I'd pre-ordered this on Steam last week. Managed to start playing it just after midnight this morning. I was on it for a solid 4 hours. So far I'm really enjoying it. Although it's not as big as GTA4, I think it's more detailed and looks much better. The random comments you hear as you walk around Empire Bay reminded me of the Splicer psycho-babble from Bioshock. The was one guy selling newspapers, shouting the headlines to encourage people to buy it. As I walked past I hear him shout "I'm freezing my balls off!" in the same tone as his "Extra! Extra!"

I'm a bad driver in these kind of games, but so far I'm doing well. The cars handle nice enough and look gorgeous! There are, as far as I know, two sets of period cars - 1945 and then the 1950's - there's a jump of about 6 years. The first few chapters in 1945 are during the winter, so cars are covered in a thick blanket of snow until you start driving them and it falls off, while roads are iced over in places and everywhere looks white - civilians sometimes lose their footing and slip all over the place too. Even the radio music was fitting. Two songs I heard in particular were 'Let It Snow' and 'Baby, It's Cold Outside". I've only just reached the 1950's before I stopped playing so I haven't noticed the music yet - but you notice the cars and clothing straight away.

The music from the original game is included on a classic radio station which I thought was a nice touch (the original is set close to 1920 I believe).

I like the cover system - it doesn't feel constricting. The weapons are good - I adore the Tommy Gun, and the shotgun has a satisfying kick to it. And once you know how to fight, fisticuffs are very easy - at least they have been so far.

Reviews suggest the game isn't very long, which is a shame for such a vibrant, open world. I hope there's something similar to the originals Free Ride Mode where you can just do whatever the hell you like. Repeatable side missions would be nice, but I've no idea what's in store for me. As usual I imagine they're counting on downloadable content to increase it's longevity.

I'll update this when I've played a few more hours.