the General was absolved. He razed Hope, ID because the virus was uncontrollable, but instead of killing MOTHER and PARIAH he kept them for Blackwatch. Cross is probably the only compassionate guy among the various opponents Virus Mercer faces, even going so far as to express sympathy for him. I didn't quite grok that Cross had been consumed by the Supreme/Ultimate Hunter (or whatever it was called) since that Web of Intrigue clip (of Cross drawing a line on the ground with his shock stick) didn't show Cross losing. I initially thought that Cross was PARIAH, but then I realized he was too old to be PARIAH (who reportedly has the appearance of a young child). I suspect PARIAH will show up in the sequel (as will, hopefully, Mercer's sister and Doctor Ragland, since apparently Virus Mercer forgets all about them after he takes his revenge on Karen Parker).
I've never before played a game where you take on the identity of such a completely amoral antihero. The main character is a biological warfare researcher who decides that he's going to infect all of New York with a uniquely dangerous virus since the organization he works for takes objection to his absconding with a sample of such virus. I assume Human Mercer took the virus with him as insurance (or for blackmail) to prevent Blackwatch from erasing him like they erased Hope, but it still was a supremely assholish thing for Human Mercer to deliberately release the virus at Penn Station. (Unless the release was accidental? The WOI wasn't clear - we just see the vial breaking. I sort of like the ambiguity there.) And I feel bad for Karen Parker - Blackwatch tortured her to get Human Mercer's whereabouts. But Virus Mercer doesn't care - all he knows is that he was betrayed and that she has to pay for her betrayal. I sort of wonder if it's the Virus's own anger that everyone is trying to kill it or if it's the Human's anger at being consumed/dying that drives him.
The dialogue was clunky (I don't think Barry Pepper was the right casting choice for this character, though he does RAGEEEEE well), but for the most part the voice acting was good (it's just the conversations didn't really flow). I really liked the military chatter too. And I LOVED the WOI - whoever came up with that concept and worked on the presentation and production effects did a fantastic job. Just like the main character, the game player has no idea what's the heck is going on, let alone how he got where he is now, and has to hunt down Mercer's history (which is the game's narrative). A really creative concept and a really polished presentation.
I still can't get the last three Hard Military Consume events (two base infiltrations and one consume targets chase), but I did complete the WOI, which was my favorite part of the game. The gliding was my favorite event. I suck at rooftop running. I loved the differing ways you could wreak destruction in this game - there were almost too many; I don't really feel I mastered any of them. It made the two big boss fights particularly difficult since I had made the mistake of only sticking with a few of my favorite methods, which unfortunately were not the right tactics to have chosen for those boss fights. I think those fights are probably much easier if you work at getting comfortable with all of Mercer's moves.
I also really liked the game's recreation of New York, particularly as the infection spreads overtime. Those first few fires you see breaking out unattended really feel ominous. And then the infection and quarantine posters go up. And then there's chaos in the streets. Very "I Am Legend"-ish. I kept on wishing we could get off Manhattan at the end of the game (the voiceovers on the credits were absurdly optimistic - there's still a lot of dead people and the infected hives you kill keep on coming back).