Since I'm tactical shooter fan, I will be making comparisons to OFP\ArmA, though to be honest this is unfair because Dragon Rising doesn't feel much like either of those games.
Played only in "hardcore" mode, didn't bother with lower difficult settings.
This is just an initial opinion after about 1 hours worth of SP missions and about an hour messing about in the editor:
+ AI teammates decent
+ AI teammates interface intuitive, though I rarely used it since I found myself handling the enemy AI with ease
+ General polish of a major publisher, good voice overs, engine stable
- No dread. If you've know OFP\ArmA you'll know that one wrong move could mean death. There's none of that hear. I hardly bothered crouching or going prone, no need.
- Incredibly easy on the highest difficulty setting, I cannot actually recall being hit even though I was barely concentrating and basically running straight for enemy positions, didn't die once during the first two missions. Of course I need to play more of the campaign..not a good sign though.
- Graphics average to bad, sepia in tone, washed out blurry textures, extreme blur at a distance, bloom galore. ArmA 2 has them beat in this department..which is surprising. I really expected the big publisher polish to destroy BIS in this regard.
I think casual FPS fans who haven't heard of ArmA or understand it's connection to OFP will enjoy this.
Feels like an arcadey version of Ghost Recon. The somewhat reduced visual range..maybe 1km? I didn't see anywhere to alter the viewdistance, graphics settings are sparse. Need to look into this properly.
I personally enjoy the "head on shoulders" feel of OFP\ArmA, where for example you can lie prone and look about using the 'alt' key. Here that is gone, replaced with your typical shooter view.
Player movement bog standard FPS. Many players hate OFP\ArmA's clunky system, I am sure the standardised movement will please them.
No lean..
Nice looking mission editor application. Runs externally, unlike ArmA's in game editor.
It works on the same principles. I used it to preview all the weapons and units.
Helicopter flight model piss poor in comparison to ArmA's somewhat decent balance between sim and accessibility. This is a deal breaker for me. I LOVE flying helicopters in ArmA, it's almost a game unto itself. No flyable planes, though ArmA's planes weren't that great to begin with.
Good vehicular physics.
Terrain seems to feature the exact same clutter grass uniformly applied across the entire surface, except on roads or in towns.
Surprising that in places they mimic the rough edges present in BIS's Arma engine. For instance getting into vehicles is also an instant teleport into position as with ArmA. Crashing a helicopter also means the occasionally flip onto your nose with the rotors happily spinning away. I thought major publishers had funding to avoid this shit?
I do like the effort put into the teammate interface interface, and the modern responsive feel of the AI teammates - wish that was in ArmA.
God only knows why BIS centred ArmA 2's campaign on the single worst feature of their engine, clunky ai teammates. Casual players who don't MP coop, who don't delve deeper than SP campaigns, will make the comparison immediately and likely judge Dragon Rising to be a better on this fact alone.
..Dragon Rising has no dedicated server. I'm guessing this means no massive ongoing coop missions (think Evolution for ArmA). Very bad..
Bottom line:
I don't feel any special need to play this. Far as major FPS releases go, I'd rather play the arcadey Battlefield Bad Company 2 when that's released. I guess in certain places it's an improvement..but it's not a sea change. I'm not sure I'd swap uncompromising coop for better interface icons and good teammate AI. Everything looks really washed out and the environment is sterile. This game hasn't made ArmA obsolete, not by a long shot.
Bland and "consoled" in this unmodded state, and certainly not the tough shooter I was looking for.
