The love child of the Mass Effect games and the Jason Bourne films!
You start the game by selecting your background (Soldier, Tech Specialist, Secret Agent, Freelancer) which basically does your skill point allocation for you (Freelancer allows you to do the allocation yourself). There are also the Recruit and Veteran options: Recruit starts you at level 0 (ie. no XP/AP & no skills chosen yet) and opens up a unique dialog selection during the tutorial; and Veteran is basically "New Game +". There are no "classes" as such, every character has access to the same set of skills - it's which skills you choose to specialize in that determine the uniqueness of your character. The skill point allocation system is very similar to Mass Effect - you have a list of skills you can spend AP on when you gain enough experience, increasing the rank of the skill, and at certain ranks unlock abilities for your character. Each skill can have up to 10 ranks allocated to it. This can be extended to 15 ranks for three skills only, which you choose later in the game - acting much like specialization classes commonly found in these types of RPG. The skills are pretty much what you'd expect to find in a spy RPG: Stealth, Sabotage, Toughness, Technical Aptitude, and a bunch of weapon skills (Martial Arts(melee), Pistol, SMG, Assault Rifles, Shotguns). You don't actually customise the look of your character until later in the game, when you can do it any time from any Safehouse.
Dialogue is also similar to Mass Effect in that your selection dictates the type of response, rather than the actual words spoken. Even more so than in Mass Effect actually, as you are limited to one word selections (eg. Professional, Suave, Spiteful etc.) to describe the "vibe" of your response. There is also a time-limit on your response - NPCs don't wait for your selection once they've said their bit, if it's your turn to speak then the default selection is chosen as your response. The selection you make can affect how the NPC treats in the future, how the game plays out, or even unlocks abilities. Basically an extension of the Good/Grey/Bad alignment system of this type of RPG.
The opening act of the game is a tutorial of sorts, taking you through the basic elements of gameplay. Again, movement and combat is much like Mass Effect - a basic FPS where your actual accuracy doesn't necessarily correspond to in-game accuracy (which is calculated against the relevant weapon skill). Something which I first contributed to a bug, having shot someone point-blank in the face and seen no effect until the second or third shot. But with a rank of 0 in Pistols, no wonder. Crouching (and your rank in Stealth) helps to avoid detection, while pressing another button snaps you to nearby cover from which you can lean & shoot from. Melee combat is as simple as tapping a button to strike. Buying ranks in Martial Arts is supposed to expand your repotoire of moves, but the initial melee combo seemed effective enough. Striking an enemy while undetected performs a takedown move to quickly and quietly eliminate them (think Batman: Arkhum Asylum).
There are a few mini-games for disabling alarms, lockpicking, and computer hacking. The first two are very simple (at least on the PC): disabling alarms involves selecting four circuit breakers in correct order (determined by tracing a path from a number node to the corresponding circuit breaker), while lockpicking consists of aligning three chambers, a very easy task with the mouse. I think these two will be more challenging on a console (due to lower resolutions and less precise controls). Computer hacking, on the other hand, was very hard from the go (at least for me). Hacking involves matching two sequences of alphanumeric characters (I'll call CODE1 and CODE2) in a large grid of swiftly changing characters. The characters that fit the sequences are static - which makes it sound easy to pick them out. And it is, once you get used it. Trouble is the grid resets every few seconds, often just after you've spotted one of the sequences. Also, to select the sequence within the grid, you have to move CODE1 and CODE2 from the top of the screen into the grid - CODE1 is controlled via keyboard (WASD) and CODE2 via the mouse. The keyboard control is so slow, and the mouse control so fast, that selecting the sequences before the grid resets becomes such a finicky process that it borderlines on the unfair. And with only 20 or so seconds on the clock, the timer seems to run out just as you're establishing a rhythm. By sheer luck I got through the game's first hack, but I'm treading doing that in the future. I believe on a console controller this particular mini-game would be easier, assuming the CODE1 and CODE2 controls are the two analog sticks. And a larger screen makes matching the sequences easier (and therefore faster). Buying ranks in Sabotage is supposed to aid with these activities, I assume by increasing the timer.
Haven't got around to using gadgets yet, they're basically what make up the rest of your equipment after weapons and armor - like first aid kits, grenades etc. You allocate your equipment via a Weapons Locker (as in Mass Effect 2).
Graphically, the game looks good - maybe a tad shy of the current standard. Comparable to Mass Effect 2. Game runs fairly smoothly on my machine (Athlon AMD 64x2 6000+, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT). I'm used to playing these sort of games on a console, and it always looks sharper on a PC.
My score is just for my initial impressions, I'm hoping the game pans out the way I expect. So far, so good. If you're a fan of any of the games I mentioned in this review, it warrants a look, if not a purchase.