Whether it be the sound of a certain gun,
You ever fired real guns? I recently took @mattclarke and his son shooting and the first comment was, wow, that was way louder than I expected. You can't gain an impression of the violence and noise of firing a gun without actually firing it. YouTube isn't a good substitute. You'll have to trust me on that, or go shoot some guns.
Just as an example. If you shot my culling rifle without ear protection you'd have ringing ears for an hour and be unable to hear me talk.
I've shot an air rifle quite a few times, belonged to my father, but I know those things are nothing. Handled a few pistols and shotguns, but never really got the chance to shoot.
I know, but just visually from playing the game and from the audio, most of it seemed accurate enough when comparing.
In real life the punch is way too much to handle for a newb, whether it be the ear-shattering sound or the heavy recoil. I understand that it's surely not as easy as it looks, and without guidance and protection? Well, that just a bad idea.
Computer games are surprisingly realistic these days, I understand. It leads people to feel they have more understanding than they actually have. Perception, not reality.