Yes, the first game had very nice gimmicks but the core gameplay wasn't all that great, imo. Now we see with this vid that the game is weak because multiplayer focuses on gameplay and not graphics or atmosphere, especially deathmatch.
Now if they made huge MP maps and had coop as a type of RPG experience, that might actually kick ass. But making a huge world would likely be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.
Perpetual debt is slavery.