Well then deduct another point on the game for stupid consolification. I previously had some hopes there might be a kind of RavenShield game from the original FEAR engine with it's decent AI and lean, but with no lean???
"Hey, there's an enemy down the hallway. I'll just go stand in full view and then fire at..." BANG BANG!!!
In fairness, leaning isn't a widespread feature in even the biggest names of PC shooters, and has rarely been all that useful in those games that do have it. :p
The engine used in FEAR2 has the same quirky kind of 'feel' to it that FEAR1 had, and it doesn't quite feel like a typical PC shooter, but the dreaded consolification only really shows up in the menus and PDA/status, where mouse control is poor and clunky - Otherwise I think it plays no worse than FEAR1 in terms of responsiveness and so on.
I just finished it a few minutes ago on the hardest difficulty and I enjoyed it from start to finish (aside from the end battle, which is a pain in the ass), but I only got it installed around 4pm today.
I played almost non-stop from 16:00 til 02:30 (with breaks for hygiene, food, etc :p ), but for €50 I was hoping for something a bit lengthier..
I had been telling myself I'd wait for it to come down in price on Steam before I bought because I knew from FEAR1 that it wouldn't be a long game but I caved in to curiosity and I just feel a bit cheated right now.. The price one pays for being an honest consumer. :(
Decent enough plot, fun combat, nice visuals and an ending that was....interesting, to say the least.. It's a good game and worth your time if you liked FEAR1, but worth €50? Definitely not.
Wait for it to drop in price, then enjoy.
Aside from that, I felt the game really needed to make better use of physics. Apart from the pre-placed breakable objects, collapsable walls etc, the game world feels very static and glued-down. Many props and objects don't even react to physics, staying stuck down to their respective surfaces even in the midst of a grenade explosion, nevermind when pushed or hit by something else.
The mech/powered-armour sections are a lot of fun. Gimmicky, but really well-executed.
I especially like the full-screen shaders they apply to give the effect of viewing the world through the HUD of the armour, and how it distorts into mis-aligned RGB screens when you take damage, like an old TV. :p
The game is full of nice little details and touches like that - Areas such as the school and hospital are absolutely filled with 'flavour' details that make the purpose of the places quite striking.
FEAR2 managed to make me jump a good few times, especially with the wall-crawlers, and I found some of the sections where things get too dark to properly see what's going on pretty creepy.
On the other hand, the ghosts are back from FEAR1, and are frankly just annoying. There's no sense of satisfaction in killing them and their presence takes from the intended spookiness of some of the game's sections, instead of enhancing it.
The Replica Assassins, on the other hand, I found to be much spookier and more liable to give me a jump, even if they were easily-defeated.
One other problem I have with FEAR2 is that the developers don't seem to know whether they agree with themselves or not on limiting your arsenal to 4 weapons.
The game is littered with points where you suddenly chance upon a sniper rifle or rocket launcher, having spent the last 30 mins using only the assault rifle, and you just know that you'll need that weapon for the next room because it'll have snipers or mechs, respectively.
It detracted a lot from the pacing of those encounters, I felt.
Here's hoping FEAR3 is a bit longer and better thought-out!
I played the demo of this on my PS3 today and I found it neither scary or interesting. It just felt like another run of the mill shooter with nothing new to offer. The slow down of time was nice but is nothing new and the whole game just left me feeling well to be frank bored. The scenes with Alma in the first game (even in th demo) were down right jumpy / scary yet in Fear 2 they just seemed wedged in.
Overall assuming the full game is like the demo I would give it at most a 6. Its unoriginal, offers nothing new to the genre and to top it off its visuals leave alot to be desired (although I can't make judgement on any other version bar the PS3).
Comments 26 to 33 of 33
ReplyI lol'ed.
heres hoping that they get FEAR 3 right, they can start by taking the joypads off thier QA guys
dont be silly of course not, this is a console game were talking here.
"Hey, there's an enemy down the hallway. I'll just go stand in full view and then fire at..." BANG BANG!!!
The engine used in FEAR2 has the same quirky kind of 'feel' to it that FEAR1 had, and it doesn't quite feel like a typical PC shooter, but the dreaded consolification only really shows up in the menus and PDA/status, where mouse control is poor and clunky - Otherwise I think it plays no worse than FEAR1 in terms of responsiveness and so on.
I just finished it a few minutes ago on the hardest difficulty and I enjoyed it from start to finish (aside from the end battle, which is a pain in the ass), but I only got it installed around 4pm today.
I played almost non-stop from 16:00 til 02:30 (with breaks for hygiene, food, etc :p ), but for €50 I was hoping for something a bit lengthier..
I had been telling myself I'd wait for it to come down in price on Steam before I bought because I knew from FEAR1 that it wouldn't be a long game but I caved in to curiosity and I just feel a bit cheated right now.. The price one pays for being an honest consumer. :(
Decent enough plot, fun combat, nice visuals and an ending that was....interesting, to say the least.. It's a good game and worth your time if you liked FEAR1, but worth €50? Definitely not.
Wait for it to drop in price, then enjoy.
Aside from that, I felt the game really needed to make better use of physics. Apart from the pre-placed breakable objects, collapsable walls etc, the game world feels very static and glued-down. Many props and objects don't even react to physics, staying stuck down to their respective surfaces even in the midst of a grenade explosion, nevermind when pushed or hit by something else.
The mech/powered-armour sections are a lot of fun. Gimmicky, but really well-executed.
I especially like the full-screen shaders they apply to give the effect of viewing the world through the HUD of the armour, and how it distorts into mis-aligned RGB screens when you take damage, like an old TV. :p
The game is full of nice little details and touches like that - Areas such as the school and hospital are absolutely filled with 'flavour' details that make the purpose of the places quite striking.
FEAR2 managed to make me jump a good few times, especially with the wall-crawlers, and I found some of the sections where things get too dark to properly see what's going on pretty creepy.
On the other hand, the ghosts are back from FEAR1, and are frankly just annoying. There's no sense of satisfaction in killing them and their presence takes from the intended spookiness of some of the game's sections, instead of enhancing it.
The Replica Assassins, on the other hand, I found to be much spookier and more liable to give me a jump, even if they were easily-defeated.
One other problem I have with FEAR2 is that the developers don't seem to know whether they agree with themselves or not on limiting your arsenal to 4 weapons.
The game is littered with points where you suddenly chance upon a sniper rifle or rocket launcher, having spent the last 30 mins using only the assault rifle, and you just know that you'll need that weapon for the next room because it'll have snipers or mechs, respectively.
It detracted a lot from the pacing of those encounters, I felt.
Here's hoping FEAR3 is a bit longer and better thought-out!
Overall assuming the full game is like the demo I would give it at most a 6. Its unoriginal, offers nothing new to the genre and to top it off its visuals leave alot to be desired (although I can't make judgement on any other version bar the PS3).
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