So yeah, got it on PC, first impression was "this is crap", second impression after the intro mission was "eh, not THAT bad".
First mission, hoo boy. That's not a good way to start the game off at all. The only good thing I can say about that part is that they're FINALLY adding talking while moving around. Stiffly standing going back-and-forth like a Star Wars Ep1-3 movie was the worst when it came to conversations in the series. Though I hope you get to talk for extended periods of time and all.
Everything else, though, was pretty crap. Dialogue content is far worse I find. Cliche one-liners peppered throughout entire conversations like they were going out of style (and many of them did already...). Pacing was beyond frantic. Felt like a 14-year old kid with ADD directed the sequence. Yes yes, the earth is being invaded. That's still no reason to flail the camera. At 60FPS it's almost nauseating. And is it just me, or did the facial animation quality take a hit? What happened there? Lips barely move, faces are completely still (downgraded from "really still" in the past 2 games), there's absolutely zero emotion between all characters. Combine that with the hyperactive pacing and it looks like the game is on fast-forward.
The intro sequence was just done really sloppily. It feels like it's far too ambitious for console hardware, because I kept spotting crappy sprite models (people running away, etc.) with 3 frames of animation all over the place. Buildings in the horizon had incredibly primitive modelling, the "ashes falling" effect was hilariously bad (again, a sprite with 3 frames of animation), as was the splashes as Reapers landed in the water (again, more 3-frame sprites). Low-res textures everywhere, far more noticeable than ME2. And it might be nitpicky but it just has to be singled out: Anderson's running animation. It's like I went back in time to the PS2 days, watching him with really jerky movement as he floats/jumps around and clips into jumping animations. Watching him run around was cringe-worthy.
Second part of the demo fared a little better. Dialogue I still found to be crap, but the combat shone a little bit there. This is no longer RPG-ish combat, this is a full-on TPS. Me, I don't mind that, but I know a ton of people are going to be pissed about the shooting. It still feels extremely corridors-y like ME2 in terms of level design, so meh on that part. Haven't tried multiplayer yet.
I was getting ready to ragequit right after the first mission but thank god I stuck around for the second one. Felt a bit better polished, but I still have issues with how little it seems to have changed from ME2. Looks like it's going to be a collection of battles from one corridor to the next, which I'm not going to enjoy since I was anticipating them going back to the ME1 style but much more polished.
Can't make a final judgement about the game, of course, but I was already extremely skeptical before coming into the demo. I came out not disgusted, which I guess it's good for what it's worth, but no way am I paying premium for it. I'll get it way further down the line when I need to waste some time. I just know the story'll take a gigantic nosedive, and I've never been too big on shooters myself so I'm not in any hurry to buy it.
. I also fear that with them adding a roll we have reached the point where the A button does WAY too much. Run, roll, stick to cover AND jump over barriers? It's bad enough that I would accidentally jump over barriers in 2 when trying to duck into cover, now I have to worry about rolling too?