Very sloppy and just plain awful.
But no. SquareEnix has failed miserably with this game. The introduction is brief when it comes to controls, then youre off. You are suppose to follow a girl in the airport. This is where the game is already showing its true potential; there isnt any. The controls are stiff and non-responsive.
When it comes to action there is plenty. Even so, too much that it becomes extremely boring. There are continuesly waves of enemies every couple of minutes. Who are these guys? Why are they after you and the girl? The game doesn't explain anything. It's just ducking, shooting and running. Don't you dare ask too much or anything else from it.
Furtherless, the A.I. is horrendous. Enemies move in predictable patterns, they don't think, they pop up every time in the same spot, walk around benches when youre right behind them, have no combat experience - they clutter up to eachother and form a mess -
The thing i just, hated the most, is the melee attack. It almost never connects when it's supposed to. You stand next or close to an enemy, and the correspoding button pops up on screen. You press the button, but nothing happens. I was tapping like 6-7 times, i almost got killed, and the 8th time it connected. Now, this is not random. It happens all the time, trough the whole game. An unbelievable and non forgivabble bug. Just sloppy.
Also, the A.I. of your teammate is just stupid. She walks in your line of sight so many times, it gets frustrating. The whole 'mindjacking' thing is just a gimmick. You can only let enemies 'work' for you. That's it. They attack other enemies for you. There is also the possibility to control other humans / robots that are cowardous or lying around. There is no advantage in that; they all have the same stats (the humans) and die even quicker then the main character.
The robots are fun for a while (yes, i have wasted too many hours on this horror) but tend to get boring as well.
On top of that is the voice acting. It is, well, forced. It's not natural, and typical Japanese with no depth or character development. The music is a mute; it never drags you in, the sound effects are 'ok-ish' and to top it off, the graphics are bland, boring and repetitive. You always seem to walk in the same areas (an airport, a train yard ... yawn..) and it is not inspiring or original.
I have not played this game online, but why should i? The single player experience represents enough, and this is one of the worst games i have played in ages. I can even say that this is the worst game i have played this year, and the year has just begun. This game needed a lot more work, depth and thought.
Now it's just one of the biggest spots of shame for SquareEnix.