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I just started playing this game last night. It's a fairly simplistic game involving an art thief hired to steal an artifact from a museum called Pandora's Box that unbeknownst to him, actually IS Pandora's Box, unleashing a mythical hell on Earth after he opens it with everything from Griffons, to Golems, to Werewolves, to Minotaurs, etc.
If you can get past the cliched story, slightly value-game character movement and aim (not as bad as reviewed), and arcade-like NPC battles, it's actually not a bad game. The graphics in some ways (NPCs, cars, etc) are not extremely polished, but where the game shines, in it's monster battles and environments, it does pretty well both in graphics and up close adrenaline induced action.
It has some fairly creative and effective scares, monsters, and puzzles, though the latter more for their gore and/or potential shock value than difficulty. It's the first time ever in a game I've been assaulted by cans of pop flung at me rapid fire by a poltergeist having possessed a soda machine.LOL That may not sound overly daunting or even practical as far as shock value, but it took me a moment to figure out what was taking health from me and how to escape the room I was trapped in, all the while the ghost giggling at me. The lighting and shadows are fairly mood inspiring as well, adding to the feel of the game.
Some monsters can be a pain to deal with, like the swarms of little child-like Naris that fly around as milky white ghosts, then transform into solid bodies momentarily just before they attack, which is the only time they're vulnerable. There's an objective where you have to recharge one of three EMP generators whilst taking on such a swarm and it can be tough your first time, even on Easy mode.
You have an occult type of power you can use, which is called the "Signet". It's branded onto the back of your left hand when you open the Pandora's Box. It allows you to pull the life force from dead monsters you kill, healing yourself as it fills the Signet. The Signet can also be used to stun enemies momentarily with a pulse wave and charge those generators I was referring to, making it hard to both complete an objective AND stay healthy at times.
There's not a whole lot of weapons in the game, and you can't carry a lot at once (1 melee, 2 guns). This works though because it really isn't supposed to play like a full on shooter. It's more of a hybrid action horror/shooter game that compels you to use the melee tool (a fairly effective fireman's axe) and Signet pulse at times to help fend off the monsters. If nothing else the axe is handy for chopping off the heads of Werewolves after you down them, otherwise they spring back to life! It also conserves ammo, though there seems to be enough ammo for the most part. You also have Molotovs and grenades, which are best saved for more boss-like monsters such as the Minotaurs and Griffons, esp the Griffons.
There are also reptilian mole-like creatures that ball up and roll at you, then spit fire balls at you. These can be dispatched without even using hand held weapons by opening water valves or axing fire hydrants, which kills them with water when you lure them to it or flood their burrows. There's also Queen Blood Spiders that hatch little ones and occasional appearances of an underground monster with huge tentacles, the latter of which is the only part of it I've seen so far.
I think my favorite is the Alpha Werewolf, which is larger and stronger than it's female counterpart and has a thick furry mane. These guys can hurl heavy objects at you and are much harder to take down than the normal Werewolf. The game abounds with grisly cutscenes, some of which show Alpha Werewolves dismembering unsuspecting NPCs, jumping onto flying choppers, etc. There seems to be one annoying glitch concerning scripted scenes during gameplay however where Werewolves attacking a squad member cannot be injured whilst doing so.
Like I said, the game is worth playing. I can't say I'd pay a lot for it, but it's definitely better than most review sites rate it, though perhaps not quite as good as a couple have. I'd say maybe 70%, but I'm only 1/4 or so into it so far. I've seen it for $25 new in box at eBay. It is a bit hitchy, mainly when cutcenes, NPCs, monsters, and checkpoints trigger, but it doesn't hitch all the time like GoW. Other than that the frame rates are pretty good with relatively little to no lag, even set on High with my old single core rig.
I have read reviews saying they take off points for lots of glitches like texture flickering and no clipping, but honestly I have not had problems with that. The game does use Unreal Engine 3, which has been known to have flickering texture issues in some games, but I just don't see it here like I did in Frontlines Fuel of War.
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