Well I just got round to playing this, and I'm still trying to work out if I'm surprised or not that it seems to have largely passed under the radar, and whether or not it deserves praise.
(This is only the SP campaign btw, I've not bothered with multi, got BC2 for my hit of that)
I'l start with the cons first as I guess I do quite like the game, so I can end it on a high
1) Very little indication of who you're playing and when. When was I 'Tier 1', when was I a Seal? When was I a Ranger? I'm only presuming I was all three at some point because I was called 3 different names, and heard those three units mentioned.
2) Not enough Tier one stuff in general. The missions with Dusty were generally the best and there needed to be way more of them.
3) Needed to be way more in general. Insultingly short storyline.
4) No storyline.
5) No real characters to feel for. Dusty was probably the only one who didn't just look like everyone else.
6) The enemy seem to come in one of two flavours, one of which looking suspiciously like the assassin from Assassins Creed.
7) Very similar game play for a lot of the main story. Hills, lots of rocks, endless enemies.
Pros.
Now all that said. I actually think this game hit the nail on the head in many ways. Sort of in a way Dragon Rising or ARMA didn't.
1) The engagement distances are great. You're not always shooting someone 3 feet in front of you.
2) In addition to point 1, the maps look realistic. They look like the sort of environment you would be fighting in. Lots of crap everywhere, pain in the ass to get clear line of sight, etc. They feel like they have depth.
3) The sniper mission, again, in conjunction with above points. Brilliant. Having to scan a large area for the enemies, none of whom stand out like a sore thumb because they're moving, or they're bright pink whilst everything else is brown. Felt like more realistic engagement distances.
I know there are more cons than pros. Which is what has me confused. I loved in Dragon Rising how you could engage enemies at more realistic distances (without it feeling like an absolute chore to play like ARMA). This is more arcadey still, but it feels better for it. I think the over riding reason is this feels like the right blend of realism and arcade.
Needed to be twice as long, more Tier 1 stuff with Dusty, and a storyline. I'l definitely try the next one when it's released.