For anyone whose unsure about this game, is considering it, but not quite sure if its worth it..I have very good news!
I took the risk.
So this is what I wish other reviews had told me:
I have to say this game surprised me immensely. This being a good thing. To sum it up, it is a vast open-world RPG impressive in its combat as well as its explorative and rpg elements.
So...VAST: The map is huge. Roughly 6 hours from one side to the other if you ran straight through. Let this be a comfort though. It isn't the least bit intimidating. With 4 online this game is insanely fun. It is very much like a "free-play" mode similar to GTA IV. Besides the map, there is a supposed 600 quests to do. But trust me, these quests do NOT amount to what you'll be doing in this game. It is just as vast in design as in scope. Quests are more a means of LEVELING not plot progression. I think most would forget about the plot (as there is little of said plot in the game) and just explore. More than one occasion was I caught just completely ignoring my objective and "off-roading."
DESIGN: well its best to sum this up as a TRADITIONAL action rpg. Nothing new is really done here. I'd describe it as all aspects of leveling kind of thrown together. You have attributes (general stats) that you can upgrade, a set of spells that you can learn and improve by collecting runes from fallen enemies, and then skills, which are very close to proficiencies in WoW. When these proficiencies (or skills) are improved, you can upgrade individual spells on a virtual mini-talent tree. The level cap to this game at the highest difficulty (as each progressive difficulty raises the lvl cap) is 200. So expect to empty hours into this game. It isn't innovative by any means. But for this exact reason I LOVE IT.
ACTION: it is hard to outline how I feel about the combat as I've only played the temple guardian. But I love it when you have a group of four taking on roughly 30 enemies at once with grand magical displays filling the screen. It is as distracting and annoying as it is amazing and responsive to that particular fight. Its more a game built for co-op (and I would DEFINITELY opt for online here, I'm not sure I would buy this for local, it would hypothetically hamper the open-world aspect)
To describe the way it works, you have action buttons (the face buttons) and you can slot either weapons in these buttons or spells. Their are three sets of these action buttons, the first is the default, the second is when you press and hold R2, and the third with L2. You can also form "combinations" which are essentially macros of spells or weapons.
LOOT: LOTS AND LOTS. When I first looked into this game I didn't find much on the armor and weapons and how they looked. But trust me. They are more than satisfying. The system operates like most other action rpgs of this nature. Head, Shoulders, Chest, Arms, Legs, Feet, Jewelry, and Weapons.
GRAPHICS: In one word. Beautiful. Truly Beautiful. It is perfectly understandable how there can be some slow-down here and there when you have an open-world game looking this good. Slow-down is completely tolerable. And also. It has blood :) One inquisitor spell blows apart the enemies body into organs and meat soup.
STORY: Heres where this game gets fu**ed. There is basically...no story. You're dropped into the world with a quest that has no aim, no plot, not much of a conflict. Imagine the story of an MMO like WoW. Thats what your getting here. Except you can pick between the good or evil campaign, and I havn't really noticed what is exactly "evil" about what I'm doing. I think to describe it, the evil campaign is basically at the end of a quest you are given the chance to kill a certain quest giver. But basically...DON'T GET GAME FOR THE STORY.
MULTIPLAYER: You run off hosts server. 4 player co-op is very easy to set up. Though I wouldn't advise local, because it would screw up the camera versatility needed for a game this big. In online its essentially the host pulling over the other 3 or 2 or single player(s) into his/her game. And it will save your individual campaign separate so you can return to it later while still keeping any progression on stats and inventory from your visit into your friends campaign.
This is what makes these games SO MUCH FUN. If you get this game. You should get it to play with a group.
CLASSES: Can't comment much on these as I've only played one. But my friends are loving theirs, so it must be good. It's worth noting here: YOU CANT PICK MALE/FEMALE between classes. You get what you choose.
CONTROLS: Plays as good, if not better, than any console action rpg.
SUMMARY: This is CHAMPIONS OF NORRATH mixed with OBLIVION. It is a blending of the action rpg with the western rpg. And I really do enjoy it a lot.
When it comes to recommendation. And I wish someone had just come out and said this to me earlier to make me more at ease with buying it: if you want a game like Champions of Norrath or Baldur's Gate...this is an improvement, and a great game.
I can understand how some may not like it: it is somewhat shallow (even though most gameplay mechanics and stat customization offer great depth) there is no story and it seems to be perpetuating a sense of mediocrity among games...but if you go in knowing what you're getting, and with a tolerant and open mind you will LOVE this game. It is bad-ass and well worth the money. It should last you quite some time. The first time I put in the disc I unknowingly, while I was playing, cranked out an easy 6.5 hours.
If you feel a gap needs to be filled in next-gen consoles...you find youself looking for an action rpg...well here it is. I assure you, you'll like it.