To be honest, when I tried the demo a few months ago, I wasn't that impressed, but after hearing some great reviews and seeing it in the Black Friday sales, I decided to pick it up.
The one quibble I have about the game is incurring damage. The action is so manic that you don't realise how much damage you're actually taking whilst dealing it out. You can be knee-deep in ripping arms off monsters and shoving the limb where the sun doesn't shine one moment, and then the next you're dead without as much as a whimper.
Maybe I'm too used to the popular game mechanic of the screen view changing as you take more and more damage, whether blood in your view or blurred images. This gives me the chance to either run away and reorganise my attack, or move to glory kills to top up my health.
A minor complaint I know, but it continues to take me by surprise.
I'm also surprised by the number of jumping puzzles there are. One section sees you trying to get to the top of a tower and involves jumping from platform to platform with some 'where the hell do I go now' moments - this has been frustrating at times, especially when I've fallen to my death!
The in-game map is excellent - very reminiscent of the old DOOM and QUAKE maps, with the opportunity to remove the 'fog' as various stations on each level. White symbols, whether power-ups, health stations, collectibles etc. are unvisited, turning to orange when you've been there. Accessing the map has meant that I'm often retreading my steps to find secrets before leaving the area and completing the level. Secrets bring a number of benefits, from kit upgrades to improved abilities.
I started my first run-through on 'Hurt Me Plenty' difficulty, thinking that I'd speed through each level to just get through the game as quickly as possible. This difficulty level does mean that most enemies are easy to defeat, especially early on, but as you progress the larger monsters and the sheer number of 'easy' demons means that it's still quite a challenge. Also the map keeps pulling me in to find secrets and upgrade my gear.
I think I'm about half way in and am certainly not bored of it yet. There's no real story (apart from stop the bad guy, or girl in this case, from destroying the universe) - but I don't think there needs to be. I haven't come across any major bosses yet, but I hear there are a few with different methods of defeating them.
More thoughts soon.
