FEAR 2: Project Origin

All right, no more low budget indie/casual games. It's time for Big Budget games with Big Budget graphics and action, and what better way to do so than with FEAR 2? I actually completed FEAR 2 before playing Eufloria, and played it again after I reviewed Eufloria. If you don't know what FEAR 2 is about, it's the FPS/Horror sequel to the first FEAR (which I reviewed earlier). Does it live up to or surpass the original? Yes, but the details are provided below.

Premise

FEAR 2 is a first person horror game that takes place shortly before the end of the original FEAR game. You play as Sergeant Beckett, a Delta Force soldier who is sent to retrieve an old crazy b!tch from her apartment. Just before you retrieve her, you're knocked out and things pretty much go bat$hit crazy. An evil ghost awakens, sends ghosts and clone soldiers after you, and an evil corporation kills everyone even remotely affiliated with the project. So think of it as Marxism mixed with Ju-on mixed with Star Wars Clone Wars and you get FEAR 2.


Pedobear Approves


FEAR 2 relies on primarily two elements: first person shooter slow-mo action, and Japanese horror (ie, scary long haired Japanese girls). Both elements are included from the first FEAR, Doom 3, and Deadspace, so veterans of FEAR will fit in pretty comfortably with this setup.

Gameplay


FEAR 2's gameplay as mentioned above is mainly first person shooter. It follows the standard FPS formula: you take cover, shoot, reload, and after the fighting's over you scavenge for items. In this case, FEAR 2's FPS system is pretty standard and well done (I like that you can cook grenades). The best thing about the gameplay is of course the slo-mo feature of the game,which looks even better than in the first FEAR, with enemies being highlighted and explosions and bullet ripples looking very sweet, and it's good to know that you can beat most fights without ever relying on it. The screenshots below don't really do the game justice.



In addition to the base game, the game also lets you ride on mechs and IFVs in a few levels and the DLC. Riding on the mech is fun and the minigame is well done, but it is a bit easy. Fortunately, riding the mech is more or less optional, and if you want you can ditch it all together and just go ape$hit on foot.

Pew Pew Pew

Pew Pew Pew


Gameplay is also strongly affected by level design. The original FEAR had more open ended levels, that allowed you to sneak around and place traps before engaging enemies. This is possible because enemies in these games will not immediately see you, and until then you can sneak around and melee an opponent for a silent kill. Unlike the first FEAR, however, FEAR 2's combat is more linear like COD, which restricts manuverability for cover shooting. There's also a lot more scripted events than in FEAR, which reduces flexibility for more immediate action. There's nothing wrong with this formula in my opinion; it works in COD, it certainly works in FEAR 2. However, the game's schizophrenic because the game obviously wants you to explore the levels; the game is littered with hidden powerups, medkits/armor, and data you can collect. The detailed environment encourages players to explore (which is also good), but the disconnect between open ended exploration and linear combat is odd, and it probably would have been better if Monolith stuck to one design. If the developers wanted it to be more open ended, that's great, but why not include an experience system (Bioshock)/limited economy (Deadspace), or make maps that allow you to engage enemies seperately like Fallout 3 or Ridd!ck: Dark Athena? FEAR 2's strange because it gives you tactical landmines, but the action sequences are too linear and fast paced for you to really use them. Your melee silent-kill attack doesn't even one-hit KO enemies anymore (not that you can even get close enough to really hit someone).

THIS is your reward for exploring haunted schools?

The horror aspect of the game is also greatly improved from the first FEAR. In the first FEAR, you're forced to undergo elements of horror sequences, but they're really just breaks from the gameplay. Once they occur, you just sit back and watch the fireworks. Now however, the game introduces spectres to the game, ghostly enemies that can do damage to you and can teleport. Because they're so difficult to discern and predict, they give the players a greater sense of vulnerability.



Otherwise, the game's use of horror is similar to the first FEAR/Doom 3/Dead Space, relying on lots of flashbacks, blood, and distortion. It's done quite well, and gave me the creeps when I was playing with the lights out, but I doubt it's as pants-wetting as Amnesia.

Jesus there's a lot of blood


Practically everwhere


But where does it all come from?

Ohhh, that time of the month eh?


