So, yeah, finished it. It's pretty good, but it feels like they aimed a bit higher.
Blew through the whole game in about 8 hours on normal with all the sidequests. There's some power creep going on, not all weapons are made equal, I definitely recommend killing all the optional bosses, there's 1 in almost every level, since they drop quite a few guns. I found shotguns and other hard hitters much better than the automatic weapons or melee, since you can rely on the knockdown to make space for reloading and the status procs do decent damage. Alternatively the spread and splash make use of all the explosive scenery littering the levels. Definitely kit out every weapon you use with an element, covering the whole spectrum makes some fights a lot easier, however it seems the resistances are generated randomly, so fighting two identical enemies with opposite resists is pretty annoying. The upgrades are reusable and there's a noticeable difference between unmodded and modded weapon, so make sure you use them. Same goes for your abilities and armor. Skills do make a difference, I recommend maxing heal, elemental damages and move speed, the rest is up to you, I found the ammo ones and vacuum nice QoL. I found most of the powers and melee attacks pretty meh, since they inevitably open you to enemy fire and can be picky on who they hit or affect.
Level design isn't nowhere near as random as you might be lead to believe, in fact most of the locations are very much static, even if you might come in from a different direction. What differs is some shrines and loot boxes, but that's about it, in fact I believe they may have planned an open world game, since at one point I went into a mission and there were quest markers and objects for two of my quests, but I could only complete the one I came in for and when I came back, the place was exactly the same. Level design was one of those things I really liked about the previous one, but this time it's just random locations that make no sense and no foreshadowing or exploration. Probably most reminiscent of Dragon Age 2...
Graphically the game is absolutely gorgeous, the enemies detailed and varied, they burst into very pretty giblets and you can maim/shoot/chop any parts of them. So much that I apparently managed to destroy the whole body of a mech once and was left to fight a floating right arm. 'twas just a flesh wound. Really, the mayhem you can cause is a thing of beauty. There are several chainsaws to choose from. On the other hand, sometimes they go a bit too heavy on the particles. I had to switch up elemental damage on my revolver from ice, since every shot ended up with a knocked down enemy cloaked in an icy cloud that made them invisible. Similarly, the details of the environment can make it hard to notice the enemies, especially the neon city suffers from this.
The story is just trash, no redeeming qualities. It takes itself too seriously while simultaneously reading like angsty teen's first writing and if I had to take a shot every time I heard "Fuckface", I'd die. Reminiscent of the Gearbox/Borderlands style. Sometimes there's a witty oneliner, but those aren't worth it sitting through the dreadful dialogue. The ending is like, what ?
Despite all of those complains, the gunplay is rock solid and it mixes the best elements and feel of Soldier of Fortune, Painkiller and Brutal Doom. Flying through yakuza assassins with sawed-off shotgun blowing them to bits along with every else is almost magical. Shootting a snakeman in half, chopping off hands of your enemies or dualwielding miniguns while running at speeds that would leave the doom guy wheezing is really a lot of fun. Haven't tried the co-op yet, but GoG and Steam can play together. There's also no DRM.
8/10, hopefully the expand on the game.
