I've not seen TBs video yet but I can guess what it will be like, I do take his reviews with a bit of a pinch of salt though - he feels it's his job to complain etc. etc.
For me I feel like the majority of the percieved "blandness", "dullness" etc. of the combat is self-inflicted, which is simultaneously a good and a bad thing from a game design perspective. Here's how the game went for me (on "Hard"):
Initially I feel that as any reasonably seasoned FPS player would I approached the firefights in a sensible way, taking cover immediately, popping out to shoot people, going for headshots etc... I had the vigors sure, and occasionally fired of a stun-type attack before shooting with my guns from cover, but for the most part I played it a little defensive, at least until only a few enemies remained and then I'd skyline over to them or whatever or use an "execution" on them...
This was DULL... I'd get through the encounters sure, but then I'd wander around the area and think "Ahhh there's a rocket launcher on this balcony, I guess if I'd come over here I could have used it"... "Oh I see I could have used that sky-hook thing to get above the enemies and drop down" etc...
In future battles I decided that against my normal instincts I would break cover slightly more to try and traverse the map area and use the items dotted around, I also made more of an effort to try and use the different vigors and discover combinations... "In the next encounter I'm gonna try using vigor X and vigor Y to deal the most damage, and only rely on the pistol otherwise". Once I started doing this sort of thing the combat (for the most part) was a lot more enjoyable...
Is it a bad thing that the game design doesn't force you to experiment, and sometimes even feels like it's trying to discourage you from it - maybe I guess... but how exactly can you force a player to try and mess around with the tools they are given? If standing by the pillars at the doorway of an area using the electric attack followed by headshots with the carbine is super efficient at taking out enemies, of course it makes sense to do that, but then it's your fault that you just stood and shot a line of approaching enemies over and over until the end credits...
On a side note I found *exactly* the same issue with Far Cry 3... I could clear any outpost in the game with a silenced sniper rifle from a nearby hill with no problems at all, but it was BORING... it got fun when I started thinking "Okay, this time I'm going to try and kill all the pirates with carefully placed C4 without being detected, he he he"...
