Okay, so I'm 8 hours in on the PC version. I'm having a lot of fun - the gameplay reminds me a lot of Far Cry where you get take over strongpoints with different enemy types at your own pace and in your own style, with room to get creative with approaches, vehicles and weapons.
The stealth mechanics don't feel all that different from something like Far Cry or Watch Dogs - shallow but serviceable and not as immersion-breaking as the gameplay footage made it out to be.
The combat is great, mostly thanks to the feel of the weapons and animations. However, I don't like the very sticky cover system... it's too finicky to move from cover to cover fluidly. Even though the mechanics should allow you do to so on paper, it's hit and miss in actual combat. Having said that, fights are never boring and can be quite challenging when you get overwhelmed.
The framerate lock is baffling but not a huge issue for me - after playing around with the mouse sensitivity (playing without auto-aim) I feel the game controls smoothly and consistently. I still want my higher framerates though.
I love the design of the city, it's very varied and smartly laid out with lots of detail. The nighttime can look amazing. However the graphics become very blurry out at a small distance which is especially noticeable in bright sunlight. Not only doesn't it look as crisp as in the trailer footage, the blurriness actually hinders gameplay when you're trying to engage in firefights at a distance - doable but it strains the eyes. Please give me some proper options to tweak this stuff!
Besides muddy graphics, my other issues are:
- Why the hell can't I switch takedowns from lethal to non-lethal on the fly? It's ridiculous to hide that option three menus deep.
- Either I missed something or there's a bug that won't let me pick up grenades. Haven't been able to get a single one off the ground since the tutorial (the icon floats above the pick-up but it's just crossed out.)
The best stuff so far:
- The story and dialogue, in combination with the acting (both animation and voice-wise), is stellar. Damn, it's been such a long time since I played a game with a narrative that feels like it was written by grown-ups and doesn't sound like a third-rate television series. There's a lot of depth poured into the world and the characters and while not all of it is touched on directly but you 'feel' it enough to make the whole story come alive.
- The period music. Fuck yeah.