Might as well start a thread for this. I got the 360 version.
First impressions are the graphics: it's a bit gritty, and the frame-rate isn't always 100% steady in the heat of the action, but nothing worth getting annoyed about. The locations are quite generic and drab (lots of rock, sand and dirt) but I guess that's about par for the course.
First thing I did was the mission 1 tutorial, where it immediately introduces you to the key concept of the game: "aggro" ... basically, fire upon the enemies to draw their fire, making your buddy seem less conspicuous, allowing him to sneak around and mop up the baddies. With the AI in tow, you can control him using the D-pad, telling him to advance, regroup, hold, etc. A single press in the desired direction puts him into defensive mode, whereas a double press puts him into aggressive mode.
Then I got invited to some online action, which is for four players in two teams of two. There are 3 or 4 game modes, though, to be honest, we had no idea what we were doing most of the time. The most understandable mode was "Bounties" where you are on a map containing several objectives (kill a certain person, destroy some installation) ... the current objective will flash up, and whichever team does it first nets the cash reward. In most of the modes, there are AI enemies on the map too, making teamwork essential. If you get shot down, your partner can one-touch-revive you "Gears"-style, and if you get killed, you have to wait 30 seconds to respawn, with the option of paying some of your hard-earned cash for a quick-respawn. All-in-all, reasonably good fun ... but I think once all players have a better idea of what is happening and what is required, it should be pretty darn good.
Back to the campaign mode I went, and stormed through the ridiculously easy first mission on Contractor (medium) difficulty ... Pro difficultly is unlockable. Couldn't find anyone to play with (I expect it won't get busy till Friday), so I was with the AI for this. The AI is pretty good defensively, but not so hot on the offence: it's best to use him to lay down the aggro and do the ninja stuff yourself.
Gameplay-wise, in a nutshell, this is a BLATANT rip-off of Gears of War (right down to the grenade arc indicator), with added bells and whistles, most of which you've probably read about already, but just in case you haven't:
If you're wounded, you fall down, but can still shoot. Your partner has to drag you to safety (with you providing covering fire) and heal you.
When you're surrounded by enemies, you go into a slow-motion "focus" mode called "back-to-back" ... you and your chum stand back-to-back and unleash hell.
You can pick up objects (car doors, etc) and use them as shields, with you holding the shield and your buddy doing the shooting.
Also with the AI, you can co-ordinate sniping, to take out two targets simultaneously ... haven't seen much use for this yet, but it's early days.
Oh, and that aggro thing.
All of the above mechanics work well, and do add a lot. There are also controls for celebrating with your partner, high-fives, etc, if you're into that kind of thing. On the flip-side, you can also reprimand him if he's rubbish.
Second mission was a different kettle of fish, where I got downed frequently and dragged to safety by my AI chum, which I was quite impressed with. There were some neat distractions from the main guts of the game in this mission, notably tandem-parachuting with one of you taking out enemies below with a sniper rifle, and a rescue operation where one of you has to carry a hostage and the other has to make a safe passage. Some reviews I had read had criticised these sections for being gimmicky, but I thought they were well done.
All-in-all, most enjoyable, and it can only get better once I get into some online co-op.
First impressions are the graphics: it's a bit gritty, and the frame-rate isn't always 100% steady in the heat of the action, but nothing worth getting annoyed about. The locations are quite generic and drab (lots of rock, sand and dirt) but I guess that's about par for the course.
First thing I did was the mission 1 tutorial, where it immediately introduces you to the key concept of the game: "aggro" ... basically, fire upon the enemies to draw their fire, making your buddy seem less conspicuous, allowing him to sneak around and mop up the baddies. With the AI in tow, you can control him using the D-pad, telling him to advance, regroup, hold, etc. A single press in the desired direction puts him into defensive mode, whereas a double press puts him into aggressive mode.
Then I got invited to some online action, which is for four players in two teams of two. There are 3 or 4 game modes, though, to be honest, we had no idea what we were doing most of the time. The most understandable mode was "Bounties" where you are on a map containing several objectives (kill a certain person, destroy some installation) ... the current objective will flash up, and whichever team does it first nets the cash reward. In most of the modes, there are AI enemies on the map too, making teamwork essential. If you get shot down, your partner can one-touch-revive you "Gears"-style, and if you get killed, you have to wait 30 seconds to respawn, with the option of paying some of your hard-earned cash for a quick-respawn. All-in-all, reasonably good fun ... but I think once all players have a better idea of what is happening and what is required, it should be pretty darn good.
Back to the campaign mode I went, and stormed through the ridiculously easy first mission on Contractor (medium) difficulty ... Pro difficultly is unlockable. Couldn't find anyone to play with (I expect it won't get busy till Friday), so I was with the AI for this. The AI is pretty good defensively, but not so hot on the offence: it's best to use him to lay down the aggro and do the ninja stuff yourself.
Gameplay-wise, in a nutshell, this is a BLATANT rip-off of Gears of War (right down to the grenade arc indicator), with added bells and whistles, most of which you've probably read about already, but just in case you haven't:
If you're wounded, you fall down, but can still shoot. Your partner has to drag you to safety (with you providing covering fire) and heal you.
When you're surrounded by enemies, you go into a slow-motion "focus" mode called "back-to-back" ... you and your chum stand back-to-back and unleash hell.
You can pick up objects (car doors, etc) and use them as shields, with you holding the shield and your buddy doing the shooting.
Also with the AI, you can co-ordinate sniping, to take out two targets simultaneously ... haven't seen much use for this yet, but it's early days.
Oh, and that aggro thing.
All of the above mechanics work well, and do add a lot. There are also controls for celebrating with your partner, high-fives, etc, if you're into that kind of thing. On the flip-side, you can also reprimand him if he's rubbish.
Second mission was a different kettle of fish, where I got downed frequently and dragged to safety by my AI chum, which I was quite impressed with. There were some neat distractions from the main guts of the game in this mission, notably tandem-parachuting with one of you taking out enemies below with a sniper rifle, and a rescue operation where one of you has to carry a hostage and the other has to make a safe passage. Some reviews I had read had criticised these sections for being gimmicky, but I thought they were well done.
All-in-all, most enjoyable, and it can only get better once I get into some online co-op.
but yes £50 is quite steep for Xbox 360 stuff now.
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