Recent reviews by Tom Walsh

Buy it on discount.
Plays like an old Bioshock or System Shock 2 kind of game, including old problems.
It's reasonably fun but it's got issues.
-Hardly any NPCs to interact with that aren't some sort of plot device or shop.
-Several forced loss cinematics to further the plot or introduce a character.
-Poorly implemented platforming/climbing that is sometimes required and can get you stuck forcing you to reload saves.
-Conversation triggers right next to other conversation objects/triggers causing you to miss information if you dont sit down and wait for it to finish.
-Nav points and objectives get confused causing you to be redirected to a different objective even when you're in the room for the one you came in for. Some times the nav points will be across the map in the wrong place miles/km away.
It's ok but buy it on discount.

The game is ok but it's got enough issues that I'm not going to recommend it.

The writing, not the choice mechanic, is somehow a downgrade from the previous game which is unsurprising given rewrites after firing the big name they brought on to improve the writing. Nobody really memorable in this one save for a pair of returning characters from the first game. The choice mechanic is only an upgrade due to the near absence of choice in the first game.

The grind when you first start is extreme, and it doesnt go away, it just gets a little better. XP progression is paced in such a way that if you do several side quests you should reach legend Level by the end of the campaign, however if you go straight to the finish you may be under leveled. The problem is that there isn't much incentive to play the game after finishing your first play through so there isn't a lot of opportunity to enjoy the high level game mobility and combat skills on your first run. Compounding this is the material grind for things like superior weapons and equipment which wouldn't be a big deal if you stuck to the campaign but then why increase anything. This comes off as similar problems to FO4 where if you gun the main story you can finish inside of a day but miss out on lots of content.

The gameplay has a number of issues that are easy enough to fix but if any serious thought was given they should have been defaults. One notable example is binding the glider descend to W instead of S so you immediately start dropping when you jump into the glider from a forward run instead of having keyboard controls inverted by default. Another obvious one being how throwables were bound to the mouse wheel button. Also having drop from ledge and roll be the same button resulting in some accidental falls to death.

The few choices in the choice mechanic that matter are probably going to lead you to the peacekeepers on your first run because that crossbow is just too good to pass up. This is compounded by the behavior of the other faction which I found generally repellent until the second area. Beyond the territory choices there are very few of consequence, maybe 5 that actually matter.

And of course there are the "glitches" and other engine/mechanical issues. The first thing I noticed, within the first 10 hours of play over and over again was the invisible geometry of dead bodies acting as invisible walls. This is a massive issue early on and while less noticeable later it will still sneak up on you and screw you over. Around the map random "event" will occur, frequently, where there are some dead bodies on the ground for whatever reason bandits or zombies. Even after you reach a higher level if you end up fighting on the ground around these bodies they will act as invisible walls that you cannot walk through, which is a major issue considering they changed the melee combat to emphasize dodging which will have you dodge back or to the side only to be stuck in the path of the weapon due to the invisible geometry of the misaligned corpses on the ground. It's been over 2 years since initial release so I would assume they would have this sort of problem ironed out after 2 years when the game is still providing updates. Again, there are other technical issues but I noticed this before the 10 hour mark and even before the grind. This issue alone was what cemented my opinion about the game before sticking it out to finish playing at the 80 hour mark.

The game is ok and fun with friends but if you or they don't want to invest a lot of time into grind just to get to the fun parts I would say pass on it.

Content famine.

This game has a lot going for it and I've been a fan for years even before it came to Steam, but it's built on .NET framework and if you hover over skills for a tooltip while saving/loading is happening it will corrupt your save. It's a fun COYA, play it if you want just be aware.

Mobile grind game.

If you want something that feels like the more military vibe of Front Mission: Gun Hazard or Votoms with the tight controls of Megaman this is not the game. This game is more like Full Metal Panic if it were a 2D platformer with lots insufferably forced zoom in game play and loose inaccurate controls, too much focus on the thematic plot.

Good new Content.

It feels like an MMORPG with lots of cutscenes when I want something closer to Armored Core 3 or Votoms.

It's worth a few hours of play if you like Portal.

Unfinished game full of unfulfilled promises and poor performance issues. Some decent mods to make up for some of it and it MAY be fun with friends depending on how you play it.