Well, after receiving it this morning and playing it for 6 hours now, I've decided it is one of the most enthralling Shooter's this year.
One thing you will immediately notice in the opening is that the graphics are stunning. If you have a full 1080p hi def TV you will see some of the most – if not the best fire effects, water effects, and some of the character and animal modeling is great, too.
You can tell that Ubisoft have put a lot of effort in, so far the story has been compelling, and almost every aspect is just top-notch.
I have found, however that the weapon aiming can be pretty difficult to immediately lock yourself onto an enemy, and this isn't necessarily a negative thing, since more and more games are incorporating the “auto lock on” thing which immediately targets your enemy. This simply adds to the scare when an enemy creeps up behind you.
This brings me to my next point, the AI (or, enemy intelligence), is superb. No matter what angle, slope, or whatever you are, the enemy will always manage to find you, which makes the entire game feel so much more ‘alive’.
Another brilliant thing is the vehicles in the game. Since the game is a seemless free-roaming map, (instead of the ‘stages’ style you find in COD4, etc) there is a ton of driving in the game. Thankfully, the African dirt roads are beautiful, and, what is possibly THE BEST MAPPING SYSTEM I HAVE COME ACROSS IN A GAME, means that you absolutely always know where you are going.
Overall, the missions are varied, graphics beautiful, sound enchanting, and most importantly gameplay stunning, I have no choice but to say that I am enjoying this game even more than Fallout 3, Dead Space at the moment, lets hope that lasts!
10/10