Spent a few more hours with it today:
-Yeah, a lot of the missions feel a little "same"-y, with goals and mechanics built around BLOWIN SHIT UP, but I think the moments when the game really shines are when it doesn't put the BLOW SHIT UP right in your face. A lot of times, when you're just drving around, you'll get a call to defend a group of colonists or whatever. The game posits like 10 of your scrappy RF dudes against maybe 20 or 30 EDF dudes in two or three waves. It's thrilling enough to watch your 10 dudes take positions and fight for their lives, it's poistively fucking AWESOME when all you hear is creaking steel and the buildings are collapsing around you.
-Speaking of: Multiplay rules! Deathmatch feels a little uneven. The other modes are way better. Siege is really fun- One team attacks a structure while the other runs around and tries to put it back together. You also get XP for a lot of different things that kind of force you to mix up your play style.
-Also also: Anecdote time! We had a stubborn sniper on a smoke stack, nobody could get him down. So we did the next best thing: 3 team mates, hacking at the stack, we toppled the thing with him in the wreckage. Totally unique, really fun.
-Plot got a little better. It took a major left turn to weirdsville, I won't spoil because it was a genuine surprise. It feels a little sci-fi cliche, but it's still genuinely exciting. It's not "good", but it's entertaining.
-The music RULES.
-Car handling is nice. Every car feels distinct. That said, the dune buggy is almost always the ride of choice.
-Lots and lots and lots of collectibles. 300 ore deposits, 100 propaganda posters, 30 radio tags etc etc.
-Upgrade system is cool- Prices are just right. You can't really afford all of them, but you get enough that you don't feel stuck. It's nice to have to choose and create a playstyle around it.
Anyway, A+ so far.