State of the art

Author's Rating:

Pros: Takes advantage of a gaming rated computer

Cons: Requirements too much for most computers

The Bottom Line: 
Include the price of a gaming rated computer in the price of the game.

Author's Review
This is the next generation of computer games and it probably sets the reference for overall quality. The primary consideration is determining if your computer system will handle it. The recommendations on the package should be taken seriously. These specs are also on the Internet. If you do not have the right hardware you are not going to be able to play this game.
My hardware was built to meet these standards. It includes:
Motherboard, Asus P5K-E WiFi-AP
Processor, Intel E6850
Video Card, XFX GeForce 8800 GTS *
RAM, Corsair DDR2 XMS 2GByte
Case, Antec 900
Power Supply, Antec Truepower TP3-550 watt
Hard Drive, Seagate SATA 300
DVD Recorder, LG GSA-H62L
Mouse, Logitech G9
Operating System, Vista Ultimate
* This video card will not work in tandem with another of the same kind on this motherboard. If you want tandem video cards choose the right type.
The 22” wide screen LG Flatron LCD monitor makes a significant improvement in the video. I suspect there are several LCD monitors that will get the job done.
The most important items are the video card and the processor. With the above components I can run the sound at Dolby 7.1 and the video at 1680 x 1050. All features are turned on and set to maximum quality. This consumes 100% of my computer power. So if you want all features running at highest quality you need the above equipment or better. Better does exist but it is expensive.
The graphics are great but too many areas of the scene are dark too often. I would like to see things with better lighting. The sound is ok with 7.1 but I did not detect a phase change in the sound location when I turned around. At times it did appear to come from the right location.
The story line is good and there is a good deal of variation in an adequate number of areas. You can increase the variation by taking your time and learning how to use all weapons and resources. It took me many sessions to finish the game and the total content was appropriate. There was a bit of redundancy in some respects as the game maintained a certain flavor most of the way through it. I will not submit a formal complaint here.
I liked the ending. You can play the ending over again it you like. I could comment on the ending further but I believe not knowing the ending makes it better. The ending did not last very long.
The game is great if you have the latest gaming hardware. Most people do not and the game is simply going to set on the shelf until a more advanced gaming computer can be obtained. Once again, the video card here is critical.
In Vista, my minimum computer rating is 5.7 where 5.9 is the highest rating. You can test your own computer if you have Vista. I also noticed that both cores of my dual core processor were maxing out so Vista uses the processor properly.