This isn't as bad as some make it out to be.
The plot isn't anything new, but what did people expect? If every game that was released is revolutionary, then we'd only get a handful of games per year. Give the developers a break people, they're not there to produce Oscar caliber games, just games that you can waste your time on. The characters' backgrounds are slowly revealed throughout the course of the game, so in the beginning you don't know much about your crew but learn pieces of their history as the game progresses...not very satisfying I know. The ending is a plot twist, a bit sad and the game ends in a question mark. You're in an escape pod floating off into space, and that's the end of the game.
The length of the game wasn't short, I found it typical of FPS. You want a game you can play for days, go get a RPG.
There are no saves in-game, there are checkpoints however.
The difficulty is EXTREMELY EASY, a joke. You'll probably never run out of ammo, there are a lot of health/shield/ammo pickups. The weapons look badass, but most are just your run of the mill shooters. I didn't like how you had to cycle through weapons just to get the one you wanted, you couldn't pick the one you wanted without going through the others. This becomes annoying when, say, you have the magnum and now want the sniper rifle. While the enemy is shooting at you, you are there cycling through your inventory. Shotguns in this game are also much more accurate than other FPS I've played. A guy blasting his shotgun from a distance can actually start to deplete your shield. The vibration, when enabled, is flawed. For example, if you got hit with a bullet, the vibration would be the same as if you got hit with a rocket. So just when you think you've taken a lot of damage based on feel, you realize that its just exaggerated.
The graphics are playable. I have never come across the terrible graphics that others have described. There is a problem with the default settings though. The gamma is too low, you have to increase it in order to see clearly or you'll play the entire game feeling like dusk, straining to see. This is bothersome until you find out how to correct it with the gamma. Another problem is the framerate. There are a few times when the game became very sluggish and it was moving along very choppy-like.
The voice acting isn't bad, but the volume is off. For example, your character would talk softly but your crew would talk louder.