The basic interface is extremely easy and intuitive to use. You will never have to refer to your manual or think about how to accomplish something. Key combinations or sequences were not difficult at all, and you are introduced to actions and behavior through fun immersive action. For example, you'll learn how to fight almost immediately through a sequence that tightly flows with the story.

In some ways, the cinematic aspect of the game is not even noticeable. Unlike other games that involve cutscenes or a clear break between story presentation and gameplay, BGaE incorporates that part of the game right into your basic activities. But more importantly, the storytelling never takes over from your control of the characters, and sometimes even takes place parallel to your character control. So it never feels like you're stuck waiting for the action to start again.

Having a great and intelligent story, along with memorable characters with real personalities, helps a lot in that regard. The basic story is relatively simple: the Alpha Section arm of the military is protecting the citizens of Hillys against the alien DomZ attacks. But there's a much deeper and complicated truth behind that. Your job is to discover and expose that truth. There could have been more done with that, but I suspect that some of that mystery has been left open in hopes of a sequel. Unfortunately, I doubt a sequel will happen as BGaE did not have a large number of sales to my knowledge.

In terms of content, no two battles are ever the same. And combat is fun because of the simple but fun to use attacks. The maps are filled with puzzles that involve lots of different ideas, some traditional, some more inventive, and the puzzles are not the same thing over and over again. When an idea is duplicated, it is done in a way that requires you to think of new approaches and analyze the situation carefully. I constantly felt challenged but never overwhelmed or tired of the puzzles.

Minigames are also built in without them being as a side-track. There's racing, vehicle combat, a game like air hockey, and also side puzzles that are not necessary for advancement but can be done for fun. If you manage to complete one particular side-quest, you can unlock a really difficult two-handed independent coordination game. Anyone that can get far in that will have developed excellent hand-eye coordination along with parallel spatial tracking.

The music was also great. This is one game where I felt like I would have really benefitted from playing it on my home theater system, instead of the lower-end system I have set up for gaming. It's rich, detailed, and heavily supports the emotions and mood of the game.

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