stims than you'll ever need.