It's less tactical than its forebear, but Monolith delivers a tightly paced and atmospheric ride with F.E.A.R. 2.
Happy birthday!With games like No One Lives Forever and Shogo in its past, Monolith has a long history of developing highly atmospheric games. Lately, though, it's been focusing more specifically on the aesthetics of insanity and brutality, with its Condemned and F.E.A.R. franchises feeling a bit like kissing cousins. Its latest, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, maintains a similar split of high-tech firefights and supernatural freak-outs to the one that defined the original F.E.A.R., though the difficulty has been dialed way down, and the action feels much less tactical. This might be a disappointment for those looking for something cerebral, but the high-impact weaponry, moody visuals, and frenetic pacing make F.E.A.R. 2 a viscerally satisfying ride.
F.E.A.R. 2 puts you in the role of a Sgt. Michael Becket, a member of a separate F.E.A.R. team than the Point Man from the original. Despite playing as a different character, you've got the same slow-motion and jump-kickin' abilities, something that's addressed over the course of the story. The game picks up just before the first game left off, allowing you glimpses of the climax of that game before heading off on your own mission to find and stop Alma, the tragic, psychically charged young woman whose thirst for revenge against the Armacham Corporation has laid waste to much of the city. Much like Monolith's queasily pugilistic Condemned 2: Bloodshot, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin spends a lot of time revealing the truths behind the mysteries and conspiracies established in the original, often through memos and other bits of intel scattered throughout the environments. A fear of the unknown is what drove the first game, but somehow it's even more disturbing to see just how far-reaching and sinister the grand conspiracy is. If this is your first dip into the F.E.A.R. crazy-pool, the game does a decent job of catching you up to speed, and a quick look at our wiki page should sufficiently fill you in on the rest.
This is probably way easier and way more fun than actually piloting a mech.Your mission to stop Alma puts you at odds with the high-tech private army of the Armacham Corporation, psychically controlled clone soldiers that have gone rogue, and of course, Alma herself. She'll randomly pop up to puree other characters or drive them crazy, but mostly she just comes at you with unnerving-but-harmless visions. There are a few jump-scares in F.E.A.R. 2, but most of the creepy stuff is just part of the ride, with minimal impact on the gameplay. Even in this passive capacity, the Alma-induced visions still have a significant influence on the game's unique visual flair. One of the more significant critiques against the first F.E.A.R. was a sense of monotony in the environments, which seemed to consist almost exclusively of office buildings and quasi-military compounds, and the environments in F.E.A.R. 2 are significantly more diverse. It still kicks off in an average-looking office hallway, though it's not long before you're battling your way through apocalyptic city streets, a deserted elementary school, and derelict subway systems. Still, part of the aesthetic of the F.E.A.R. series is the contrast of mundane, recognizable environments with surreal hallucinations and meticulous viscera, something F.E.A.R. 2 delivers in a variety of ghastly ways.
Aside from all the spooky ghost stuff, one of the defining characteristics of F.E.A.R. was the tactical style of the gameplay. AI opponents would intelligently flank you, flush you out with grenades, find cover, or make their own cover by flipping over tables and such. While the enemies in F.E.A.R. 2 are still pretty good about protecting their own hides, the game itself is so generous with your time-slowing reflex ability, ammo for your totally kick-ass weapons, body armor, and health packs, that it feels much more run-and-gun. Compounding this issue is that F.E.A.R. 2 is a phenomenally linear game, with only a few rare moments when it even seems like you have more than one path to take. In a way, I actually prefer the more-focused, more-forgiving style of F.E.A.R. 2, simply because it makes it easier to really appreciate the crazy atmospheric effects and gorgeous gore that are on display. A sequence where you get to pilot a massive mech suit--a moment that echoes Shogo--is a perfect example of what F.E.A.R. 2 is all about. There's little challenge to it, but the way it's presented, with its glitchy video-screen effects, the swirling trails of your cluster missiles, and the hydraulic moans of the suit itself, really puts you in the moment.
