Personally, I think it'll probably be crap, and not to my taste anyway, but these nitpicks are all... basically wrong.
This guy'll give you some perspective:
Kirov Reporting said:
Well, I'm prepared to be judged for saying that trailer's really got my interest and I will most likely play this.
Ao2 has always been so over-the-top that it's basically a parody, but played straight- an ultra-stylised version of something that you or I will never experience, massively bombastic and with everything cranked up to 11.5.
Burnout lives by the same code, you'll (probably) never drive like that, so let's kick it up to its most extreme so you can get an absurdly 'rule of cool' version of the experience you'll never have the 'realistic' version of.
Frankly, I'm surprised if anyone's surprised at all of the action movie cliches in this trailer.
-What I can only describe as "Exaggeration of the Black Ops II villain during his machete rampage" kicks a grenade near one of his "troops" with a bit of a comedic pause. - Big bad? Check.
-Unarmored, slim-figured attractive not-as-brown woman is the "backup" for Alpha and Bravo against "Grenade Kick McGee." - Tough chick backing up the lunkheaded protagonists? Check.
-The villain slowly walks towards the three characters, somehow never being shot. Also is not caught in big explosion after Alpha/Bravo (Impossible to tell who's who as it's never made clear) says "Adios" like it's clever. - The 'menacing' walk? Bit of a central character staple. Check.
-Unfunny and mildly racist line about tacos. - I reckon this is likely to be out of context. It's a bit out of place and if that's all there is to that line, it seems a bit pointless, but if they're about to hop in a taco truck or similar for the ridiculous car chase, it would make a bit of sense.
-ALL the wanton destruction with beat up vehicles and guns to make it "gritty." - How is that 'gritty'? It's just ridiculous splashy action. If you're expecting a grim discussion about how a blown up car probably means a father of three won't be able to drive to work and probably can't afford to replace it every time anything detonates, then this isn't the genre for you.
-No implication of any sort of plot aside from "Shoot everything in Mexico." - It's an under 2-minute trailer. It's aimed at people who want to blow stuff away. I'll go out on a limb and say 'Big bad is the leader of X. Guys, go take out him and X. Here's a chick to back you up.' Plot implied! Sartre this ain't, but it's never claimed to be.
It's a mass of tropes and shiny intended to appeal to a short attention span. It's an amalgamation of themes and tricks that sell. I mean, apart from being quite obvious in it's Michael Bay-esque approach to entertainment ('splosions everywhere), it's not even that bad.
1) "Racist undertones". Not really. Just about every modern AAA game has this problem somewhere. It's not really an attempt at racism, so much as a lack of research, a lack of depth, and the belief that most gamers can only associate with a straight white male with brown hair (usually gelled), often wearing jeans. It's more that they think that this is what people want and they'll buy. Artistically hollow, and disturbing on the whole, but not individually racist. The taco line? They're in Mexico, and the writers are dumb.
2) "Gritty". Not at all. This is the opposite of gritty. Gritty is a focus on the effects of a lower key of violence. You take a small act, and turn it into something brutal. This is over-the-top. It's hyperbolic explosions and bullets and man-fridges.
It's a cheap amalgamation of things people will recognise. Badasses? Machete guy, the protagonists, the heavies. Explosions? Cars, Villas. Cool guys not looking at them? Check. The protagonists, machete guy. Chest high walls? Check. Overexposed desert? Check. Michelle Rodriguez style badass babe/diversity casting? Check. Car Chase? Check. Vapid entertainment that's going to attempt to wow with set pieces rather than bore you with their story? Check. The explosions, battles, and action of the entire game condensed into a 2 minute montage of nonsense? The trend here is mighty obvious.
You should always look at pop culture through the lens of pop culture first. If you noticed a racial undertone to the game trailer: Good. Now go look at the other games lying around and notice the strong one there. It's a cultural trend. The location should be exotic, because that's exciting, but we're too stupid to understand anyone who isn't that same brown haired guy. I don't have a single game in my collection with a gay protagonist. Not out of any deliberate choice. I have probably two with female leads. I have I think just the one with a black lead.