Just to comment on one-hit-kills in Goldeneye, that was an incredibly fun way to continue playing an excellent game. The play mode was based on relatively short, objective-based levels, meaning getting through them was supposed to be the source of the challenge. As such, making it harder and harder for yourself to get through them only added to the fun. The simpler play modes gave you plenty of life and ammo, and few enemies and objectives. The harder difficulties switched this around, and 007 mode was a paragon of rewarding design in letting you structure the challenge for yourself.
I loved setting it to one-hit-kill both ways, because Goldeneye as a whole was designed to really put you into the character of Bond, and one-hit-kill forced you to see the whole scenario as a total emergency, and really enter the role of a 00 agent. You could even get away with being shot, from time to time.
I think the games I love most are the ones which enable me to act. Anyone who's done mushrooms (or played Goldeneye a shitload) will confirm that realism doesn't have to come from graphics, although it doesn't really hurt either.
As an aside, Far Cry was stylised and cartoonish, although primarily in relation to characters. The whole thing was deliberately plasticky, and could have been cel-shaded to similar effect. It's a complex issue to accurately resolve though, and obviously I don't hold the final word.
Also, as Warcock said, Crytek going in this direction merely breaks new ground for everyone. It's fair enough to lament poor design being brilliantly realised, of course, but sooner or later someone gets an idea worth having, and we all benefit.
