TL;DR: It has the veneer of depth without the actual fleshed out mechanics in the sneaking and action components. People experienced in both genres will pick up on this quickly. Still fun in a shallow way but no where near worth full price. Kinda like how you can have fun / cool off in a small plastic swimming pool but you ain't exactly getting laps in and you don't wanna pay a real pool's price, even if it is a quality diet pool. Not a lotta gallons there.
Pros: Story and characters are good, great even. This is the one aspect I'm very happy with. It's a great origin story. Greenway is a G, as are Money Penny, M, Bond and even the side characters. Feels very Bond; largely nailed it here.
Cons: The gameplan is thin, shallow and very linear with the illusion of depth and choice. Of the characters Q is the only flawed one - his banter with Bond is weak; they're too amiable.
This isn't a bad game per se but there are descriptors which have the dubious distinction of fitting it well: Being very "on rails" even for a linear game, having choices without distinctions nor impact (the illusion of choice), and being what I would say is clearly designed for a broad audience which, as a design choice, waters down the experience. If you are an avid fan of both the stealth and action genres as I am then, well, be prepared to be disappointed all around.
It's rather easy (played on the normal difficulty level, should've upped it but whatever) and holds your hand the entire time. There is yellow tape all over to show you where to go and it drives me absolutely mad; new age, hand hold-y nonsense. If you've been through the fire of Splinter Cell, Metal Gear, Dishonored, etc, then the sneaking component is almost downright offensive (though actually still somewhat fun but I am a thirsty fella in need of a fix). A general litmus test I have for games with sneaking is whether or not the player can move bodies of incapacitated enemies; we cannot. That is a cardinal sin in a game that has a lot of sneaking and subterfuge. That singular component lacking is SO limiting on the gameplay, I don't know that I can even overstate how detrimental it is.
There's cool gadgets but you can't use them terribly creatively which essentially renders them largely window dressing as with the conversational "choices" you can make which don't seem to affect the gameplay much if at all nor the story. It gives the impression of open-endedness without that juice.
The challenge missions or whatever they're called are aight but unfortunately they don't really add much to the game.
As an aside, I also think vehicles should've been utilized much more and much more in depth. So much wasted potential.
All in all, you may be able to get some enjoyment out of it like I did but if you do, just don't pay full price. I still enjoyed the experience despite how unfulfilling it is, but a lotta that is carried by that atmosphere and characters.
Many of my hours come from being AFK to do other stuff like make a meal or whatever and not exiting the game, my playtime is much less. It's a shawty.
Hopefully they add some actual brotein, some horsepower to the next one.
