More generally, the mechanics of the game are deeply flawed in some very important ways. The designer's response is that he doesn't really care because the mechanics aren't supposed to actually work, they're just there for you to improv around.
This, right here, is why 3:16 is so good at what it does.
There is no room to hide. In crunchier RPG's, you can hide behind the G part of RPG, you can play it as a game, and you can have a good time. You can play D&D as a tactical combat exercise, and enjoy yourself... well, I couldn't, but it's possible.
In 3:16, you cannot do this. To have fun, you
have to roleplay your character. Now, you are slightly limited - whoever your character was, they either signed up or were signed up for the TEF, and now they fight bugs for a living - but really, it's not much more of a limitation than any other game setting has. The entire survival mechanic - flashbacks, because this can be a deadly game - is built around this concept; reaching back into your character's memory for something that gets them through
right now.
And for that to work, you have to play it as a campaign, to give everyone the time to get into their characters. So when someone dies, it means something to the group. You should have a reaction. It's not a game that is satisfying after a session or two; it'll work, sure, but you're missing out on something.
The other thing about 3:16 is that it has a definite end point; the final weakness is "Hatred for Home". The highest-ranking character in the game - the Brigadier - has the directive to never, ever, allow the 3:16th to return to Earth under any circumstances; there's an insinuation throughout the book that the TEF exists as a dumping ground for undesirables from Terra. By the end of the campaign, the characters have the power and the tools to do something about this. But they've got a number of choices; they can keep on going and never look back. They can use The Device and wipe themselves out, or Terra. They could have simply steamrollered it planets ago, and never realised, or maybe they fall into infighting and wipe the entire brigade out. The entire endgame section is left open as to what they do with the tools they've got.
They could even all just die. And that's an ending.
So that's why I like 3:16 as an RPG. It forces you to role-play, by taking away the option of not doing so.