He certainly had a presence. Oda gave him a lot more respect than his fellow Admirals, just in how he was drawn and withheld. I'm generally positive towards Akainu here, because he's a very effective bad guy for the arc. He takes charge when he has to, his ideology is fairly simple to see and understand what motivates him. Likewise his powers are devastating and his temper unrestricted on who he'll lash out on. Routinely getting in Whitebeard's way and then murdering Ace, later pursuing Luffy with a Slasher Villain mentality only to be halted by the combined efforts of the Whitebeard pirates? Yeah, that's a little cool.
I like Akainu more than the average character. Doesn't crack my top 12. Maybe my top 15.