Anyone who has wanted to be in a John Woo action movie now can have that chance.
This is one of the more action packed and intense shooters in recent memory. The gameplay itself isn't entirely original. You can carry two different types of weapons at a time and they are the standard fare. Most levels start you with a pistol but you can find shotguns, machine guns, and assault rifles. The game is very similar to Max Payne or Enter the Matrix. You can slow time for a set duration. The slow motion refills at a decent rate, so it is almost always available. Defeating enemies builds up special moves that are unlocked throughout the game. The first is a simple, but very useful, healing ability. The second brings the game to a near standstill and allows you the chance to fine tune a single shot. When you hit the trigger, the camera chases the bullet to the enemy and is followed by their death sequence in slow motion. The third is a kind of rampage mode where you have unlimited ammo and health for a short time. The final is used to kill every enemy in the room in a very cinematic sequence. This last ability is also where the magically appearing doves make their entrance. I know John Woo loves his doves, but their random appearances are strange. Charging up these abilities is done fairly quickly, so you don't have to worry about saving them for major battles and can use them liberally. There are many objects in the environment that you can interact with in order to perform cool moves from; anything from rolling along pushcarts, sliding down banisters, swinging on hanging lamps, all while shooting enemies. Unfortunately, these moves sometimes aren't easy to pull off and you will find that it is more effective to simply run and gun in a more straight forward manner. To add a little variety, there are shootout sequences. You will occasionally come across a room with a couple of guys who already have their guns aimed at you. In a ridiculously dramatic cinematic, your character will point his gun at each of them. Then, you will take aim at each individually with the left joystick while dodging their bullets with the right. They are cool sequences, but I was always left wondering what the last guy in the room was doing while I was systematically killing all of his friends. Instead of standing there and waiting his turn, he could have easily shot me in the back at any time.
As far as enemies go, the game took the approach of throwing hundreds at you instead of making them smart. There are several sequences where a group of guys will run up a staircase in a line and allow you to mow them down. Most enemies will stand in one place and shoot at you without trying to take cover or even move out of your line of fire. The challenge of the game comes from the shear number of enemies. There are actually too many guys for my tastes. There are so many that one or two (or even five) kills don't really give you any sense of accomplishment. It is also hard to worry about your character when you know that he is fully capable of walking into a room with forty enemies and walking out unscathed. The game also makes you wonder if one guy can take out so many criminals, how is it that crime still even exists in Hong Kong? There is really no sense of dread because you are such a badass. I did die from time to time, but I couldn't believe it actually happened when it did. The boss battles are a bit on the lame side. They aren't any different than a regular enemy. They just have the best weapons and take a hundred bullets to take down.
The story is generic in every possible way. You are the renegade cop that always goes against your boss. The game completely telegraphs every scene that is found in every boring action movie. First, you disobey orders and go to the scene of the first level. Shortly after, you turn in your badge but continue your mission. Then you are betrayed by a fellow cop that I saw coming from the moment he entered the game. Close to the end is the death of a friend that is used to make the finale more emotional. Everything was so unoriginal that I never cared what was going on.
The game looks great, but considering that it was made using the Unreal engine, the graphics are a little disappointing. Next to Gears of War (which also used the Unreal engine) and Unreal itself, it just doesn't compare. There are virtually no shadows in the game, which is really the only problem with the graphics, but just this one exclusion makes the whole game look unrealistic. It also doesn't have the gritty look of Gears so the locations almost seem too clean. The environments themselves are wonderfully destructible. Most everything will begin to crumble when under enough gunfire. The hit locations on enemies are also impressive. While most games are content to simply allow players to execute head shots, this game separates it further by allowing enemies to be hit in the throat, mouth, either eye, and the forehead. There are also many individual locations on the rest of the body that can be hit. This may not be very noticeable in normal play, but the bullet-following special ability mentioned above showcases these hits beautifully. There are also very few clipping problems. Enemies fall and land on objects realistically. From a technical standpoint, the game is quite an achievement. If Gears of War hadn't come first, this game would have seemed even more impressive.
At its heart, this is a great action game. The story is a complete afterthought and the action can get repetitive. Even with this, it is a fun and frantic game that succeeds at being a well put together shooter. As long as you don't go in expecting a movie quality script (since this is supposed to be the sequel to Woo's 1992 film, Hard Boiled) the game will supply you with some mindless fun.