Having played M&M6 and M&M7, I was really looking forward to this game.  Unfortunately, once I started I lost interest pretty quickly.  It is so similar to the earlier games that I felt I was just replaying one of the  other titles.
My biggest problem is that there have been few if any  upgrades to the basic game engine since #6.  Don't get me wrong, I like the  basic game engine.  The world looks interesting and is easy to navigate.  However, some of the problems that first bothered me in 6 have become even  more annoying in the later titles.  Namely:
HOARDS OF UNINTELLIGENT  MONSTERS: All monsters in the M&M universe behave in exactly the same  way.  Once they see you, they charge to attack.  (OK.  A few will shoot at  you from range, but the principle is still the same.) No opponents use even  rudimentary tactics. As a result, every fight feels the same.  And there  are A LOT of fights.  There are so many damn monsters in this game that  your finger will get sore from pressing the attack key, and the repetition  gets pretty mind numbing.  In particular, I got sick of the pirates on the  first island.  There's a trigger zone that creates new ones every time you  enter it.  How many times do we really want to kill the same monster  off?
MONSTERS DON'T REACT TO EVENTS AROUND THEM: The game uses the tired  D&D cliche of the dungeon crawl.  That is, you go into the first room,  kill everything there. Rest.  Move on to next room.  Repeat.  Guards in  other rooms don't react to your presence until you attack them, even if  that is months later.  Frankly, I would be happier if the next game in the  series used a system like the one in Fallout 2, where all the guards in a  complex react in a coordinated way to your presence once they realize that  you are there.  This forces you to use stealth, dialog skills, and to  really think about who you attack and when.
THE STORY IS STILL VERY  LINEAR: Basically, you have a bunch of quests you have to do.  You have no  real choices in who you ally yourself with and who you attack.  The world  consists of people you talk to and people you kill, with no overlap between  the two.
THE NPC SYSTEM COULD BE VASTLY IMPROVED:  You have no choice in  how you handle NPC's.  You hear what they have to say, then do their quests  for them.  I would much rather see the game move towards an NPC systme like  the one in Fallout 2, which is really quite good. Your lead character's INT  determines how many things he can think of to say, and his oratory skill  determines how well he can lie and manipulate people.  And you always seem  to have at least two or three different ways to approach any  NPC.
Overall, my big problem with this game is that there just isn't a  lot of thinking involved, or much freedom of action for the player.  You  slog your way through endless fights against repetitive and brainless  monsters, only to collect a reward and then do more of the same.
Having played M&M6 and M&M7, I was really looking forward to this game. Unfortunately, once I started I lost interest pretty quickly. It is so similar to the earlier games that I felt I was just replaying one of the  other titles. My biggest problem is that there have been few if any  upgrades to the basic game engine since #6. Don't get me wrong, I like the  basic game engine. The world looks interesting and is easy to navigate. However, some of the problems that first bothered me in 6 have become even  more annoying in the later titles. Namely:
HOARDS OF UNINTELLIGENT  MONSTERS: All monsters in the M&M universe behave in exactly the same  way. Once they see you, they charge to attack. (OK. A few will shoot at  you from range, but the principle is still the same. ) No opponents use even  rudimentary tactics. As a result, every fight feels the same. And there  are A LOT of fights. There are so many damn monsters in this game that  your finger will get sore from pressing the attack key, and the repetition  gets pretty mind numbing. In particular, I got sick of the pirates on the  first island. There's a trigger zone that creates new ones every time you  enter it. How many times do we really want to kill the same monster  off? MONSTERS DON'T REACT TO EVENTS AROUND THEM: The game uses the tired  D&D cliche of the dungeon crawl. That is, you go into the first room,  kill everything there. Rest. Move on to next room. Repeat. Guards in  other rooms don't react to your presence until you attack them, even if  that is months later. Frankly, I would be happier if the next game in the  series used a system like the one in Fallout 2, where all the guards in a  complex react in a coordinated way to your presence once they realize that  you are there. This forces you to use stealth, dialog skills, and to  really think about who you attack and when. THE STORY IS STILL VERY  LINEAR: Basically, you have a bunch of quests you have to do. You have no  real choices in who you ally yourself with and who you attack. The world  consists of people you talk to and people you kill, with no overlap between  the two. THE NPC SYSTEM COULD BE VASTLY IMPROVED:  You have no choice in  how you handle NPC's. You hear what they have to say, then do their quests  for them. I would much rather see the game move towards an NPC systme like  the one in Fallout 2, which is really quite good. Your lead character's INT  determines how many things he can think of to say, and his oratory skill  determines how well he can lie and manipulate people. And you always seem  to have at least two or three different ways to approach any  NPC. Overall, my big problem with this game is that there just isn't a  lot of thinking involved, or much freedom of action for the player. You  slog your way through endless fights against repetitive and brainless  monsters, only to collect a reward and then do more of the same.