Decent shooter, lots of weapons and a good GITS Stand Alone Complex storyline - at least check it out before dismissing
Story:
For me, the best aspect of the game, being a GITS fan. It plays out just like a good Stand Alone Complex episode, and if this is to your taste, you'll probably like it a lot. If not, you probably won't bother anyway. All the voice actors from the series provide their voices, and although the cutscenes use the in game engine and not animation, it all hangs together nicely.
Gameplay:
OK, the AI is dumb and the controls are not dual analog, but it still plays out pretty well. If you like running and blasting ala Doom, this game isn't for you. The enemies range from easy to not quite so easy to kill dudes with a variety of guns, to tanks, bots and copters. The AI is bad, but I haven't played a game that has really good AI. Most hard AI is just cheap, not smart. It kept my interest, and that's what's important. And I never died a 'cheap' death, which to me is important.
Graphics:
Surprisingly good to me. The screenshots didn't look like much, though the videos offered some hope. In game, the early levels are boxy, small and bland, but later levels do have good scale and variety, particularly the outdoor city levels. Textures aren't bad and the models are great. The animation is pretty good and the weapon effects are very nice.
Audio:
Very nice audio. The music is very anime (of course), though not a lot of variety. The voice overs, as mentioned before, are by the series cast and are great. The sound effects are good, though not outstanding.
Value:
Well, most shooters are that long, and the one's that are usually get pretty tired after a while, but this isn't a very long game. If you like GITS, it has higher value, if not, well...
Tilt:
Since I like GITS, that tips the scales for me quite a bit. This is a very good representation of the GITS 'world', and makes for a good, but not great game. Ten times better than Coded Arms in play and presentation, it's at least worth a rental for the FPS fan.