A very console-like FPS on a portable....and it's fun!
First, let me get this out of the way - this game does feel incomplete - the cut-scenes are strangely filled with compression artifacts and seemingly limited bit-depth. As has been said, the multiplayer matchmaking is virtually broken in its current state. The included modes and options for multiplayer seem just adequate and nothing more.
Now the good: for the first time ever on a portable, I felt like I at times lost myself in an FPS - transparent controls, large environs with plenty of detail, weapons that mirror those you might find in a console shooter, fantastic character animation (that no one seems to mention - from the facial animations to the fluid body movement) good use of pixel and vertex shaders, as well as quite convincing lighting and color balance. Folks that are complaining about poor texture quality are likely noticing the lack of anisotropy - it looks like they use only simple, trilinear filtering making distant or off-angle textures look a bit blurry. However, it is quite passable. Folks, there is quite a bit of scale in this game - plenty of moments when a door swings open from a nicely lit indoor environ to seamlessly reveal a quarter-mile long street teeming with friends and/or foes with no apparent performance hit.
This is the problem the Vita has to contend with: it is in "console territory." Reviewers and everyone else instinctively compare Vita to PS3 and XBOX 360 - because, frankly, it is much closer to those than it is to any other portable ever made. As of now, it is of course, falling short of a hit console game (but I must tell you, there are a few games that were better reviewed for console than this one, that are worse!!) That is bound to happen when an established franchise releases a game that looks dangerously close but falls short, as the audience is uber-familiar with what, for example, console Resistance titles are like.
Let me just say this: this is an enjoyable gaming experience with scale, control-ability, good looks, nice interface, and polish where gameplay is concerned - on a portable! Do not fear this game. It is a good buy.
edit - As of last night 5/31, the multiplayer matchmaking was working great. The multiplayer content could use a new mode or two, but it is a blast. Too bad this wasn't working when it was released. The reviews would have certainly been substantially higher.