I think it says a lot how Eternal took a lot of the ideas for the gunplay in this and decided to hyperfixate on them to a point it was in its advertisements. I had sort of a feeling it wouldn't go well even back then, because frankly, it's already near perfect here. I think it's the freedom this game gives you that makes it work. While the idea behind "using the right tool for the right job" isn't as prevalent here, it still applies. Glory kills, open arenas, aggressive enemies, it all already is here, encouraging you to think fast and never stop moving forward, but as long as shit dies while you aren't, it's open season. Some guns and upgrades are definitely stronger than others, and there comes a point where the game starts to run out of stuff to throw at you and its repetitiveness shows a little, but by then you're already in endgame, so I don't really care. By that point in a video game I want to be either really challenged or just fully unleashed with all my toys (ideally both), this satisfies the latter. Perhaps the fact the level design is overall quite fun too is what helps.
Btw, it amazes me how some people keep complaining about the brief HL2-esque sections where the game makes you stop for a bit and pay attention to the narrative bit, when that's like... 1% of the entire damn game, while perfectly ignoring all the parts where the game puts any narrative bits into the environment, which is PERFECT for this (as opposed to the glorified fan wiki lore dump approach Eternal takes). The gritty visuals, the atmospheric bits of the soundtrack, the secrets and collectibles that encourage you to pay attention and explore, all of this creates buildup and downtime that actually helps the game from being more than just arena > corridor > arena.
Really, it's an accomplishment how much this game embodies so many of the fun parts of 90s shooters while feeling like an actual mature development of them. You can argue some of it is a bit too "modernized" in comparison, but honestly... indie devs are shitting out retro shooters left and right now, if you want that, play those. I already started feeling burnt-out just from all the ones that actually did come out in the 90s. Turns out, I do like having things polished up sometimes.
Btw, it amazes me how some people keep complaining about the brief HL2-esque sections where the game makes you stop for a bit and pay attention to the narrative bit, when that's like... 1% of the entire damn game, while perfectly ignoring all the parts where the game puts any narrative bits into the environment, which is PERFECT for this (as opposed to the glorified fan wiki lore dump approach Eternal takes). The gritty visuals, the atmospheric bits of the soundtrack, the secrets and collectibles that encourage you to pay attention and explore, all of this creates buildup and downtime that actually helps the game from being more than just arena > corridor > arena.
Really, it's an accomplishment how much this game embodies so many of the fun parts of 90s shooters while feeling like an actual mature development of them. You can argue some of it is a bit too "modernized" in comparison, but honestly... indie devs are shitting out retro shooters left and right now, if you want that, play those. I already started feeling burnt-out just from all the ones that actually did come out in the 90s. Turns out, I do like having things polished up sometimes.