This game reminds me of the original POP, one of the first games I played thru to the end.
The three pillars of this game (as for any game) are very solid. The control set is small and uncomplicated but layered to give depth. The camera behaves wonderfully most of the time. And the characters and story are intriguing and believeable.
Animations are smooth, the music and sound effects are beautiful, and the level design is very well thought out. Given the limited set of actions that the hero can perform, the levels are layed out so that they are not too repetitive in terms of user interaction.
I have only two issues with this game.
Sometimes the camera gets stuck and oscillates till you move it, and on some occasions it does not allow you to see what you want/need to see.
Also, it took me a few levels till I was not accidentally pulling the left trigger when I wanted to pull the right trigger in the heat of battle, making me lose sand pouches. I don't know how many people were frustrated by this, but a slight (very slight) delay/tolerance on the left trigger could have alleviated this issue.
Overall a GREAT game, a must buy with a rating of 9.5 in my book.