I have to echo most of Sy's statements. Picked this up today and have given it a good few hours, and it's pretty amazingly cool. I think that's actually the biggest thing in its favor: it's cool. I mean, it's a standard sci-fi story thus far (though I've seen hints of where it may be going), and even a fairly standard setup, but everything is just so cool. Your ship is cool, the ship you go to is cool, your suit is cool, the way your guy's HUD (which isn't a HUD to you, but sort of pops up in front of him as an actual 3D hologram -- has to be seen to be appreciated, trust me) is fucking cool, the enemies are cool (at least if you're a big fan of The Thing), the weapons are cool, the upgrade system is cool... that's really the best word I can use to define the game. That isn't to say it's pure novelty, because the core mechanics are very solid and the story is being told convincingly with high production values, originality of setup aside.
Gameplay isn't revolutionary, but it's very satisfying. As Sy said, you get a real nice sense of impact when you or an enemy lands a hit, and it helps that the animation is absolutely top notch. Whoever animated this thing would have the right to be obscenely proud. It just flows really well, and so not only do you have the great audio punch of impact, but also the visual punch, plus the mechanical punch.
Fortunately, the audiovisual stuff is pretty prevalent all over. There are tons of nice touches on both counts, and while this isn't necessarily the most amazing-looking game you've ever seen, it's an extremely cohesive package that feels and looks really natural, and makes great use of the effects it employs. It's very, very good looking. The design is fairly reminiscent of Doom 3 on both fronts, perhaps not so surprisingly. This game feels like it took a lot of inspiration from id, though I really don't mean that in a bad way. I thought Chris Vrenna's environmental cues were brilliant there, and this has a very similar feel, with the various sounds of the ship sort of coming across as almost vaguely musical at times, often adding a sense of relief or foreboding to a given scene. Atmosphere is palpable, due not only to great audio but also very rich visual acoustics. You get a real sense of depth and substance from the mist and smoke effects, and the cinematic flair of the game is very evident right from the start. It sets up some great scenes even with the camera stuck behind the main character. And when you lose a little control and watch something, they do a pretty great job so far of making it just great to watch, and the seamless nature of that loss and regaining of control is well done and very natural feeling. In fact, one cutscene did a masterful job of integrating a little bit of control with what was essentially "supposed to happen".
Anyway, whoever is truly behind this game did a remarkable job just with the design elements alone, and that well-laid framework seems to have brought what might have been a standard action game into something much, much more intriguing. I'd say the game more or less plays like a faster, more fluid RE4. It's similar, but the movement of it is much quicker, you can think on your feet and rely on your instincts more, and quick thinking can become quick action which can become a great shot or two in the heat of battle or on the tail of an abmush. As far as mouse control... I don't know that I feel as bad about it as Sy does. I've already found that with less precise control I'm still doing a lot of precision shooting, and my one weapon so far has at times had so much ammo I can barely hold anything else!
But yeah, this is great. If you're even remotely interested in the basic premise, I can't imagine you being disappointed.
