Warning! If you don't enjoy PVP this is NOT the game for you. If you love PVP please read on.
Ok so I have played almost every MMORPG to date... I started back when UO "Ultima Online" first came out and played everything since then including WoW. This is a hardcore PVP game. This is NOT for the casual gamer. If you are a casual gamer you will be let down and become frustrated. It is also part FPS... so if you are not good or at least decent at those type of games you will also be frustrated because there is no auto attack... you have to aim every single ability.
For those that played UO it is pretty much that but in 3D. This includes full body loot. This means that anyone can loot all your items if you should die to PVE or PVP. While this may seem harsh to the newcomers to MMO's (by newcomer I mean within the last 5 years, yes that is considered new) it is not that harsh considering this was the standard when it all first started. It is only recently that games became carebear aka WoW. In WoW I can log back in... create a level 1 character and get it to level 80 probably in 2-3 weeks of grinding. Then probably see all the PVE and PVP content available after 2 months of playing if you play a lot. In that amount of time... you will still be considered fresh meat in Darkfall. These are all just disclaimers so I can get rid of the Trolls that will inevitably say... ZOMG this game suxors because I attacked someone on day 2 of playing but I can't kill him. That's like being level 10 in WoW and trying to kill a level 80. In Darkfall it is hard to tell how much stronger a person is compared to you unless you recognize the gear they are wearing. There is no level indicator of any sort. So you have been warned.
Graphics:
Screenshots and videos don't do it justice. At first I thought it was going to look absolutely horrible. To my surprise the environment graphics are great. However, to be honest the character models are average at best. I believe the reason for doing it this way is because this game is meant to support large scale 100+ battles and if all the character models look great... everyone will be fighting at 1fps. Currently I run the game at over 100fps... yes over 100 fps. I run WoW at around 50-60. Animations are ok not great. Oh almost everything is done in first person except when you have a melee weapon... it is a very limited 3rd person and you cannot rotate the camera unless on a mount.
PVE content:
There is PVE content? Don't play this game thinking you are going to do some type of raid and obtain Uber loot. That is not gonna happen. This game was designed to make almost everything craftable by everyone. This way... when you die to a player and get looted it is easy to re-equip yourself for battle. It would be craptastic to spend 10 hours raiding, get the Sword of a Thousand Truths (south park), then get ganked while walking around lol. So they made no "Epic" gear. There is a huge difference between lowbie and high end crafted gear though. There is a grind of sorts. If you don't mind fighting a few select monsters just to level up skills then it's not so bad. If you think you should be able to kill anything with your leet mmo/fps skills right out of the city that's not going to happen. Get used to committing time to a certain weapon/magic type/archery to level that skill up.
PVP content:
Got gank anyone? Ok I am biased here because I have played UO and don't mind the full loot upon death. It makes it exciting to me because it really matters if I die. My heart is pumping when I PVP unlike WoW. If you die... meh I respawn in 30 seconds. In Darkfall, you will bust out everything you can think of to kill and not be killed. The rewards are great for surviving because to the victor goes the spoils. However, if you die... there goes your stuff. Fortunately PVE mobs drop all the weapons and armor you are going to need. Although not the best (the best is crafted) it is still decent gear. There is a lot of fast paced movement involved in pvp. If you like to just stand there and mash your attack key your are going to get face rolled 100% of the time. People will run in hit you with melee... knock you back, bring out their wand to heal themselves, bust out their bow to shoot you while you are tying to get back to him, when you do get to him he's gonna have his sword back out ready to whack you again. Being able to dodge and strafe around to make him miss his spells and bow attacks are crucial. Think of Counter Strike or Modern Warfare 2... slightly slower paced than that but no less intense.
End Game:
MORE PVP!!! PVE end game does not exist. End game is going with clans and alliances to take over villages or cities. I have not had the chance to partake in any naval attack so I can't speak to that.
Crafting:
Love it or hate it. Love it in the sense that you can hit harvest lumber and walk away because you will keep harvesting until you run out of stamina. However, hate it because it does take awhile even though you don't have to monitor it. Also hate it because if you are harvesting outside of safe towns... guess what? It's a PVP game. You can and will be ganked from time to time harvesting materials for crafting.
Final Notes:
Once again... if you are not a dedicated player, hate pvp, want to be uber in 2 months. Don't pick this game up. If you enjoy a challenge then this game may be for you.