A good skeleton gives way to a laughable core.
The game has decent graphics that runs reasonably well on medium end systems. Its not as stable as some titles like Mass Effect 2 or Witcher 2, but it does okay. Aside from the generic keybindings putting holster weapons right next to your "throw grenade" key, the controls are pretty competent too.
The RPG elements are utilized pretty well, things like being able to breathe toxic fumes, jump over giant fences, punch through walls, or read a target's biological signals remotely to pass speech checks are all really great ideas that add a lot of flavor to the RPG side of things. Most of your points investments will be spent on upgrades to the hacking mini-game though, and I would have liked to see more combat related augments than just some armor and recoil absorption. As it is, the augments system is mostly for flare or personal style, it doesn't really embrace the RPG aspect of the system unless you're focusing on a stealth based character.
The stealth action is also pretty uncompelling. Stealth kills take a whole energy bar, so its more or less using tranquilizing darts, stun guns or silenced weapons. That or prepare to chug regeneration items. Then if a body is found the guards wander around a few meters then go back to twiddling their thumbs, they don't act like trained guards like in other stealth titles like Metal Gear Solid.
The guns are utterly uninteresting. They don't have the heft or power you feel in other games that base their gameplay in the FPS aspect, its mostly just uninteresting shoot here, have the target you've just shot barely respond then fall over. Some of the death animations are just laughable. Shoot a guy in the head and he'll slump 2 inches forward in his chair and just sit there like nothing happened. No entry or exit wounds, no visual detail on the environment, and certainly no reaction that you would expect from someone who was just shot. It all sets up an environment where it feels like your actions have no consequences.
In the China mission I actually decided I'd put this to the test. I ran through the city shooting and killing every civilian I ran across, city security, everything. After waiting out the alerts, police officers were literally stepping over the bodies of people I'd just massacred in broad daylight warning me of the dangers of the slums a few blocks over. By the time I got through the nightclub there were more than 30 bodies strewn everywhere and I found I couldn't immediately continue my mission. A-ha! I said. Finally a consequence. Then I left the bar, came back in and waited for the alert to wear off, then the last surviving waitress proceeded to ask me if I wanted anything after stepping over 5 bodies she had personally seen me kill. This continues on and on, by the time I make it to meeting the pilot I've killed half the people in the city and she proceeds to tell me what a "good guy" I am and how "wrong about me people are" for agreeing to solve her friend's murder, then proceeds to step over more of the bodies I killed right in front of her. Its like living in an alternate reality where your actions have absolutely no consequences.
All-in-all the game plays like a previous gen title. Its like playing Grand Theft Auto 3 in first person with a cheat on to stop gaining wanted levels. The AI is that bad. It tries to do a lot of things, none of them "good". Its competent enough in most areas, but its not a title you can expect any degree of replay value out of. If you're looking for a story driven title you're better off with an interactive drama like Heavy Rain. The game isn't bad it just isn't good. With the AI this out of date its very puzzling why this game is getting such glowing reviews.