Being an RQ2 veteran, it seems to me that Rurik with a Club is the definition of FFV- low access to resurrection, hard healing, scraping by on your clacks, and being afraid of Trollkin, while in AD&D 1 you could eventually graduate out of that phase onbce you survived to 5th level. Even at Rune Levels in RQ you had to be careful of a dagger crit which could bypass your rune metal armor. True or false?
Both can do it, and you're kinda right about the feel.
Exploring dungeon environments with RQ is kinda similar to staying low level in AD&D in terms of lethality for the PCs while seeing your fire power increase throughout the campaign nonetheless. You've got to sneak around a lot, a combat breaking out is potentially very bad news unless you've got a decisive tactical advantage and exterminate the opposition before it can respond in kind, etc. It depends the kind of experience you want.
You could certainly do Fantasy Fucking Vietnam (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=25684) with RQ.