Like a beverage that sparkles and promises a rich taste, yet loses its fizz too quickly.
Gameplay: Rage got it right. Weapons are solid, varied, and satisfying. Waves of enemies does bring back FPS of the late 90's, and does it well. Not the endless irritating hordes like Painkiller though; there is a limit to how much fragging one likes before setting out to explore some more.
Graphics are ok, nothing wow, but good enough to keep you interested.
Music....this is a downside. The tracks are uninspiring and usually detract instead of add to the enjoyment.
Story: Weak.
Minigames: The card game had a lot of potential, but didn't quite pan out. Still better than most minigames.
Level design: Linear with a capital L. Most of the world cannot be explored; doors that never open, etc. There is some variation of levels, but you do have to go back to some that you really wish you weren't forced to.
AI is not too good, but not awful easy. I picked normal, but hard would probably be challenging.
A lot has been said about the racing. Initially I did enjoy the races to pimp out my ride. These stayed kind of fun, but out going from one mission to the next, I tired of the endless bandits.
Now here is a bone to pick: I finally get the BFG....and never fire a shot with it. The game ends that quickly with no enemies that you need it for. WEAK.
If you like FPS, like fragging, like 90's FPS, this is a solid game. There was a good stretch where I really did like it, but somewhere towards the middle it got boring and didn't pick up again until the last level, which though fun, was very short.