I played through it twice. once on the normal setting, and once on nightmare. you have to play through it twice to get all the achievements. I enjoyed the gameplay, and it rarely felt like a grind, even on nightmare difficulty. the story however, left me wanting. It is possible the two downloadable episodes will help a little on that front.
the $60 price tag seems steep for what you get, at least initially. it is possible the first DLC episode, entitled "The Signal" will add tremendous value when it drops on July 27th, and a code redeemable for it is included with the game. However, if it is similar to the six episodes that make up the game released on disc, it seems unlikely it will get it up the to $60 mark.
I will admit that both the score and the soundtrack are enjoyable, and I am sure it cost a fair amount to license the game's soundtrack. some included songs:
In Dreams - Roy Orbison
Haunted - Poe
Up Jumped the Devil - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Space Oddity - David Bowie
Coconut - Harry Nilsson
As I said, you could knock out all the achievements in just two playthroughs, spending less than 20 hours total to do it. if you are really good and skip as much as possible, I wouldn't be surprised to hear somebody did it in less than 12. You will spend more time on it if you take the time to fully enjoy the radio and TV bits scattered throughout the game, and explore all the nooks and crannies for the collectibles.
Comparing it to my favorite Xbox 360 games, it does not have $60 of value. there just isn't much reason to replay it after two playthroughs, and those two playthroughs are fairly short. They are entertaining, and yes, at times it does provide some genuine tension. I enjoyed the few times where I got help from the NPCs. I hope there is more of Sheriff Breaker in the DLC.
Personally I grew tired of the forced camera views when the attacks came, but they do serve a purpose, and I'm not sure how they could have handled it better. the gameplay seemed balanced to me, you have basically one choice to make regarding weapon inventory (shotgun vs hunting rifle); everything else is a no-brainer. There are also environmental assists for dealing with enemies. I completely ignored them on my first playthrough; on nightmare, I found them very helpful. As far as I could tell, the game makes sure you get almost all the dialog through normal play. I'm sure there are some differences, but there is only ever one way for the story to play out, and all the characters will basically behave the same way no matter what you do.
So as much as it pains me to say it, this is probably a rental. the DLC is listed as costing $10 each. if you buy the game, you get a code for the first one. right now the game is selling for $50 (for the standard edition). $40 feels more fair to me based on what you get. that would make the final "complete" game (with both DLC edpisodes) cost $50.
