Outside of power armor, it feels like Stalker 2 forgot that the alternate history of Stalker was supposed to be more advanced than the real world.
The normal armour, the SSP and Seva, Id say look pretty good to keep the feeling, the story remembers that its supposed to be Sci-Fi very well, but as for weaponry I kind of agree? But I honestly don't know if what they did was a good or bad thing, because the design of modern weapons suck and the cutting edge weapons of the 2000s are common and banal nowadays.
Like, the HK416 is banal, everyone's heard of it, but it's still a """modern""" mainstay on arsenal's, the Fora looks bland, but the Kharod? It's a cutting edge weapon, but it's horrid to look at, an amalgamation of shapes that are not only common aesthetic but also make it look awful, when it's really a HK416 with some modifications and a new furniture.
Every single new rifle either looks like shit or the same, and including a F2000 isn't hot shit anymore.
Another example could be the RAM-2, I had never heard of this shotgun before Stalker 2, and quite frankly, I don't like it!
If you wanna keep the Sci Fi cutting edge look you'd need to use these new rifles but like, I hate looking at them.