It always bothered me playing statue because I consistently forgot where I had been, and was turned around often. Sometimes it took me 4 seconds to find Valentin, other times it took me probably 20 minutes.
It was also obnoxious to find the hill where you met Janus, and if you didn't do everything in the right order (e.g - put your gun away, and not move until they start shooting at you,) you failed that part of the mission.
Meanwhile, Natalia's yelling you from the choppa, you've got like 15 seconds to find the flight recorder, and sometimes the game glitches and throws it way out in the middle of nowhere (or at least it felt that way.)
I think people don't like it because the entire level is high-stress oriented. Most levels offer breaks from combat, allowing Bond to sneak around and follow secret routes that most people develop. I don't think Statue offers any "resting" time for the player to explore the level - making all the more confusing as you're trying to accomplish your 15 objectives.