I recorded some clips of playthroughs for the new opening level and the more complete Downtown. I'm liking where this is going. As always, it feels really good.
The level design is on point. I think for the most part they're straightforward. In the second level, I did end up missing the blue key and forgetting where it was again. But I like most touches. It feels pretty cohesive. I could see where I need to go, and objectives or environment changes are hinted at really clearly.
In my video you could see what I tried to do at times, like jumping on the tree canopies.
The breakables were really cool. I definitely wanted to try and smash up all that glass in Downtown, although I was vaguely disappointed that falling glass doesn't hurt you. The broken cacti seemed to be kind of active for a long time, and I could keep kicking them around. Quite nice.
I only found a single secret, and while it doesn't bother me, I wonder if it's something to do with how the secrets are laid out. I broke through the wall under the hotel in the second level. The rest, while I looked around, I wonder if there was much reason to look for them (e.g. underwater in Downtown - I suspect there's a lot there but I didn't want to bother swimming. Maybe pushing the player to try it out might help - even a little).
AI feels and looks pretty good. I felt like the voices for the paramilitary dudes was kind of weird, and funny. They look like professional types, but sound like street toughs. Still, I found the AI in general pretty easy to deal with, and noticed them acting a little stupid. Dumb choices at times, but it was a fun experience overall. The mechs in Downtown got stuck on roof overhangs twice.
Overall, a really good experience. Here are two clips of me playing through. Feel free to check and see from my perspective. Keep it up!