I was following this game a bit prior to launch and had my hopes set high. Then the bad reviews came in and I thought I would try it anyway. I think many of the reviews I've read are a tad too harsh, but the game is still far from perfect.
The Good:
- Graphics (which every review will tell you are absolutely amazing)
- Voice Acting
- Gun fights are usually enjoyable (at least compared to everything else)
- The story that is presented is engaging
The Bad:
- Controls are a bit wonky in some ways. Mostly when it comes to moving in and out of cover and sneaking. Also, trying to melee an adversary with the same button used for picking up an item can be annoying when the battleground is strewn with weapons...
- As good as the story is, the game ends on a cliffhanger. That's not always a bad thing, but in this case there are so many core issues that arise throughout the entire game that are left unresolved that it's almost insulting that it ends when it does. When the ending took place I was thinking to myself "This isn't the end is it? They wouldn't end it here? There's more coming, right?"
- The game is short. That's not always a bad thing either, but if I'm going to shell out full price for a game i'd like to play it over the period of a few days. I started and ended today with plenty of other activities mixed in (walked the dog, saw a movie in the theatre, ate meals, watched some Netflix). The game couldn't have been much more than 6 or 7 hours from start to finish. Did I get every trophy? No...but I also don't much care to go back through to do so.
- Looking at items seems to be an integral part of the game, but often doesn't do much and rarely contributes significantly to the story or backstory. At least not any known part of the story. An article may speak to something that could be interesting in the game world, but it isn't brought up as part of the story elsewhere in the game.
- Audio clips are also numerous and I usually enjoy these as story devices in games. However, I enjoy being able to listen to them while I actually walk around and play/explore the game environment. In this case I was stuck on a boring screen while lengthy clips were played with only the transcript of the recording on screen. I have to admit...I didn't listen to them all.
Graphics, story and gunfights are usually enough to win me over, however, there sufficient gaps and a perceived lack of completion to prevent me from truly recommending the game. If they release a sequel (not sure how that will go over given the reviews/sales for this instalment) then I recommend picking this up at a discounted price to experience the full story. Even then, you may only want to do that after the reviews for the sequel come in to see if they happen to correct some of the other nuisances.