I'm not usually one to write reviews on Steam. But with this one, I'd like to help out anybody I can before they purchase.

The concept is great and the world and environments are amazing. Moving stealthily around the desolate and crumbling landscape of the apocalypse while towering machinery and the army grunts battle it out around every turn. It is tense and immersive. And the soundtrack is IMMACULATE. The dreary/dark techno vibe is perfect for the futuristic mech battles going on around you, and it adds to the feeling of helplessness.

That's about all the praise I can give this game. Actually playing it just feels like a battle you cannot win but by design. They go on about how "you're not that guy", and how you should be trying to SURVIVE, not shoot everything in sight. But you can go a whole raid staying in the shadows engaging nothing and all will be smooth sailing, just for 5-6 NPCs to spawn literally on top of you.
The audio as a whole is another problem. There is no footsteps. So many times I have been committed to the "not that guy" roleplay, silently looting bodies when all of a sudden the group of dudes you spotted at the bottom of the hill 100+ yards away are now in your face with not a single step to be heard.
The animations aren't fantastic either. The NPCs especially are comically robotic, and will walk only in a single file line stepping perfectly in sync with each other. They will all stop and snap onto you at the same time from across a clearing and its pretty funny to watch.
The zombie type enemies (can't remember the name) are some of the most frustrating I have ever encountered in a video game. They are beyond broken. In certain raids, there will be a thick fog and ONLY they spawn. With the broken AI detection, one wrong move will send every one of them on the map chasing you down and it is near impossible to lose the aggro. So from there you are screwed. Kiss your gear goodbye. "Oh, you're doing your best to stealth around and haven't even fired a single shot but one spotted your shoulder from around the corner a mile away? HOW DARE YOU, YOU ARE NOT THAT GUY. ENJOY FIGHTING 30 OF THEM".

There is more to it, but those are the biggest points for me. It is early access so bugs and issues are absolutely to be expected. But honestly this game is too rough for the current price. I am not at all even mad about the purchase, I've played over 10 hours and have had some cool moments and I am excited to see what it evolves into. There is MASSIVE potential, but for now this really ain't it.

The water mechanic is nuts. It basically deletes your save if you don't collect enough and it drains IN REAL TIME. I don't have a ton of time to play games, and this basically guarantees that I can't play this one. Truly Awful.

I LOVE THIS GAME! The atmosphere and the game play just feel unique and I find myself returning to it constantly. I typically loathe games that have a grind to them. However, this game is all about the grind, and because of that, the mechanics fit. You're not the hero. You're just trying to survive and help your small underground community survive.

So Why Don't I Recommend It (Yet)?
You may be thinking that it's the water death system. Most everyone points this out as the big culprit of why the game just isn't good. But the truth is, there are ways to work around the water death system. If you don't mind doing one water run a day (that takes 5 minutes of your time) then it's not a factor. Don't let the water death discussions push you off of this game. It's not that bad.

The Real Reason I Can't Recommend It.
Spawns. The game has a certain rogue like element, especially with weapon attachments which greatly enhance your survival but are often hard to find. Because leveling up weapons takes a great deal of grind, the best way to gain attachments is through exploring the world, but the good attachments drop rarely. When you die, you lose the gun and its attachments. Considering the game is designed to be hard with a "high risk/high reward" design, I find this to be fair. What I don't find fair is the spawning system. Imagine you turn right to see down a corridor and confirm it's clear of enemies. You turn around to find a Euruskan patrol is about to pass you by, so you move slightly to cover. Suddenly you're being shot in the back. Not ten feet away from you is a patrol of ten Eurasian cyborgs in that corridor you cleared moments earlier. What happened? Well, they spawned on top of you. But now you have two sets of enemies to deal with and no escape. You're dead, and you just lost all of your loot. This scenario has happened more than once to me and is infuriating. You can also see it happen to YouTubers so it's a confirmed issue. Losing your hard work and rare attachments because you got spawn blasted just sours the game. I'll keep playing it, but it's hard to recommend in this state.

Conclusion?
Once they fix the spawn issue, this is a definite recommendation! But until then, I think most people will find it more frustrating than it's worth. I know the game is still in development, so I look forward to this fix so I can change my recommendation to a YES.