Great graphics poor story and average game play makes this game average.
If you like to kill things ->grab stuff ->sell stuff and repeat, then this is the game for you. Thanks to a lack of social depth and a generic story with very boring side quests a this game falls way short of its potential (oblivion is better but even it has similar shortcomings).
The basics for a good game are here. An interesting world, great graphics and artwork, neat weapons and armor, cool looking monsters, and an easy inventory/travel system. However, the game is incomplete in terms of how it was filled to make it immersible and keep the story moving.
There is not much in the world to make it an true RPG. Perhaps they will do better next time around since the critiques are pretty much the same across the board.
The game is not as bad a some suggest nor is it as good as other say. Most people who like this game are probably younger and have never played a real RPG like Baldur's Gate, and those who hate it are probably just irritated that there hasn't been a great RPG for the PC since console gamers have dumbed down game play for PC gamers.
In short this game is a good example of a watered down "RPG" that seeks to sell as many copies as possible across gaming platforms. In order to do that game play has to suffer-- it just has to look good while doing it.