I actually like this game quite a bit. It's pretty much what the -user- reviews at IGN claimed it was, as opposed to how the official review slammed it.
The only real downside? I never thought I'd see an engine load levels slower than Doom 3. Not only that, but it doesn't have the decency to cache the level data to speed reloads when you've died. That's the one design flaw I see in the game.
Other than that annoyance, it's a great game!

Don't die then. :P
I agree though, it's a blast to play!

I've experienced the same thing. It turned out that forcing VSync to On (for example in the NVidia Control Panel) is the culprit. Just leave it to the application setting (i.e. Off) and it will decrease your loading time five fold!