Just picked up my copy from EB, i'll post some thoughts after i've had a few hours to play.
Edit: Got a few hours under my belt, and it's actually
damned good. Not the be-all and end-all of gaming as some people made it out to be, but it's still a pretty awesome game. I'm really digging the whole immersion factor, keeping it strictly to the player's perspective. Obviously they took notice of how well it played in Half Life and FEAR. I'm also liking how deliciously twisted the story is, having just traveled through the medical area where sanity is certainly in short supply.
Very unsettling.
On the down side, it does seem rather more linear than I would like. Also, the whole Big Daddy/Little Sister deal has been a bit too toned down for my liking. Depraved as it may make me seem, I really liked the earlier designs where the girl was so
human, rather than some invincible demon child. Not to mention bringing it all down to a single-button choice as to whether kill or save the Little Sister, which
really breaks the immersion factor. Sure, you'd have family watchdogs, religious groups and dumb parents up in arms if they'd made the player
manually kill the little brat, but i'm sure they could have come up with a way that didn't just kill the mood. Something a little more complex given how it apparently represents some major moral choice throughout the game. Finally, more of a nitpick, without doubt the Big Daddy moves faster than conventional physics should allow. Seriously, he can zoom around a room even though he must weigh a bloody
ton. Has he not heard of a little thing we like to call
inertia? Still, given that i'm writing this as I telekinetically catch grenades and throw them around the room, I really shouldn't be so anal about physics violations.
Still, damned good. It's got style, atmosphere, and - shockingly - an interesting story! Should tide me over for a while, or at least until Mass Effect comes out.
