I'd heard many a rave opinion about this game, it's been sizzled by everyone I talked to who knew about it. Then again, they just happened to work at Gamestop and were trying to sell it to me. In any case, in a few words, great rental, not worth $50.
First off, this game is violent. I don't mean, guts coming out someone's mouth grotesque, but rather stylized violence in the cut-scenes. The intensity doesn't come in what they show you, there's worse in other games, it comes in the cinematic way its presented. For a more mature player, the scenes have a thrilling sense to them, not because there's murder, but rather it's done with style. Think Kill Bill: varying degrees of overdoing violence, so its not as believable. You have people get killed in the cut-scenes, and some of it is brutal, but it's the idea of a throat getting slashed that makes it intense, not actually showing it because the graphics engine isn't really that good.
I know I dwelt a lot on the cut-scenes, and that's because I find them the best part of the game. They're brilliantly written with an excellent cast. The dialog is natural, and feels natural coming out of the actors' mouths.
The plot, unfortunately, is very thin. Without giving anything away, the story could have been fleshed out much more. The first "twist" in the story isn't much of one because it happens within the first hour. By then, you're already 14% into the game. The game moves very VERY fast. It operates in the free roaming/mission manner made popular by Grand Theft Auto. It progresses the story along really quickly, a little too quickly in my opinion, but quickly nonetheless.
Along with the root story missions, you have several side quests you take to improve the character's stats and to make money to buy upgrades. These themselves are what make up a bulk of the game, and what bring it down. These side quests become repetitive after a while since you're doing the same thing over and over again: Find something and kill the bad guys; Get on a horse, kill someone; escort someone, kill everyone else. You pretty much become a murderous errand boy. Yeah, that's fun and all for the first hour, but the game play's shallowness becomes apparent.
In short, there's too much story that this game can hold. The characters are all interesting, the story is deep, there're twists and turns, and stuff shown at the beginning reappears later on for an "Ahhh, I see" moment for the player. Unfortunately, the game is just too short. It could have been a great epic with a little more polish. It felt like it needed a few more months in developing to really feel finished. Rent it Friday, play it, finish it, return it Monday, and you can go on with the rest of your week.
