Fun... I mean, that description sounded more fun than I'm having with the game. I think it was just due to cutting out the waffle of getting shot in the head...
Actually I think this has taught me to trust my gut more because when I heard about hardcore mode I thought it sounded "way cool" but I figured I should play the game normally first to work things out. I then realised that I'd already played Fallout 3 (and Oblivion) before many, many times.