I love this game.
Yes. I am not ashamed to admit it.
My brother and I are playing through the campaign on Casual difficulty, using the game's split-screen co-op mode. After we finish it, I intend on going back solo and playing through on Insane difficulty to earn all the trophies. (I should add that we are playing the Ps3 version.)
The game just works.
Yes, it's Unreal Engine running on Ps3 and there are some problems. Yes, you can quite clearly see where the game was when the original developers were fired and Codemasters brought in two hack houses to finish it.
But the actual gameplay is SWEET.
I love exploring the huge single-player levels. I love the freedom of movement. I love that this isn't really a shooter, though sadly it was marketed that way, but a game that takes some generic shooter conventions and impliments them within a brand new framework. I even love the long free-wheeling vehicle bits where you're doing nothing but driving along nearly endless stretches off road, broken up by the odd boost jump or bit of horizontal driving. It just feels like you're out in the Old West - an Old West taken over by steam-driven high technology and lorded over by a megalomaniacal tyrant who would see everything you hold dear destroyed - but it's the Old West nonetheless.
My only complaint is that no one is playing competitive multiplayer on-line anymore, since the levels are some of the best designed I've ever seen. Just imagine a huge combat arena with loads of parkour/free running-style opportunities. You're climbing, slip-sliding all over the place. Running, jumping like you've never seen in a shooter.
I'm nearly done with co-op and looking forward to my solo Insane replay. As it stands now, I reckon this is another gem in the rough, a game people will miss out on because of poor reviews, instead heading for the generic safe bet with its 9+ review scores.
Give Damnation a chance. Maybe you will not regret it. I certainly do not.
