You are presented with a third-person shooter (TPS) set in Japan in the near future. Outside, everything is bad. The government in the country has been seized by a powerful corporation that manufactures combat robots and is seriously considering world domination. As always.
The stamped plot is diluted by another corporation, crushed by the aforementioned before the events of the game, but having managed to create the Hollow Children robots, which are indistinguishable from humans and believe they are human. The player must figure out what role it plays in the general orchestra.
To find answers to this and other questions, two fine American special agents, Dan (the main character) and Big Bo, are sent out. Their journey is filled with jaw-breaking shootouts, chases, meetings, and even attempts to start relationships with the opposite sex.
In addition to the carnage, an important role is given to the relationships within the team. Big Bo discusses current events with Dan, gets offended, "cries on his shoulder," often asks for advice, and seeks support. As the game progresses, the team interacts with rebels, informants, and other charismatic individuals, each with a distinct personality and unique character traits. Your task is to find a common language with them and turn the disparate squad of self-satisfied professionals into a single fighting machine.
The game features a role-playing component. By killing opponents, you earn points that you then spend at local kiosks on buying ammunition, medkits, weapons, and upgrades. You can improve both firearms (damage, rate of fire, accuracy, range, magazine capacity) and various attributes of team members (health, defense, and more). Upgrades for teammates can also be found on the battlefield. In turn, the user's accuracy directly influences the number of points earned. Opponents can be killed with body attacks or precisely by shooting off their limbs. Sadism is rewarded with a bonus to salary.
It is worth noting the well-developed behavior of the enemies depending on your combat preferences. For example, if a robot's leg is shot off, it will continue crawling, using its surviving leg and arms to help itself. Having lost both legs, it crawls slower, using only its arms. If the right arm, in which the enemy holds the weapon, is shot off, it will switch it to the left. By the way, shooting limbs is a good way to buy time when opponents are approaching in a tight wall.
Special attention should be paid to the focus on graphic details. When hitting an opponent in the attacked part of their body, armor flies off, revealing a lovingly modeled metal skeleton. "Regular" robots, as well as bosses, are excellently animated, whether it’s movement on legs or crawling, reloading weapons, or jumping attacks. The picture is complemented by well-executed emotions of the main characters, who can show not only a stone expression on their faces but also joy of victory, sadness, and irritation from an interrupted kiss (damn Cain, he ruined everything), a supportive gesture towards a partner, and depression over the recent loss of a combat comrade. Moreover, "sentimental mush" takes up a small portion of the gameplay, not drawing much attention to itself, but merely adding to the overall action.
In conclusion, it makes sense to kick the developers for stealing ideas. The cover system from Gears of War, bonuses for tearing off limbs, ripped off from the "skill shots" of Bulletstorm, the settlement of rebels, suspiciously resembling a triad breeding ground in the first Deus Ex. However, these elements look good against the overall background, so they have the right to exist.