The only problem I have with the shooting segments... is that I wish I could pull out a light gun to play them ^_^ Really, it's arcadey, EDF always felt arcadey... no problem, with how short they last.
On 2 player split screen co-op, with rank 6 weapons, a Battle and a Jet, we're FINALLY getting to the point where Hectors and such go down within a decent, nice time (on hard). That was on 3-4. This is where the weapons are starting to seem properly powerful to me, for that difficulty.
Someone asked if Hitting things in places other than the weak point causes damage. I believe so, as long as they don't have an obvious energy barrier on their bodies, like the Super Hectors, and the Carrier ships. Those, I REALLY don't think take damage except for in the weakpoints.
I do wonder if the EXP curve is a bit ridiculous, though. It's starting to get REALLY slow, considering you have to do it 4 times. That feels slightly more artifical than the bloated number of stages in old EDF.
Also, I was glad to see there's more of an ending to the game in Hard, compared to Normal. I assume the same thing happens on Inferno, but it'll probably be a day or 2 before I see if that's true!
All in all, I have to say, while it's different, this has become an EDF to me, not just a shallow imitation. It's a much more satisfying sequel, to me, than Crackdown 2 was to 1. While it guffs up some of what I like, it seems to be making it up to me as time goes on, and I look forward to playing it some more. What it brings to the table as a whole, is greater than what was lost... but the perfect EDF experience would be the one that brings the best from all together into one!
I actually hope EDF4 from Sandlot takes a long, hard look at what WORKS in this game, and what doesn't. I'd be sad to see armor classes and special attacks completly gone!
