I'm sharing your disappointment Chara, but I think this is just an into episode. I guess they felt required to introduce as many characters as possible at the first episode, so they made this up. I'm on the other hand think it's unnecessary.
I think that in episode 3 they're going to go back to the original story, since in the "Next Episode" they seem to have a dedicated episode for Ed and Al's origin story, which I also think is unnecessary, since the manga reveal their story with a good pacing.
They also decided to reveal to those who are new to the series that Al is basically an empty suit of armor, instead of leaving that revelation to be made in the same way it was made in the manga - Al being shot to the head, his armor body falling to the ground and then raising, which was awesome. But that's really a small thing.
And since the whole story that gone in this episode is going to be neglected throughout the rest of the series(as it is going to follow the manga), I think it's quite ridiculous how much they decided to tear up Central. BTW, what was Roy doing there? He's stationed at East City.
I also disliked that they used Isaac to foreshadow future revelations, specifically the horrors with which the army is deeply involved(I won't go into detail since I don't want to spoil to those who don't read the manga). It's just waaaayyyyy to early to hint the audience about that.
Chara, you're right about that there's little to no hand-to-hand combat....I didn't notice that when I watched, so it didn't quite bother me, but there should truly be more hand-to-hand combat.
They also did the "Ed is short" "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" joke waaaayyyy too much. One time would've been enough to make the audience understand Ed is sensitive about his height, and add to that that many of these jokes are still yet to come throughout the whole series.
I loved the new OP and ED. Especially the ED, cute. One thing that concerns me is that we see neither Ling or Mei in the OP, which makes me wonder where the hell are they.
Hopefully I didn't forget to write anything O:
EDIT: I did forget something - All in all, this episode was fine. I mean, by itself, nothing made it bad. It just didn't match the expectation - to see Ed and Al go again to Lior, the point where their journey took a sharp turn.
P.S:
GO WATCH IT NAO IF YOU DIDNT ARRGHHH >:(
DBK ROCKS