Well I bought it, played it. Here's a review (PC version).
THE GOOD:
It's nice to see a different terrain color palette, and the Chinese stealth guys add something new to the game.
You'll see a few new things like aircraft flying in the sky, and an enemy tank or two. There are some nice visual effects related to an attack on an artillery bunker. The environment looks good.
You get a new weapon and a new type of stealthy armor, both of which can be carried out into the main campaign after you finish the scenario. They're both nice, but not uber-powerful and I wouldn't recommend the expansion just to get them.
There is an opportunity to lead a small squad of soldiers (optionally with a robot), although the implementation is very limited. It's basically like having a few extra companions in the OC.
THE BAD
It took me something like 3 hours to play through the expansion, but I'm playing a sneak/sniper that likes to do a lot of scouting. Others might finish it in two hours. I know downloadable content like this is supposed to be just a "mini expansion," but even at a cost of $10 USD, that's not a lot of play time for the money.
There is no real variety in what you do. It's a set of four missions that all play out the same; you're leading an infantry strike force, you kill stuff and keep moving forward. There is no exploration at all. You're funneled down a very linear game map to the final targets.
The expansion strips the game down to basic arcade-like elements. Enemies disappear when they're killed, and leave no bodies to loot. You don't carry health items or have to worry about ammo. There are health and ammo replenishing gadgets placed at intervals in the game. If your squad members are killed, and you're between major battles, you can instantly get a replacement. The pretext here is that you're inside a simulation (game-within-a-game), but all those elements were jarring. I bought Fallout to play an RPG with some FPS elements, not something that's even more of an arcade FPS than the original game was.
You have several companions in a squad, and you can choose the type of unit, but there is no direct tactical control over them, other than being able to tell them to wait while you scout a location. After that, they'll just charge in.
A small spoiler about the Chinese stealth units...
I played the expansion starting from a saved level 20 character. The difficulty level seemed about the same as the OC (i.e. very easy on Normal setting). I would have thought an expansion would be a little toughter than the OC, since most people will probably play this after finishing the OC. I got dinged a few times by stealthed Chinese dragoons, but mostly it was a cakewalk.
The ending of the final mission in the simulation was anticlimactic...
THE UGLY:
Note: this only applies to the PC version. You have to install Windows "LIVE" to buy and play the game. The process of setting up an account, buying and downloading the game, was very confusing. It's a flawed install too... I had to manually copy a file into LIVE's separate savegame folder, in order to have a saved game with a character high enough level to reach the simulator. Worse, you need to go into a separate set of in-game windows to launch LIVE and have it running in order to play the game. There is a way to play it without LIVE running in the background, but it involves moving game files around and isn't officially endorsed. More info on the game's forum. It's a real mess, with lots of people unable to even get the thing installed. Honestly, I think Microsoft is trying to drive people away from PC games and into buying X-Boxes with all this hassle.
The Games for Windows LIVE web site also charged me more than the actual cost of the expansion, because you can't just buy it directly. You have to purchase blocks of "points," and naturally the block increment is a little more than the cost of the expansion. Cute trick, that.
SUMMARY:
I dunno, I guess it was worth $10, but only just barely. It remains to be seen whether the upcoming expansions are worth it. What I really want is more experience in the big post-apocalypse world, and to keep developing my character. With a level cap at 20, the next one that takes place in Pittsburgh might be just another minor shoot-em-up, and if it is, I'll pass on it. The final one that removes the level cap and extends the OC might be worth it, but it better have more story-driven content and exploration.
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