In latest updates, Chaos Insurgency have become SCP targets, and the game has been well balanced (imo).
It feels like the most coordinated team wins, which i consider good game design.
Humans need to stick together to do permanent damage to SCPs and kill them, and SCPs by themselves can be easily outrun, so they need to cooperate too.

Sound design has always been good and important in gameplay. It has improved, and it's constantly improving (049 noises have recently been added).
Good headphones will always let you know what's coming.

Weapons are almost always good, and weapon attachments give good variety and use to all of them.
New weapons have been added, and they can all be customized.
You can custom save up to 3 different presets per weapon, with any purpose you want, and can check overall guns stats with weapon summaries.
The customization can be accessed during spectator time, so you dont need to waste playing time and can spawn ready.
The new captain weapon seems a bit OP, but it's hard to get.

Map updates have reduced choke points issues. There are now 2 checkpoints connecting entrance zone to heavy containment. Map layouts are now more standard and balanced.

The game is as always very social. You can play without a mic, but it's much more fun to talk. Especially cause you may find someone else using your voice later.

Highlights of the updates the game has received over time:
- 939 big Rework
It's become a walking soundboard of player's in game voices, with other fun skills for ambushes. New player model.
- 079 soft Rework
it now has a map for fast sitewide movement, and at tier 4 it gets a breach scanner to find people camping.
- 106 soft Rework it now requires 2 hits to send someone to the pocket dimension. If they escape, third hit will instantly kill them.
Also can teleport to medium distance rooms through a minimap, and also can go underground and move directly.
- 049 soft Rework
Instead of instantly killing, now cause heart attacks which works over time like a poison that hits both health and stamina. You can survive this by using medical items. If you get hit again, you're dead and become a zombie.
Zombies don't T-pose anymore. They get improved speed when chasing humans, and can heal by eating corpses. They can be revived again and again.
- 173 Rework.
It now has a short range teleport, which took the place of the old blink mechanic, that is charged by a glance given to it. It can also now ♥♥♥♥ on the floor to slow down humans. Lore accurate. New player model.
- 096 Rework.
It now has control over his rage, and can open gates if raging. Surprisingly fragile if lots of people shoot at it. New player model.
- New lighting.
Looks good. Tanks my ♥♥♥♥♥♥ gpu a bit.
- Megapatch 2.
This update added so many things, it made the game feel like a sequel. SCP items, new medical items, lockers with ammo and grenades.
This update had also reworked the micro-HID, which is getting reworked again now.

If some of the updates i've listed don't sound new to you, it's because i've been playing this game on and off since 2019.
The game has changed a bit, but feels coherent and going in the right direction. Changes make it seem different, but the soul is the same.
It's always fun, hectic, stupid, and as deep as you want to make it.
You can sweat over it, or play for the lolz, and it's fun either way.

There's no farming, no unlockables, only gameplay. No matchmaking, so by playing on the same servers you can usually meet the same people. Make friends, make enemies.
Vanilla servers are already lots of fun, and most of my playtime has been there. Most servers are heavily modded, sometimes with little regard to balance. You can explore them and find what appeals most to you.

I ended up writing a lot more than i intended, but it really is a fun game.