This game has a TON of potential. Even ignoring the in-your-face alternative early computer depression aesthetics, there is a LOT to like here.
The movement is extremely in-depth, but you get generally get by with the most basic maneuvers if you're a scrub (which is ok!).
It captures a lot of what I love about 2d and 3d platformers, and finds a uniquely satisfying middleground in between "I've been playing this game for 6 years straight and can beat every level in 2 seconds" and "I've never played a 3d platformer before but somehow I'm doing things." In some ways, the movement reminds me of a mixture of Super Mario Sunshine, and the golden age of Kirby games. You get a lot of the pro-only strats that make newcomers freak the hell out, while still keeping the base movement simple enough for most players to get around.
There are moves that I didn't even know existed until I already completed the demo, and played it again to try 100%ing. This game does a fantastic job at truly capturing a great sense of speed without it being overwhelming.
There are also a ton of creative things you can do with a gun in a precision-like platformer like this. The game already hones some of this potential, making a lot of movement gun-based, but I can't wait to see it taken a step further in future content.
My only worry is that, when the game DOES get more content, some puzzles may devolve into "shoot everything and pray that something works" simulator. However, the game already does a great job at showing what is and isn't shootable; the team(?) seems to have a great grasp at teaching the player what to expect. If you think something can be shot, it probably can. If you think it can't, it absolutely can't.
I also very much enjoy the "vibe" I get from this game. Not just aesthetically, but a lot of the demo's level design feels very much like downloading random Gold Source maps and just seeing what they could possibly BE. The best way I can describe this game is like... "witnessing faux-nostalgia through a modern capitalist lens."
And while I feel like this kind of aesthetic can get overdone and old very quick, 5CC does a good job and setting itself apart by not playing too hard into tropes and boring stereotypes. Some people may want to call this game's art "cruelty squad-adjacent," but I feel like that really sells short the amount of work put into this game. It's very clearly not a clone, by any means, once you get into the game, and get a feel for what it's trying to accomplish.
Save for some weird difficulty spikes (the pivot level. holy fuck. iykyk), and some lighting-related readability issues (dark lighting + dark textures make some areas intensely hard to parse), this game may be up there with some of the great modern 3d platformers in due time.
I just truly hope this game gets finished some day. There are too many fantastic games that get caught up in featurecreep and development hell; please don't let this be one of them.