The most glaring problem in the game are the near-invisible curbs hidden at the edge of the playable area of the road, which instakill you if you so much as graze them. They take up about a quarter of the visible "road" area, and you have to constantly strain to pick them out compared to the very hard edge between the neon backgrounds and the unusable shoulder. The sound and controller options are missing basic functions, with no way to change the inverted mouse view, nor any way to adjust the volume of either the car engine and crash sounds, nor the background music. A highlight on the curb (even just a neon pipe to represent it) and some basic options would make the game worth maybe half the theoretical $10 asking price. As-is it wasn't worth the buck and a half I paid for it.
First, the good. The gunfights are generally satisfying, fast-paced, and tactical. On the harder levels, the AI is mostly intelligent and gives a good fight. Unfortunately, the enemies also have some very annoying quirks -- in particular, the enemies armed with RPGs and recoilless rifles have literally infinite vision range once alerted. Some enemies routinely glitch inside boulders or move into a bush and never leave, making clearing outposts a massive chore. Factions are non-existent outside a couple of missions, which is crudely lampshaded in every other mission intro with "oh, and our guys will shoot at you too. Good luck" The Buddy system is a cool way of giving you an extra life, new mission objectives, and help with some of the harder fights. Unfortunately, the Buddy too falls prey to the weird AI and clipping glitches. If there is even one enemy in the area (including ones clipped into a rock or tree..), the Buddy will not despawn and be considered "killed" if you leave the area. The only way to find out whether or not this has happened is to leave the area and go to a Safe House. Which autosaves the game before you find out if the buddy is "abandoned"/KIA or "Captured". There is no mechanic to rescue or replace a lost buddy despite many other character options as well as large prison areas in both Acts, and the other characters using the same Relationship system with none of the benefits. Finally, the design emphasizes traversal time over any *fun* aspects of gameplay. The hang-glider physics are poor and driving along roads is a death sentence at higher difficulties. Even brand-new weapons with upgraded durability wear out after 2-3 missions and must be replaced at one of a handful of locations. Missions will send you all the way across the map, often several times. I got deep into the second act, staring down yet another 40-minute zig-zag across the entirety of the playing area for three 10-minute fights and simply stopped caring.