Environment wise, the game's a definite improvement over the first FEAR. Wheras the first one took place in an office/factory, which made it repetitive, FEAR 2 takes place in far more environments. The environments range from hospitals, schools, apocalyptic streets and subways. Although the settings are always dark, it's good to see that the designers listened to complaints about level design and actually varied level design. The levels look good and are well detailed and can mostly be interacted with. Also, because you're fighting against multiple factions this time, there is a noticeably difference among enemy designs. Replica soldiers use assault rifles, but mercenaries use SMGs and are easier to kill, so it feels like there's more distinction among enemies. The designers implemented a new cover system in which you can slide or push desks and heavy objects into a position that will give you cover. The problem is that it's slow, arbitrary, and actually unnecessary. It takes about a good second to toss a desk in the right way, leaving you exposed to fire. Enemies doing that will make easy kills for you. In addition, you have to be in a certain position to interact with the cover, so you can't push it off from the side, but it has to be from the center. And lastly, you really don't need it, as there's always plenty of cover available. The developers need to make interacting with cover easier.


Women drivers

Chinese Women Drivers


Lastly, and these are pretty minor, there should be a SDK released so that players can change a few values in the game. The game's schizophrenic again in that it doesn't know if it wants its guns to be realistic or balanced. For example, a shotgun is ridiculously underpowered against armored opponents (realistic) but the combat shotgun does 25% more damage than the semi-auto even though they're both probably the same round. The same applies to the pistol and SMG also. The flamethrower is ridiculously underpowered also. A SDK will give players the ability to mod the weapons so that the damage values are applied more evenly.



System Performance

The game's minimum and recommended system requirements are:


Minimum
Operating System: Windows® XP SP2/Vista SP1
Processor: P4 2.8GHz (3.2GHz Vista)/Athlon® 64 3000+ (3200+ Vista)
Memory: 1GB (1.5GB Vista)
Hard Disk Space: 12GB Available Hard Disk Space
Video Card: Fully DX9-compliant graphics card with 256MB (SM 2.0b). NVIDIA 6800 or ATI X700
DirectX® Version: 9.0c
Sound: DX9.0c compliant
Internet Connection: Broadband

Recommended
Operating System: Windows® XP SP3/Vista SP1
Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz processor family/Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (required for MP host)
Memory: 1.5GB
Hard Disk Space: 12GB Available Hard Disk Space
Video Card: Fully DX9-compliant graphics card with 512MB (SM 3.0). NVidia® 8600 GTS or ATI® HD 2900 XT
DirectX® Version: 9.0c
Sound: DX9.0c compliant
Internet Connection: Broadband (768kbit/sec upstream required to host 16 players)


The game pretty much ran like butter on my dedicated videocard, with FRAPS reporting 45-60 fps on average, and the graphics are not too shabby. However, there is a lot of sudden slowdowns due to the game's autosaving. Although it's noticeable, it didn't annoy me. As usual, I recommend you try the demo of FEAR 2 before purchasing it. http://www.gamershell.com/download_38288.shtml


Bugs/Mods/Value/Misc

By now, the game has been patched all the way, and as expected there aren't too many gamebreaking or noticeable bugs. However, FEAR 2 lacks a SDK, so don't expect any mods for the game to be released. This is unfortunate because custom content could remedy a few of the problems I listed above, mainly weapon balancing and level design to allow for more tactical stealth based gameplay. As of right now, there's only one DLC available, which adds in a couple of pretty good levels to the game. There is a multiplayer mode though. I purchased FEAR 2 with the DLC from Steam for only about $7.49, which is a pretty good steal considering I enjoyed it more than the first FEAR. Otherwise, the game's about $14.50 on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Fear-2-Project-Origi...0767&sr=8-3


Overall Score

9/10

I know FEAR 2 got lower scores elsewhere because it doesn't really break any new barriers, but as it stands it's a great game. The game lacks a lot of the tactical level design and flexibility from the first FEAR, but has improved the combat, the horror, and the overall level design of the game (less repetition), and it's pretty polished all around. The demo gives a pretty good taste of what the gameplay's all about, so give that a try before you buy.








Suggestions:

1. The game does horror and action well, but how about including more tactical gameplay? Mix the levels a bit to allow for stealth combat (or ditch exploring all together like COD does), or include a limited experience system like in Bioshock or Dead Space
2. Include a SDK so that I can change the weapon damages, or at the very least, change it so that guns are either realistic or balanced.
3. This is pretty minor, but you might as well make Use and the Melee button the same, since both are used to little. I mean come on, you can "use" a door and "kick a door", and when you "use" cover you actually kick it sometimes.