A jolting ride through hell with excellent gameplay and graphics.
The positives:
It has excellent graphics, and the sound is amazing. When you brush by a shelf, you can hear the containers or paper work rattle or rustle. You can even judge how far away an opponent is by his footsteps or voice. Plus the musical score is created by a Czech orchestra, which adds a lot to the tension in many intense battle scenes or when needed it adds some comic relief. I expecially like the corny Muzak from the Blues Brothers movie in the elevator during a certain fight sequence.
One is amazed with the textures on the tile floors, painted wallsand even drywall panels looks very real. Then the ablity of bullets, and grandes to destory all this beauty. I do not have my graphics maxed out. During fight sequences the air will be filled with dust, granade smoke, shredded paper and blood vapor.
The computer AI is very good though not any where near human. The Bad guys have some new tricks they learned, compared to other games, such as the ablity to knock over tables, boxes, shelves to use as cover, and jump through windows to either flee or attack you. They will give one hell of a fight, as they unload on you and since many scenes have mulitable BGs you will really need to use your slow motion wisely. And if fired upon most times they will seek cover. However, the friendly forces are there to just move the story along and most die trying. Though I rarely use the special attacks, after the first part of the game I like the ability to bicycle kick and/or melee attack opponents when needed. Many FPS games leave this ability out. The game's story though slow in developing throughout most of the game, does pickup the pace towards the end. Most of the plot does tie together pretty well at the end level.
The negatives:
Many of these are just nit picks but some should be addressed in the sequels. If there are any. First as most already know the game is a system hog, and to enjoy the game one does not need a top end system but at least a excellent graphics and sound card. One of the biggest faults I find in the game is the story. It is just not scary or well thought out. Even in a darken room with the sound up. Yes, I am startled many times with a flash of Alama, Fettle or a bloody body. However, in the end this does not make it frightening. At best I would call it creepy, with the music score.
The main characters, besides Fettle are very one dimensional with little to no background information. The story also moves along very slowly, with just bits and pieces strung along, and many times, you hit a section of the game where no new evidence is brought forward. I never found the story or characters engaging. It all seemed to be an after thought to the gamplay.
In addition, the action always is taking place inside, in darkly lit corridors of an office building or warehouse. Rarely are you ever outside. I understand why they are doing this to make you feel Closter phobic. Which seem such a waste since they could of created some very nice outdoor locations. However, like fighting the same soldiers repeatedly it just makes the game repetitive. Most of the soliders, beside the specialist, are not hard to kill if you correctly use your slow motion with headshots. You can lay waste to entire squad in no time with headshots and a swift kick to the head. Though the last two levels are more diffucult. It does not make up for the rest of the game. Also the game play is short. I believe a good gamer on the hard difficuilty should be able to beat the game within 10 hrs.
In the end, the game is fun to play due to the excellent gameplay, and graphics. The story is contived and seem to be an after thought to the game creators. The maps are well done, but very repetive and become very disorinting. The dialogue is just corny, and I could really care less about the story. You will enjoy it as long as you do not pay attention to how you are fighting the same soldiers, in the same dark room for hours.