My review of the demo:
The grav-twisting effects are nifty as hell, and make for some intriguing exploration (whee, jump up to fall on powerup!). Graphically, kudos for some impressive vistas, like the inside of the sphere through a window. And the spirit-walk was an intriguing mechanic.
Alright, hardball time:
Yes, yes, you have facial animation. But honestly, sitting for 15+ minutes listening to horribly-acted lines delivered by mildly interesting models is what we in the movie business call bad pacing. We're playing a game, not watching a bad movie; while I appreciate a good cine as much as the next man, I want to do something. And, no, classic arcade game clones in the Flash-a-like scripting engine doesn't count.
You know the bit in Doom3 where you're wandering around, with a viscerally-dead, weak weapon, shooting enemies? Or the bit in Quake4? Or...you get the point. The default shooter is stultifyingly boring. The nify biomech detailing is wasted on a weapon with pissant sounds, pedestrian VFX, and the oh-so-exciting functionality of "point at enemy, hold down trigger til dead, repeat"). I recognize that this is the default shooter, but given the length of time one is forced to soldier along with it, I would expect a greater effort to make it interesting. The Doom3 pistol was actually interesting compared to this POS, now that I think about it; and the Quake4 MG was boring, but at least it made some sub-rattling-good noises.
I love it when new mechanics (in this case, portals) are introduced. Could you guys be good chaps and USE THEM FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN PRETTY TELEPORTERS AND TECH-DEMO SIDESHOWS? Jesus.
However, Deathmatch was pretty nifty. Redefines Z-Fighting, for damn shizzle. Weapons sucked, but otherwise cool.
