I beat the actual story in exactly 117 minutes (the "ONE OF US" achievement unlock), it's not actually very long even with some of my more frustrating deaths.

It was a fun (though with some psychological themes that may or may not be uncomfortable) experience, and it has challenge levels and an endless mode that takes you back through the game's environment; though I personally feel that the game lacks enough difficulty to justify this; weapons are abundant enough and the ease of knocking them out of enemy hands and using stairs to actually dodge between shotgun blasts means usually death comes from a spawn outside of your FOV once you get the hang of it.

I wouldn't say this game was worth $25 (though I got it from a friend having a spare Humble Bundle code) regardless of whether you wanted to just try it and refund, or keep it; I do recommend playing through it one or the other and waiting for a sale though.

☑ Worth playing through the story itself.
☑ Enough additional content to justify the price if you enjoy speedruns, endless modes, and challenges with restrictions.
☑ Psychological themes (conditioning, freedom, wetware, coercion).
☑ Multiple methods of getting through some levels (this comes down to killing each enemy, but the order and path varies).

❌The story itself is very short (117 minutes from first launch to completion); YMMV if you're not good at dodging bullets, but it's pretty short.
❌Additional content is probably not going to broadly appeal or keep your interest, gameplay challenges (speedruns, weapon restrictions) are on the completionist side, and the gameplay loop of killing enemies in endless is questionably grindy (also the game flashes the number of each kill on the screen, which gets annoying immediately).
❌Psychological themes (inability to communicate freely, self-harm in three different instances, negative and dehumanizing reinforcement).
❌One-dimensional levels that are essentially a singular path and the resulting one-sided violence towards everything in front of you.

I'd give this game something like a 5/10, though if you get it for <$10 I'd probably bump it up to about a 7/10.

It's like RIGHT in the middle of content that probably isn't for everyone, with an interesting-but-short story mode that has themes the average user may or may not want in their recreational activities (though this is more if you have PTSD or something), and then a lot of stuff packed in to pad out what you can do after finishing the story.

I beat the actual story in exactly 117 minutes (the "ONE OF US" achievement unlock), it's not actually very long even with some of my more frustrating deaths. It was a fun (though with some psychological themes that may or may not be uncomfortable) experience, and it has challenge levels and an endless mode that takes you back through the game's environment; though I personally feel that the game lacks enough difficulty to justify this; weapons are abundant enough and the ease of knocking them out of enemy hands and using stairs to actually dodge between shotgun blasts means usually death comes from a spawn outside of your FOV once you get the hang of it. I wouldn't say this game was worth $25 (though I got it from a friend having a spare Humble Bundle code) regardless of whether you wanted to just try it and refund, or keep it; I do recommend playing through it one or the other and waiting for a sale though. ☑ Worth playing through the story itself. ☑ Enough additional content to justify the price if you enjoy speedruns, endless modes, and challenges with restrictions. ☑ Psychological themes (conditioning, freedom, wetware, coercion). ☑ Multiple methods of getting through some levels (this comes down to killing each enemy, but the order and path varies). ❌The story itself is very short (117 minutes from first launch to completion); YMMV if you're not good at dodging bullets, but it's pretty short. ❌Additional content is probably not going to broadly appeal or keep your interest, gameplay challenges (speedruns, weapon restrictions) are on the completionist side, and the gameplay loop of killing enemies in endless is questionably grindy (also the game flashes the number of each kill on the screen, which gets annoying immediately). ❌Psychological themes (inability to communicate freely, self-harm in three different instances, negative and dehumanizing reinforcement). ❌One-dimensional levels that are essentially a singular path and the resulting one-sided violence towards everything in front of you. I'd give this game something like a 5/10, though if you get it for <$10 I'd probably bump it up to about a 7/10. It's like RIGHT in the middle of content that probably isn't for everyone, with an interesting-but-short story mode that has themes the average user may or may not want in their recreational activities (though this is more if you have PTSD or something), and then a lot of stuff packed in to pad out what you can do after finishing the story.