would have been a classic, if they hadnt gone with the "kill everyone" philosophy
Graphics:
as with almost everything these days it has superb graphics and a very natural feel to it. i almost feels like im back in africa when i play this game, minus killing the inhabitants of course.
Online:
i didnt clock too many hours in the online as it was a compitant multiplayer but didnt seem to have anything going for it apart for the soort-of half-arsed upgrading system.
you'll have fun making maps though but about 75-80% of all the user-created maps seem to favour snipers. alot.
now we get to the bad.
Gameplay:
i need to address what im about to say, and say that the gameplay mechanics by themselves as ideas are not bad in any way. what makes them bad is the execution of them.
first off is my main complaint. it takes forever to get anywhere. there are bus stations which act a quick-travel but they are so widely spaced that even getting to one is a chore. this wouldnt be so bad if side-missions were close-ish to each other but they're on opposite ends of the insanely large map which will make you turn the game off i assure you.
now that wouldnt have been so bad if it were not for my next major issue.
everyone wants to kill you. every person you meet is packing heat and wants you dead, no questions asked.
they have factions which i assumed would allow you to side with one or the other to gain a bit of peace while travelling about but no. this gets extremely agitating when you are driving around for side quests and get rammed off the road by a civvie in a 4x4 who has somehow aquired an assault rifle and wants to rape you with it.
now this issue would not be as bad if it were not for my third and last issue.
every enemy can take at least a full clip of any weapon before being wounded. this has to be the first game i have ever played where the enemies have more health than you on easy difficulty.
if you're shot with a full mag of AK rounds your taking a dirt nap, you try the same with an NPC and its like you pinched him.
overall:
i was hyped for this game from all the vids id seen and all the fancy stuff they said "look, shoot an enemy in the foot and his buddies will help him out and be distracted" but what we got was really "Welcome to Africa: Kill Everyone"
my advice is get fallout 3 as you'll get a better deal.