I have to admit that returning to see this thread is not the happiest experience. How many people here have played it? One? How many are panning it without playing it based on paid reviews? Looks like nearly everyone.

I could have told you months ago that this game would be panned by paid reviewers. It has all the classic hallmarks - not pretty, requires time to see the gameplay develop, not by one of the adored big names like Rockstar, no huge advertising budget. That limits the game to a 7/10 or 3/5 at best on most sites, and lo and behold that's close to what it's got on that list posted earlier.

Everywhere I look the paid reviewers are doing their usual, and a whole host of actual players who are loving the game. Finding flaws, yes, but loving it and playing through it more than once to see the other options. There's a 45 page long mostly positive thread over on the very critical quarter to three forums, and a second thread devoted solely to spoilers. That puts it about even with Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age. Same kind of reaction on the other forums I've looked at.

People are experiencing vastly different stories based on their choices in this game: who lives, who dies, who's friend and who is foe, where they do and don't go, the very style of standard gameplay itself, it all changes based on player decisions. All styles of play are viable, from run and gun to stealth with minimal (no?) killing.

So I've brought a copy. The only reason it took me so long was I needed to wait for a price drop; now I've got a house to pay for I can't justify full price games. I'm going to start it today and I expect a typical Obsidian experience: average gameplay, some wonkiness and bugs, and an outstanding RPG.

I will say that the console version appears to be the way to go unless you have a pad for your PC. Some of the mini games don't work so well with a mouse and keyboard.