I agree with basically everything you said, i saw most of these problems and just did not have enough time to fix them, there was supposed to be a tutorial and the control mode (where you look at everyone from above) was supposed to be able to drop bombs, heal your troops and give a speed boost. I made this game all by myself and it was my first 48-hour game jam. I have not slept in 2 days and i barely even finished. I also realize the game is incredible computation heavy, the particle systems are incredibly slow along with how many line traces and distance checks i had to use so all the ai's worked. The elevator is a problem i struggled with the entire project and i still have no idea how to fix it.
I have watched Imphenzia on YouTube when i was starting out in blender a few years ago, he's a good Modeler but all of his stuff is simple in terms of materials and very low poly, it is a lot easier and faster to make stuff like that then full rigged, textured and detailed models. I think the game keeps a pretty consistent realistic art style, the walls might be a bit too simple and there are no lasting effects like bullet holes from anything that happens, but the models and textures are pretty good.
If you want to try it again here are some tips to feel like you have more tool.
If you had the latest version of the game, you could destroy the towers allowing for more strategy instead of feeling like you have to restart each time you die.
Use the control view to guide the ai's on better paths, The default rout the ai take is intentionally bad, control them using the left mouse button in control mode. wherever you click they will go too.
Switch to ai that are close to the statue you are trying to destroy, you may be able to get through by jumping, an ability that only you can do that an ai controlled robot cannot.
I hope that will make the game more enjoyable for you. I am going to try to fix all of these problems in the post-game jam build that will be available after the game jam is over