Initial impressions of the game are ... well first of all, get the multiplayer out of the way .... If you're going to play this game online, you might as well just play COD4. Better weapons, better maps, same gameplay. No point playing what is basically an inferior mod.
Single player. Well, again, it's a lot like COD4 but with inferior weapons. And SHORT AS HELL levels. Seriously, you'll play about 5-10minutes, then screen fades to black. Cutscene. 5-10minutes more gameplay. Fade to black. Cutscene. This stop and start narrative of the story completely ruins any immersion in the game, I don't know what the fook they were thinking when they decided to make each section this short.
Stabbing people is fun, the flamethrower is also fun, and some of the japanese banzai charges and traps (although the latter is mostly scripted, an AI teammate runs straight into one to make you go 'ooo') help to mix things up a bit.
Overall though they just try and copy COD4 too much. And when anyone tries to do that, rather than be original, they fail. An analogy for those in the UK : COD4 is Top Gear and COD5 is Fifth Gear. Like the presenters on Top Gear 'make' the show what it is, Infinity Ward 'make' the game.
Random screenshots I've captured so far can be found
HERE.