I hope you've played the original too! It is worse in some aspects of gameplay, but it's significantly more immersive and the plot is fantastic (and aged a little too well).
Although you could try the unofficial Revision remake (which is free), it has some very significant differences in level design, but the levels themselves are very nice and detailed, so it looks much better. The AI is still stupid by today's measures though.
But I can completely understand if some people can't get through it (I'm like that with a lot of older games)
A. You'll get over the clunkiness, it takes a lot of gameplay ideas way further than HR or MD. You will understand why some say HR & MD don't hold up, even though most think they're impeccable.
B. Hoo Boy, this[0[ was a lot the day lockdowns started to hit.