Brutal, brilliant & thrilling! Enjoyed this just as much as the first.

I went into this game without any spoilers and vague knowledge that people were mad about the game for some reason. After playing through for the last week, I can happily say it's the most intense, evocative game I've played since Red Dead 2 and I'm lucky to have gone in blind. It carries the weight of the first game's decision at it's core and is fantastic at playing on emotion and using to tell a gripping story.

Gameplay wise it's just as good as the first game with added features across the board. There's a good balance of exploration, puzzles and visceral combat. The difficulty is adjustable at each aspect, including puzzle difficulty, enemy detection, enemy tactics, loot amount etc, so you can tweak the challenge to your satisfaction. A slew of accessibility options allow more people to enjoy the game as they please, and can be great fun in their own right like with the slow-motion combat option.

If you genuinely loved the first game, you'll love this one too.

It looks incredible, especially on a PS4 PRO. The environments and character models are detailed to the point that I was left believing this could be an early PS5 game. On the gameplay side of things, there isn't really anything groundbreaking. It's a simple enough third-person shooter with stealth and crafting elements. Can't say much about the story. It's not particularly complex, and isn't very satisfying to watch unfold. All in all I'd say it's an average experience, mostly carried by the technical aspect of the game. This is what a triple A title should LOOK like, but falls short in pretty much every other department. I'd recommend watching a playthrough on your favorite video streaming service. Don't buy it.