1st time I played this I was disappointed. Picked up again after a few months, stuck to my guns, and ended up loving it
When I played this game the first time, I was totally frustrated. The controls was a pain. I never knew in which direction I was going and the camera felt inconsistent. The final nail in the coffin was that first car chase scene. I was so exhausted afterwards (where you have to race away from the collapsing earth) that I decided I had enough. It probably took me about 30 attempts to finish it, with the last 20 attempts failing at the very last bit, accidentally hitting a car parked next to the road or something silly, and then starting the whole scene over from scratch. A few checkpoints would've been nice.
Last week I decided to give it another try. This time I paid attention to the controls and played around a bit to print it into my head. I managed to figure out when and when not to use 3rd or 1st person view. I started to anticipate when the camera view will change. At least it's consistent so you can anticipate it after a while and work with it.
Then the action portion of the controls. There's a few very important things to know regarding your controls before you can really enjoy this game. The focus button when attacking an enemy is golden. No matter in which direction you are facing, once you hit that button you will turn to face your closest enemy. Keep it pressed while attacking and your are much more accurate. I personally think the fact that the monsters get up after a while adds to the challenge, because you have to knock them out and burn them before they wake up again.
The quick selection slots for some inventory combinations is also golden. Without this the real time inventory system would've been a real pain. To start using this feature is simple. While in your inventory you can combine several items together, then equip them in your hands. Once you have your combination you like you can save it in a quick slot by pressing up and one of the 4 action buttons. Now this combination is available in an instant. You access them in exactly the same way once outside of your inventory 'menu'.
This works great, because now you don't have go and create those combinations manually all the time. As long as you have those individual items on you, you can quickly select one of your quick slots and it will automatically combine the items and equip them for you and you're ready to rock and roll. Quickly switch from throwing a Molotov cocktail to spraying flames on zombies to having your gun and torch in both hands in an instant.
Yes, that damn car scene in the beginning frustrated me again, but the 2nd time around I managed to get it after about 10 attempts. That is by far the most annoying bit of the game.
After that the story becomes really interesting. The atmosphere in the game is fantastic. I love the music, the eery feeling whilst working around in misty central park, the recap which is like a highlights reel before you continue your saved game is a really cool concept, because you are reminded about key moments in the game and how the whole plot and your involvement in it is unfolding.
I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm pretty close. I'm about to enter the mysterious room 943. Apparently after that the game becomes really wild!!! I absolutely can't wait to get home tonight to check it out.
I'm playing it in Stereoscopy 3D using NVidia's 3DTV Play. The 3D on this game isn't mind blowing, but it does add to the atmosphere.
So, in a nutshell, if you can train your brain to know the controls, then you will enjoy the game - it has so much to offer if you get pass that challenge :)