Based on that video, I'm think the commentator gives themselves way too much credit. They've added a money system in a shooter, yay wow. Other than that, there are basically nothing new, unless 40's environs and underwater is new. Maybe the little sister and big daddy thing will go further, but for now, it seems pretty generic. Cool graphics and water effects though.
I wouldnt call it generic. That is like calling Deus Ex (I liked both Deus Ex games... begin boo'ing at me ) or System Shock 2 generic. Very few Shooters slow down their pace and have potentially but not always aggressive enemies. Many shooters dont feature rpg elements. This game is more of a hybrid of System Shock 2 and games like Thief and Oblivion. It breaks convention by enforcing ammo conservation and thought in how you deal with every situation. You arent going to have the ammo to shoot out every camera you come by. You arent going to have enough Adam to turn off every security system. You arent even going to have enough energy for using your plasmids all the time. From everything I have read about this game over the past year... it really slows everything down.
Now fine... if you want to call it generic than do so. But try comparing it to other shooters and see how generic it is. Its more than a game with a money system tacked on. And a lot of the game is the enemies and how their AI works. Between the Protectors ( Big Daddies ) and Gatherers ( Little Sisters ) , and then the Aggressors ( the different kind of Splicers they have shown... there is apparently more than one type according to screenshots ) and Security Systems.
The game takes some stuff that isnt new necesarrily, but that doesnt mean it is generic necesarrily. Thats like calling Oblivion generic because it builds upon Morrowind. using elements from rather unconventional shooters ( the few there have been ) and using them in certain new ways puts the game into a minority of shooters.
Maybe im just defensive... but honestly... generic shooters dont make you think half as much as they make you run and shoot. Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter is a generic shooter. Area 51 is a generic shooter. Prey is a generic shooter. They all have the same thing in common. Corridor levels and linear paths. They all have a set of semi-generic weaponry. Hell! Even Half-lfe 2 is a generic shooter! it has vehicles ( Halo and other games before it ), your basic selection of weapons ( EVERY SHOOTER ), a rather linear path ( MOST SHOOTERS ).The main character had armor and health ( that goes back to DOOM ). It even the old staple of shooters! ZOMBIES!!! The only thing that sets it apart is one weapon and one wapon only. And that is the gravity gun. And that wasnt even new. Object manipulation was in games like Psi-Ops before it was in Half-Life 2.
There is hardly a game that isnt generic unless its the first game to do something. Even System Shock 2 was generic. The original System Shock did everything System Shock 2 did back in 94. Quake took from Doom which took from Wolfenstein 3d. Unreal took from Quake.
So do you consider most shooters generic just for being shooters? What makes any shooter different than Wolfenstein 3d? The enemies? The enemies are sure to have been done before somewhere. The item system? Been done somewhere else before. The guns? Think of every type of gun in every shooter. There is maybe one new gun for every 30 new shooters. Powers? Been done too. Rpg elements? Been done a long time ago. Dark and light enviroments? Been done in Doom. Destructible objects and enviroments? Been done many ways. Reactive AI? Been done.
Seriously. Now I am trying very hard to find a shooter that isnt generic. So many of them are so derivative of each other. I just wonder if its the combination of elements that makes it unique. Who knows. I will let you decide for yourself. But its very easy to call ANY shooter Generic.
