A very broken, uninspired, haphazard game that's waste of time.
THE GOOD: There's really not much to say about this game that's good at all, but I'll try…… To begin with, it's a short game, in that, you can pretty much play it in one afternoon or evening if you have the time. So, if you're in for a quick fix it has that going for it. And I suppose that saying this game is terrible through and through is unfair to a degree, as , there are a few sequences that are moderately fun to play. One of the ones that stood out to me involved some turret-gunning, but it wasn't anything I hadn't seen done better elsewhere. Plus, if you like challenges there are also sequences that prove quite challenging. Almost maddeningly so at times, but any game should provide you with a decent challenge and not just be a cake-walk. But then again, maybe that had to do more with the fact that I played the game on the hardest possible setting (it was a requirement for the Platinum trophy)? So, I did appreciate that, even though I wanted to tear this horrendous game from my system and snap the disc in half at times. I also thought the cover system was pretty cool (but buggy & I'll get to that in a moment) in how your character would quickly slide from cover point to cover point. It at least looked cool when it worked right. Beyond that, some of the scenery looks good (but not great) and I actually found the majority of the voice acting to be surprisingly solid. Also, as I mentioned a moment ago, this game is a very easy Platinum trophy / 100% completion, if you're into that kind of thing. And, to be honest, that's the ONLY reason I'd ever recommend anyone ever play this game. All you have to do is play the entire game on the hard setting and complete each chapter. It's just that simple. Can't beat that as far as trophies go, if you ask me. But playing the game itself is absolutely rife with problems. So let's put the focus of this review where it rightfully belongs…
THE BAD: I almost don't even know where to begin, this game has so much wrong with it. I guess first and foremost I should say that this game is truly and totally BROKEN. And by that I mean that this game WILL freeze up on you many, many times. It happened no less than twice a chapter to me and sometimes many more. Additionally, it has glitches in it that are game-enders. IE, your character gets stuck in a wall, an enemy gets stuck in a position that literally eliminates the game being able to progress any further, etc. It's really pretty damn frustrating considering how many times you're going to end up having to straight up eject the disc from your system without being able to do it the right way and shut the system down properly, just to restart it again and go through the boot-up / load game process. The result of all this made me think that this game was a haphazard rush job, created by uncaring drones who didn't give a sh!t about the game they were making, let alone the movie it's based on. As for the actual game itself, it's just uninspired and largely uninteresting. I started the game letting the cut-scenes play out because I knew I'd only be playing it once, so I figured I'd take in the whole experience, but by the middle of chapter 2, I was skipping through every cut-scene as quickly as possible. What does that tell you? I mean, I couldn't even tell you what the jist of the story was from the game play alone – it's that forgettable. The graphics are middle of the road to poor in spots, although there are moments when, viewed quickly or at a glance, the scenery around you does look pretty cool. Otherwise I could've cared less. Throw on top of the mediocre to poor graphics and tons of long loading screens, a troublesome control system, and you have a recipe for disaster. Not only were the controls set up poorly, but they didn't work as tightly as they should even after you finally got the hang of them. As I mentioned previously, though the cover system was fairly cool, it was also 'sticky'. In other words, when you were in cover and wanted to come out of it, it wasn't as easy to make that happen as it should have been. Omething else that frustrated me with the controls all the way through the entire game, even long after getting the hang of it was, why in the hell, if you only have 4 slots for weapons (2 for guns, 2 for grenades) weren't they assigned to the D-pad!?!?! This made absolutely NO sense whatsoever. Instead the designers opted for having you press one button and while holding it, using the same stick you use for direction to select between the four weapon slots, which, by the way, were so close together you didn't always select the weapon you wanted. One final ineptitude of the controls was that (and I realize this is more a personal preference) why were the main weapon primary fire buttons the L & R 2 buttons instead of the #1's?? Again, just a preference but I'd prefer to keep my fingers closer to the action in a shooter. Well, I've already spent enough time playing this horrendous game and far more time than it deserves reviewing it, so I'll end it here. But suffice it to say this is a TRULY bad game and one that, unless you want an easy platinum / 100% completion, you should steer well clear of.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Gamespots' nutshell synopsis says it best that it's "like a machine with synthetic skin : it's not fooling anyone and you should stay away from it". I simply don't know how to explain it any better than that. If you MUST get near it however, rent it only – do not under ANY circumstances buy this game – not even for $10. It's a rip-off.