IIRC you never actually have to shoot any of the civilians in that level, but as players we all assumed that you did. IMO that level was the most interesting commentary that has been made in the COD series because it (somewhat sneakily) put the onus onto the player. Most of us just assumed that we needed to gun down the civilians without choice. In my opinion its one of the more poignant moments in the entire series for how it handled such a grim story beat.

If you have the patience for it, try playing on a much harder difficulty. The medium and low difficulty levels don’t provide the same weight. Many systems in the game are unnecessary at lower difficulty levels but higher difficulty forces you to engage in them to get the extra edge over certain encounters.

Higher difficulties force you to engage in potion brewing, reading up on enemies, and making genuinely tough choices morally in order to keep Geralt alive. Lower difficulties remove all the tension from these systems.

Also as another user mentioned, don’t skip any dialogue and engage in the side quests/contracts as they give a lot of unique flavor and nuance to the world and story.

The sideways monk