I didn't expect this game or even want it, but I got it as a Christmas present from my brother and was quite surprised. He said it looked cool. I had already read the reviews and they weren't great, but I thanked him and thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad
The experience I had waiting for me was probably my favorite single player experience in the PS3. Fun action, an over the top gory story, with a surprising amount of depth of character. This was a blast, and when I think of games of that era, more than Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, or The Last of Us, this is the game that comes to mind first.
It was so fun and unexpected. The B-game that could.