Wasn't impressed by the demo, but the release currently on Steam is really good, one of the better throwback shooters I've played.
You can easily ignore the story, but if you want to engage with it, the worldbuilding is not bad. You find all kinds of chatlogs and emails between people, and there's a very very clear Marathon inspiration (you're being led by a moody AI, and trying to activate a second, potentially less stable AI). The downside is that all the people in the chatlogs are annoying as fuck and talk and act like Californian hipsters. The upside is that you're playing as a new arrival to the colony who quickly starts blasting the zombified remains of these dorks with great enthusiasm. I legitimately can't tell if the devs wanted you to react like this, but the effect is enhanced by the AI character occasionally indicating that the protagonist is quite grim and tense, which puts her at odds with the touchy-feely idiots who formerly occupied the colony.
Not 100% sure what the overarching plot is yet, looks like these guys wanted to set up some cringey commune and ended up fucking it all up, hence you having to run round with a rotary shotgun cleaning up after them.
Big maps with lots to find. Another thing it takes from Marathon is the AI briefings telling you where to go, and leaving it up to you whether or not you bulldoze straight over there or spend lots of time exploring all the secrets, which I like.
Of all the 90s FPS, absolutely NONE had a female lead.
Alien Trilogy,
The Wheel of Time,
Trespasser, Hexen 2 (and the expansion in which you're meant to play as a newly-added female character),
Unreal, Rise of the Triad,
Mysteries of the Sith, In Pursuit of Greed, Eradicator, Klingon Honor Guard, Rainbow Six, Delta Force, Blood 2, probably a few more.
Bolded are ones where the female lead can't be changed, rest let the player select their character. I've bolded Unreal since Gina is the canon protag.
If you expand it to 2000, there's
No One Lives Forever,
Perfect Dark, Elite Force,
Medal of Honor Underground...