The world, story, and characters are absolutely sublime. Never before has such a grand and compelling story been told with such depth and emotion in an interactive medium. The first half of the game is full of these wonderful character interactions, fun mission designs, and a world thats just a treat to explore. And then it all comes to a screeching halt during Chapter 5 and never again reaches the same heights it did in the first portion. The story is still terrific all the way through but the fun parts of the gameplay take a backseat to trailing missions, boring Uncharted-esque shootouts with the bland shooting and broken cover system getting in the way of everything, and a world that (albeit purposefully) begins to close in around you. Still an easy recommendation to anyone I know but not a perfect masterpiece. I've played through it twice and am looking forward to an eventual third time around, despite the bad stuff in the later part of the game.