Originally Posted by lghartveit 
That's what the duct tape mod is for.
I judge the game based on how it's published, or how it's intended to be played by the developers. The ducttape mod is actually a cheat, it makes a major change to the product in the box. Compare this with the Oblivion, the "world level with you" design was poor, despite fanmods to "fix" it.
That said, the flashlight didn't bother me when I first played the game. I really liked the amazing new gameplay in which darkness played a role. That had never been done before. Now after games like Condemned and F.E.A.R. I am actually more bothered about it.