HOLY MOTHER-OF-GOD!!! This game is quite possibly the best FPS I've EVER played!!!
Graphics? GORGEOUS!! Character faces have a full range of emotions. The environments are so detailed and the textures are so spot on, that you get drawn into the environment. Muzzle-flash, suit flashlight, ambient lighting, all put every other FPS out there to shame...
Gameplay? INSANE!! Gun recoil, ragdolls, FLOATING BODIES IN WATER!! Movement's dead-on, very fluid. You can pick up objects and manipulate them real time. Need to make a ledge? Grab a couple of boxes, stack them, then climb up. Pick up a flammable barrel, start it rolling down a hill, then shoot it a couple times, it then explodes after a bit, makes a nice grenade when you don't have any. Even pick up barrels and use them as a shield for cover against a large number of enemies (I suggest the non-flammable ones...of course) GRENADES!!! Pick them up and throw them back at your enemies...You've also got to react and then act accordingly VERY fast, almost on the fly...helps to immerse you in the game.
Sound? Best ambient environmental sound I've ever heard in a game. Hear enemies talking around corners, sound is muffled through objects, voices sound tinny when you're surrounded by metal. Alien sounds make your skin crawl...literally...From standard pistol shots, to full-on auto fire from a helicopter...the latter is VERY frightening to hear...when you're not using it at least...Footsteps react to the kind of terrain (from squishy mud, sucking sounds as in pulling your feet out of a bog, to walking in grass and hearing it crunch under foot).
I swear, if any of you played the first, and enjoyed it, even somewhat, you better pick this up...Even if you didn't play the first one, if your PC can handle it, by all means. I'll even be nice and post the system minimums...
1.2 GHz processor, 256MB RAM, DirectX 7 graphics card (prefferably 128MB RAM) 5.5GB HD space, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet connection (it has to register and create an account on Steam for you before you can play, effectively killing piracy options), and a DVD-ROM drive.
I'm running an AMD 3000XP, 512 MB RAM, 256MB RAM GeForce FX5700, DirectX 10, and it runs incredibly smooth...
I'll post up some screens in a bit, once I get over the "Oh-my-god-this-is-cool" syndrome and actually take some...
"Caw, caw, *BANG* FUCK I'M DEAD!" - Top Dollar, The Crow
"Physics is like sex: It may yield practical results, but that's not why we do it." - XKCD
God created whiskey to stop the Irish from taking over the word.