I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread for this game yet. I got my copy for the PC on Saturday, and I've been playing it ever since, even though I've already beat it with both endings twice now.
I was also horribly disappointed when I read Gamespot's review for this game on the 360 last week. It looked like BS, it smelled like BS, and after spending a lot of time with the game, I can confirm that it IS total, Grade A BS. Reviewers have complained that the cover system is "broken", and that the aiming is horrible and so is hit-detection. All are falsehoods. The cover system is far from broken, and, though it is a tad clunky, it works very well once you get the hang of it. Aiming is not your typical consolish rail-gun/auto-aim extreme accuracy. It is far more realistic. If you shoot at somebody 100 meters or more away with a full-auto carbine, it may take a few short bursts before you finally bring him down, but as you see the bullets impact downrange, you can see that everything is as it should be, and the more realistic accuracy of the firearms present in the game makes the game feel less dumbed-down for the run-and-gun console types. That's not to say the game is horribly realistic, but the aiming IS, and it's also perfect the way it is. As for complaints about hit-detection, I've never experienced a problem with it. You can see each round you fire impact into both people and the environment, and I've never shot somebody without hurting them.
I feel sorry that I watched all the gameplay videos before I played it, because it took a bit of the "WOW" factor out of some of the more awesome/outrageous missions. Without giving anything away, this game simply has some of the COOLEST environments and missions in a video game, though, unfortunately, they seem to start to get less awesome after about half or 2/3 of the way through.
I haven't been able to play it much because the last couple of days NOBODY has been on the servers, but I did get in two or three games of the Fragile Alliance MP. The enemy AI in MP is pretty tough, and if you die, your teammates can't heal you like in SP, you just die. You also have a limited amount of time before the getaway vehicle makes it's last trip around. This means that in order to be successful, you have to work together as a team or you will ALL die very quickly. But, at the same time, you have to worry about one of your teammates backstabbing you, stealing your cash, and taking it all for himself. So, the fact that you have to work as a team in order to survive, but also think about betraying your team in order to get a better cut, makes for a very interesting and unique experience. And the game is cross-platform, so PC users will have the oppurtunity to prove the 13-year-old pre-pubescent console-loving fanboys that mouse+keyboard=WIN.
While this game has an excellent story, game mechanics, and MP, it does have it's flaws:
-The AI in SP can be rather stupid at times
-As most games are these days, this game's a little too short for my liking
-While the story is great, they could have made the game longer and gone into the backstory of each character a little more.
-Co-op appears to be very interesting, but has no LAN option. You have to play split screen
Those few points aside, the game's absolutely marvelous, and I recommend it to anyone who likes good shooting games and crime drama.
I was also horribly disappointed when I read Gamespot's review for this game on the 360 last week. It looked like BS, it smelled like BS, and after spending a lot of time with the game, I can confirm that it IS total, Grade A BS. Reviewers have complained that the cover system is "broken", and that the aiming is horrible and so is hit-detection. All are falsehoods. The cover system is far from broken, and, though it is a tad clunky, it works very well once you get the hang of it. Aiming is not your typical consolish rail-gun/auto-aim extreme accuracy. It is far more realistic. If you shoot at somebody 100 meters or more away with a full-auto carbine, it may take a few short bursts before you finally bring him down, but as you see the bullets impact downrange, you can see that everything is as it should be, and the more realistic accuracy of the firearms present in the game makes the game feel less dumbed-down for the run-and-gun console types. That's not to say the game is horribly realistic, but the aiming IS, and it's also perfect the way it is. As for complaints about hit-detection, I've never experienced a problem with it. You can see each round you fire impact into both people and the environment, and I've never shot somebody without hurting them.
I feel sorry that I watched all the gameplay videos before I played it, because it took a bit of the "WOW" factor out of some of the more awesome/outrageous missions. Without giving anything away, this game simply has some of the COOLEST environments and missions in a video game, though, unfortunately, they seem to start to get less awesome after about half or 2/3 of the way through.
I haven't been able to play it much because the last couple of days NOBODY has been on the servers, but I did get in two or three games of the Fragile Alliance MP. The enemy AI in MP is pretty tough, and if you die, your teammates can't heal you like in SP, you just die. You also have a limited amount of time before the getaway vehicle makes it's last trip around. This means that in order to be successful, you have to work together as a team or you will ALL die very quickly. But, at the same time, you have to worry about one of your teammates backstabbing you, stealing your cash, and taking it all for himself. So, the fact that you have to work as a team in order to survive, but also think about betraying your team in order to get a better cut, makes for a very interesting and unique experience. And the game is cross-platform, so PC users will have the oppurtunity to prove the 13-year-old pre-pubescent console-loving fanboys that mouse+keyboard=WIN.
While this game has an excellent story, game mechanics, and MP, it does have it's flaws:
-The AI in SP can be rather stupid at times
-As most games are these days, this game's a little too short for my liking
-While the story is great, they could have made the game longer and gone into the backstory of each character a little more.
-Co-op appears to be very interesting, but has no LAN option. You have to play split screen
Those few points aside, the game's absolutely marvelous, and I recommend it to anyone who likes good shooting games and crime drama.
