To me, NG3 seemed like they were trying to go after more of a Batman Arkham Asylum type game mode. If you notice, when playing through a level you'll have an intermission where you're forced into playable dialogue, this is used to allow for the loading to happen without make you think you're at a "loading" section. It was definitely one thing I think they got right but overall the enemies felt like they weren't a challenge and were just checkpoints to the story.