Abandoned at about 25%. Initially I was intrigued, which was promising given that it's been a while since I enjoyed a third-person game. This was mainly down to what I hoped would be a compelling story, as the gameplay elements seemed to be lacking (took me a good while to find the time pin!) Alas, as the game progressed the story just didn't unfurl; rather it became a series of sparse and loosely related events that were showing little cohesion. The gameplay became a touch tiresome, just the usual progress-is-blocked-find-something-to-unblock-it. A common trope in gaming, but frustrating in this scenario, moreso than usual. For example, early on we have to get into a building through a broken window above us. To accomplish this we have to find two things. I understand this is a 'puzzle', and part of the 'game' but it just slows the plot and seems pointless, and breaks immersion when there are loads of other windows that could be easily smashed (were it a real situation). I know this criticism could be levelled at any number of games, but it (perhaps unfairly) was more blatant here. The main game element should've been the dual reality but in my partial playthrough this was immaterial. The USP is the concurrent gameplay, except you never use them concurrently. Of course, it may happen later, but with that mechanism why not woo the player right away and show its power. No, you switch from one reality to the other. Now, were this executed ala Titanfall 2 you would be provided with a little agency of when to switch and given a little more satisfaction. Instead you somewhat randomly try things in one world and then in another, until you progress. Objects somehow move between realities, but that's just part of the fairly loose rules of the world building.

I don't know, were the narrative compelling, the gameplay would've been forgivable. But it wasn't it was essentially absent.

The graphics were great though. The music was spot on. Controls were satisfactory and the prelude set some sold foundations for character-building. I just don't think the narrative and 'unique' mechanism were harnessed well enough.

I played Sniper Elite 4 to completion. I loved the level design and the little adventure. That great level design seems to be mostly missing from Sniper Elite 5. All the levels just seem more compact though I'm told they're actually bigger. Perhaps it's because SE4 was my first SE game, but things like your last known position just seemed much more important. Now that barely seems to matter. I remember tons of sniping too, but now it seems less common. Buildings are empty and there seems to be a real lack of environmental interaction - I'm sure I was blowing up trucks a lot more in SE4. Similarly enemy snipers seem absent; that glint off the scope was always a worry - I think I've only seen it once in SE5. Similarly moving vehicles; haven't shot anyone in one. I've barely been prone. I'm just crouch walking around, stealth killing and enemy and then moving on. It just seems more grindy then SE4, and empty. So I've given up at the Guernsey map.

A fantastic little gem. It's easy to give small indy games a little bit of a free pass when comparing to AAA games or similar, or rather be less forgiving with AAA games. In this case though I can easily hoist this game above many AAA games I've played this year, judging solely on experience of the game without consideration of budget. It's simply better than many recent games with teams a hundred times bigger. I played it to completion, I didn't get frustrated and the story met the gameplay without either sacrificing for the other.

It might sound like hyperbole, but the reality is that I played a AAA game on Xbox Game Pass and was bored within 15 minutes and gave up. I clicked Donut County just randomly and played it to completion. The context for the two games being presented to me was as equals. I hadn't paid for either outright, so I had little investment in either and could just play to enjoy. It was a couple of hours where I didn't get impatient, roll my eyes, get frustrated at gameplay, or bugs or tedium. It was just a couple of hours of good fun.

Well, I gave up after around 10 hours. It was just too hard for me. I never got out of the first biome, fought the first boss three times, died half way through each time.

The pros:

Looks fantastic, if a little dark. The environment is second to none and the atmosphere is palpable. I was engrossed immediately and felt the immersion. Even the obvious power ups etc just seemed to work. I felt at one point that I was in some sort of game (within the game) which was a weird feeling but the immersion was rarely broken. The action is intense and the gunplay is very satisfying. The gameplay loop is a fantastic idea and the ever-changing layout works well. Score and audio was superb, at least what I heard of it.

The cons: it's really just the progression system for me. I figured the game might be a bit more forgiving and the algorithm may take pity on me, but it didn't. Each run felt satisfying and different but it started to get to the point that I just wanted to progress. I had five or six runs where I didn't progress from the pistol. Only maybe five runs overall where I had something that felt a little better than a pistol, but ultimately it was like being stuck with the Doom pistol for 15 hours. Sometimes I felt like I had a decent run but then would get into a lockdown and get annihilated. Sometimes I'd get a malignant thing and just suicide because it was annoying. The element of randomness was just a bit too much. I'm sure there's some emergent gameplay I'm missing, but I felt stuck between a Deathmatch and a Story, and couldn't get out. There was also a heck of a lot of info to take in.

Conclusion: I think, ultimately, I'm just not good enough or patient enough for games like this, and I don't think I worked out the plan to get to the boss. I wanted to get a fresh run and be able to just power through everything but I couldn't, previous runs never influence subsequent runs that much in the early game. I enjoyed my time, I'd love to play more, but I just can't take beating after beating like that.