I have read pretty much everything and its opposite about that game. So I wanted to write a review, to try to give a comprehensive list of the pros/cons of that game.

First of all, this game is NOT a Role Playing Game. Of course, like every single game, it can fit into its definition, since you play the role of a character in an imaginary world. Now, it is not what is conventionally accepted as a RPG. This game has no character levels, it has no skills, it has no skill-tree either of course, and so on.

This game is a shooter. By the people who invented the genre, id Software. Now, if it is from the people who invented the genre, how can it only have a User Score of "49" (at the time of writing) on metacritic? The reason is simple: this game is really different from what id Software usually does (or did. I did not play, by far, all the id Software shooters; but I played Doom and Quake).

So, what are the pros and the cons?

Pros:

The overall experience is rather original, refreshing, with a definitely solid and consistent shooter feeling (think of other id Software games, the weapon handling is really close to that). The id Tech 5 graphical engine is incredibly slick, does a wonderful job, and even if the textures are sometimes ugly, or even horrible, when inspected from up close; the game has really neat graphics.
In addition, the world, even if not so deep (remember, this is by no mean a RPG), has some interesting aspects, and the artists did an unbelievable job making each part of it unique and authentic.

Cons:

id Software used to do PC games. For a company that pretty much invented the FPS genre, it was perfectly logical. Whereas I can understand why publishers decide to make every single game available on consoles, it still is a mystery for me when developers also take that direction. Not for all games, of course, Mario and Sonic were totally fitting for consoles, and so were many arcade games I played as a kid.
But for FPSes, one can only wonder. I know that the fingers are probably the most precise appendices we have, but even; how can someone imagine to replace two hands with five and three fingers (for the keyboard and the mouse respectively), plus one arm (the mouse movement has more amplitude, and therefore, more precision, than a stick) by only four fingers (thumbnails and indexes), for the same result?
And even if id Software managed (thanks to their extensive experience?) not to get the main gameplay cluttered by such a decision, ALL the rest of the game has been affected. Not only the interfaces.
And the game also features some mandatory races, there are achievements for random games (random achievements? what's next, unobtainable achievements?), and trying to 100% the game will be an incredibly frustrating experience, for those reasons.
It's also worth mentioning that the difficulty is somewhat low (that goes with the "console" aspect I presume: the game has to be accessible to as many people as possible), or at best inconsistent (the Scorchers DLC increased the difficulty a bit, but also gives the nail gun, which has an unlimited ammo (rebar) and a rail gun mode, allowing to see the enemies in advance, and even to kill them without exposing yourself), even in ultra nightmare (which is turning the game into a binary experience (who shoots first) rather than into a harder one), and that in spite of the obvious efforts to make the game as non-linear as possible; all the missions are constructed with the scheme: talk to X, go to Y, kill all the baddies along the way.

Bottom line:

The game still is worth some money, as it has a strong shooter feeling, various encounters, an awesome atmosphere. But don't expect the usual id Software FPS, it is not.

Additional Note:

I got an "Anarchy edition" (the pre-order bonus) key in order to get all the additional content. I would recommend to do the same, or at least, to unlock the pre-order content (there is a console command for that) when you play the game, as it deeply changes the gameplay.

I have read pretty much everything and its opposite about that game. So I wanted to write a review, to try to give a comprehensive list of the pros/cons of that game. First of all, this game is NOT a Role Playing Game. Of course, like every single game, it can fit into its definition, since you play the role of a character in an imaginary world. Now, it is not what is conventionally accepted as a RPG. This game has no character levels, it has no skills, it has no skill-tree either of course, and so on. This game is a shooter. By the people who invented the genre, id Software. Now, if it is from the people who invented the genre, how can it only have a User Score of "49" (at the time of writing) on metacritic? The reason is simple: this game is really different from what id Software usually does (or did. I did not play, by far, all the id Software shooters; but I played Doom and Quake). So, what are the pros and the cons? [u][b]Pros:[/b][/u] The overall experience is rather original, refreshing, with a definitely solid and consistent shooter feeling (think of other id Software games, the weapon handling is really close to that). The id Tech 5 graphical engine is incredibly slick, does a wonderful job, and even if the textures are sometimes ugly, or even horrible, when inspected from up close; the game has really neat graphics. In addition, the world, even if not so deep (remember, this is by no mean a RPG), has some interesting aspects, and the artists did an unbelievable job making each part of it unique and authentic. [u][b]Cons:[/b][/u] id Software used to do PC games. For a company that pretty much invented the FPS genre, it was perfectly logical. Whereas I can understand why publishers decide to make every single game available on consoles, it still is a mystery for me when developers also take that direction. Not for all games, of course, Mario and Sonic were totally fitting for consoles, and so were many arcade games I played as a kid. But for FPSes, one can only wonder. I know that the fingers are probably the most precise appendices we have, but even; how can someone imagine to replace two hands with five and three fingers (for the keyboard and the mouse respectively), plus one arm (the mouse movement has more amplitude, and therefore, more precision, than a stick) by only four fingers (thumbnails and indexes), for the same result? And even if id Software managed (thanks to their extensive experience?) not to get the main gameplay cluttered by such a decision, ALL the rest of the game has been affected. Not only the interfaces. And the game also features some [u]mandatory[/u] races, there are achievements for random games (random achievements? what's next, unobtainable achievements?), and trying to 100% the game will be an incredibly frustrating experience, for those reasons. It's also worth mentioning that the difficulty is somewhat low (that goes with the "console" aspect I presume: the game has to be accessible to as many people as possible), or at best inconsistent (the Scorchers DLC increased the difficulty a bit, but also gives the nail gun, which has an unlimited ammo (rebar) and a rail gun mode, allowing to see the enemies in advance, and even to kill them without exposing yourself), even in ultra nightmare (which is turning the game into a binary experience (who shoots first) rather than into a harder one), and that in spite of the obvious efforts to make the game as non-linear as possible; all the missions are constructed with the scheme: talk to X, go to Y, kill all the baddies along the way. [u][b]Bottom line:[/b][/u] The game still is worth some money, as it has a strong shooter feeling, various encounters, an awesome atmosphere. But don't expect the usual id Software FPS, it is not. [u][b]Additional Note:[/b][/u] I got an "Anarchy edition" (the pre-order bonus) key in order to get all the additional content. I would recommend to do the same, or at least, to unlock the pre-order content (there is a console command for that) when you play the game, as it deeply changes the gameplay.