I'm getting a bad, elistist vibe from this review and some of the comments. It's like they're looking down on the past and patting the current edition on the back, to pretend that we have somehow evolved and are superior to those poor slobs from the dark ages.
Lest you forget, D&D 3e is just as focussed on killing things and taking their stuff than the earliest edition of D&D. The only difference is that now you have 1000 pages of rules instead of 100. And a "uniform" mechanic that's supposed to be "advanced" design, but falls through the cracks due to the complexity of the ruleset as a whole. Well gee, I guess 6 pages (1/2 pages actually, since the book is digest size) of hit location rules isn't that big of a deal after all.
The details are different, but the end result is the same. It's all about orcs and pies unless the DM puts forth the effort to make something else out of it. And people back then were just as capable at that as they are now.
Incidentally, the earliest verion of Tekumel (EotPT) was based on OD&D. But then this is a setting that has elements of SF, so perhaps the reviewer's bias would simply use that as more fuel to mock the old game. And that's what this review was all about, isn't it? To pretend we're no longer cavemen.
OOG! OOG! Old cavemen stupid! New cavemen smart!
Hey, almost forgot to mention this: you can download the book in PDF from Dave's website (for free). So in that respect, you really did waste your money. But now you own an actual piece of history, which should mean something to you if you're a passionate RPG enthusiast.
BTW, just so we're on the same wavelength, I never played OD&D. It was before my time. I don't plan on playing it. But I also don't plan to write a review to bash it either.