Hey, you've, uh, got a little something on your face.Aside from the brisk, aggressively cliffhangery single-player experience, F.E.A.R. 2 offers some online multiplayer options as well, though it feels a little by-the-numbers when compared to the bloody, hallucinogenic story mode. It supports up to 16 players and features standard-issue modes like deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, control point, and an objective-based bomb/disarm mode. You can modify your weapon load-out before a match, and change between three preset load-outs in between spawns. There's an online ranking system, but that doesn't earn you much more than bragging rights. The most interesting part of F.E.A.R. 2's multiplayer is probably the presence of those big-ass mech suits from the single-player game in the Armored Front mode, though it's such a murderous piece of gear that it seems like the only reliably effective way to counter it is with another mech suit. It's one of those things that's better in concept than in practice.
I honestly think there are few developers today with both the technical and creative chops to establish such a specific tone as Monolith does so successfully with F.E.A.R. 2. Even though the ghost-story stuff ends up being about as threatening as a trip through The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, and the tactical gameplay is softened up by an abundance of player-boosting pick-ups, F.E.A.R. 2 still puts on one hell of a show.
Good review for this game. I felt it was underappreciatted for it`s visuals and style. I even enjoyed the mech walk,did not think I would.. Thanks for the recognition of this pretty damned good game. It does need to get a bit harder, though. I`m not real good,but I blew through most of it, not all though, on the hard setting, if I remember correctly.
Who reviews ports first? The console ports are trash.
It is ugly enough to make you go blind with it's low res bluryness and textures and it controls like a drunk elephant.
the total lack of any or low antialiasing and bad physics rendering with bad water efects and all the other porblems on the consoles is enough to make me want to vomit. All problems the PC version does not have...either that or it was the bad frame rates at like upscaled 720p .
Game was too short, ending and final interval we're lack luster. Bought it for PC (as gotta play FPS on PC unless no other option) and the hardest mode was way too easy beat it in 5.5 hours with a bad cold over the weekend, doubt i'll even touch the multiplayer. Not worth the purchase, rent it for a console unless you plan to play multiplayer. Had some cool things like the use of a turrent and a mech vechicle.
LIked the first game, blasting dudes in super slo-mo seems to stay fresh a lot longer than you would imagine. That said, it didnt make me want to play any of the follow ups and if it is even easier now Im not sure how on board I am with it.
BTW That ending totally caught me offguard - Hilarious
i still don't understand what so unique about this game. typical looking graphics, typical FPS, typical survival horror gameplay, and your typical horror story. no thank you.
Great video review. I'm really digging all the amazing content you guys put up this week. Great stuff. Good way to top the week off. Keep up the good work.
"i need to check your visor calibrations" *puts on glasses* "Work It Harder Make It Better Do It Faster Makes Us Stronger" "good, your set" LMAO i think youll should cameo this in every review. it cracks me up every time. good review
I still wont give this game a chance because of the name, it just makes me feel like the developers were lazy and listening to the last Bombcast, i think Jeff is right, the game is not outstanding and the whole flashes of visions and shit just make you feel like they didnt do anything else to make the game atmospheric. Fucking shit, the name still gets me, call the game Fear, thats lazy and trying to make it an acronym to make it seem like FEAR just happens to come out of it, is bullshit. First Encounter Assault Recon. Bullshit.
Great review, AND it's great to be reminded that the dedication to not taking oneself too seriously is at the heart of what makes this site really good.
I'm about half way through this game and I'm starting to think it's boring and predictable. Each level looks and plays reminiscent of a fps from 4 or 5 years ago. Hit a switch, spawn more enemies.
The moments where there is no combat and the game is trying to scare you are pretty boring and frightless. Normally I'm a total wuss when it comes to scary games, but I find it hard to be jolted by a can rolling across the floor, or a naked ugly lady walking around.
There are atleast three levels so far that are drab, boring, industrial looking enviroments. The way you traverse these rooms and corridors often doesn't feel like a real building, but more like a straight line of rooms with various things to jump over, or crawl under in order to get to the next one.
Anyway I'm assuming there must be something more fruitful further into the game. I hope it's not just piloting a mech.
i've been taking my time with fear 2. playing one interval a night it seems. i'm extremely enjoying it. its a game that you can stretch out a good bit like condemned 2.
It seems i'm one of the few people that play FEAR in the middle of the night, sound turned way on and all lights off; it's an awesome game. People don't say that enough.
the video review was even better! you rule ryan also, couldn't agree with your "ride" analogy any more. i bought this game and beat it in one night and was totally satisfied with my purchase.
I like giant bomb because its always full of good and friendly comments, take a look at IGN or game trailers and the comment section is always full of arguments or bad game critique
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