-In local mode, the friendly bots essentially don't do anything (in fact, they are often counterproductive) and you're left on your own to complete the objectives. That makes this mode pretty frustrating, primarily because of the time limit applied to everything. Sandstorm seems to have been designed to slow down the pace compared to other FPS games (which I consider a selling point), but then I have to hurry up anyway because the clock is running. This is most annoying when I am present at the objective, actively killing the enemy, with some of my AI teammates, but the enemy reclaims the objective anyway because the time expired. How can you claim to have recaptured something when your enemy is still there killing you?
-The time to die/kill is silly. I know, people think it's realistic. It isn't. This is a game, and in reality people don't always die instantly from a single gunshot wound. You don't move slower when bullets start coming your way, you move faster. It's life or death and adrenaline is a thing. Being killed by what is supposed to represent an unskilled, untrained enemy combatant who throws out a 50 yard head shot from the hip with an iron sighted AK that doesn't even appear to be pointed in my direction, gets real old real quick.
-Which leads directly into ADS and what we call "index" in competitive shooting. These are skills which are gained through experience, not attachments or game settings. Once again, I know, people think no aim assist is somehow realistic. It isn't. You can call it "harder", but not realistic. Your "real life" ability to index a firearm, and do it very quickly are skills that can be developed. There needs to be a skill tree system where you develop things like, ADS, index, reload speed, recoil management, etc. by earning experience that you can spend however you choose. Yes, you can just get better at manipulating a controller, but I'm not sure how that translates to "realistic".
-I get that in reality there is no "X" when you hit the target, or some kind of "hit" sound. But sometimes there is no reaction from the bots whatsoever. I shoot them, they just take a knee and head shoot me back. Other times they do react, make noise, whatever, but often it feels like I'm just shooting blanks at them.
-Vertical grips and similar attachments do not do silly things like help you reload faster. They are almost entirely cosmetic in reality, but can help with recoil management to some degree and perhaps with transitions from target to target. They should be treated the same way in games - mostly cosmetic, with a couple minor benefits.
-I'm far more interested in customizing my rifle than my character, so more gun stuff, less Barbie.
-All guns will make your ears ring if you don't wear ear protection. Just reality. They are loud.
-I really like the weight system conceptually but it has a lot of problems. No soldier is going into a guaranteed gunfight without a basic load of 6 or 7 mags and a plate carrier. So that's just a given. Adding weight to your rifle will impact how quickly you can move that rifle around to some degree. And adding more stuff to a basic load out might slow down your physical movement or whatever, but an organized military is not going into a fight without mags and armor. And that backpack we're carrying, yeah that has more ammo in it. That's the point of a pack - food, water, ammo, medical, etc.
-The style of graphics where it's supposed to look gritty and high contrast .... it's just hard to look at. Black shadows and washed out highlights, coupled with intricate details just makes for a visual murk.
-Some day FPS developers need to realize that while shooting, you are visually focused on the target. That means the object directly in front of your eyeballs, the body of the optic, is blurry to the point of being translucent. It could be a visible fuzzy dark shadow, but human eyes do not have the ability to focus near and far simultaneously. It's an advantage in that the optic does not obscure our vision. It shouldn't in games either.
-I get that no one is going to read this but I'm writing it just because this game has so much potential and conceptually has lots of the right ideas. It just misses on a few of the details.