Absolutely. Make it like a shooter-heavy version of Metroid Prime. You should feel isolated, and whatever information you do find should pretty much be optional like Metroid Prime's scanning system.
Yep, let the environment offer up that sort of story detail. The original Doom games had a pretty barebones story but they were so effective atmospherically through a combination of enemy, sound and level designs. Scouring around levels looking for items was always a treat, and you never knew what'd be lurking around the next corner. And the sound, seriously. I can still hear the basic zombie's moaning death cries. Those games felt ominous even with what is now an extremely primitive graphics engine, so you don't need robust visuals to get that done.
But apparently you may need a lesser graphics engine for better level design. The concern with modern games is that visuals and generally flashy shit have trumped true level design. And focus testing, of course. People don't know which way is up and which way is forward - literally - so we generally get games with little verticality and stupid, heavily signposted linear design.
Could we ever get another game like Thief 1/2, with those massive intricate levels? Dunno how Edith Thi4f will turn out, but it doesn't even seem possible.
Beyond focus testing and tame publishers, I wonder if it goes back to the notion that creators are able to do something greater if they are in some sense shackled, trying and succeeding magnificently at evoking something meaningful through otherwise technically limited means, i.e. composers working with 8-bit music back in the day, or artists with 8-bit sprites. Those supposed limitations seem in some cases key to the stellar creativity, not only due to relatively lower development costs but especially in terms of the creative drive of making something more with less.