The core loop
Every mission runs the same four beats, and the weapons are a decision rather than a mechanic.
Every mission runs the same four beats: locate, assess, contain, extract. The weapons exist so that using them feels like a decision you made, not a mechanic you were handed.
Failure states
Neutralisation is never scored as success. It ends the mission at partial credit, and it changes what the next briefing says about you.
Why assess matters
Assess is the phase most shooters skip. Here it is where the mission is won: the anomaly’s rule, its tell and the method that contains it are all learnable, and none of them are printed on the HUD.