Yeah, attack the escapist review, because it doesn't share your opinion of the game, as do quite a lot of the population.
Classic shooting? Ok, heres what I've got from the demo (you know, what's supposed to sell me the game, not make me cancel my pre-order)
*It takes far too many mechanics from other games but fails to make them it's own i.e. Ego Meter is refilled by running away? There were so many things they could've done with this, like say charging into enemies (without getting hit) would provide the macho fix he needs to pwn some pigcop.
*The new mechanics don't blend well with the old. i.e. 2 weapon slots, carrying a shrink ray. The shrink ray only kills when you stomp the enemy. Running to stomp them likely means getting killed. Only one other weapon slot for use where the shrink is fallible, making the risk not worth it's reward.
*The Duke is a pussy; he pants and sputters after the (ludicrously short) sprint meter depletes. He can't jump very far or run very fast, he needs to get behind cover a lot. All of these features belong in COD and Battlefield, not a game where the protagonist is touted as a badass but doesn't actually deliver. I was hoping for something bursting with adrenaline living by running and gunning, not a COD clone.
Classic shooting meant running really fast, carrying more weapons than is possible, fighting enemies that did a little more than shoot you back and had some fairly out of place platforming. One thing it did make you feel however was like a badass. DNF fails to achieve this for the reasons above.
Finally the overall impression left from very controversial footage of the game. I'm a fan of dark and sadistic humour, but even I find the duke isn't exactly anywhere near likable when he makes a "you're fucked" joke (a fairly uncreative one) in a situation where women are dying whilst being inseminated by alien penises. Its not like this kind of humour is impossible to achieve but if done wrong the result is a very foul taste. DNF certainly didn't win in this respect.
There, now you can see why someone doesn't have to like the game. You can like the game, but don't challenge a reviewer's opinion purely on the fact that it's not the same as yours. Given that you can tell the mechanics were crap from the demo alone, playing the whole game is unnecessary as we have found that the game doesn't transform into a better Bulletstorm halfway through.
