Wednesday, June 2, 2010

F.E.A.R. 2 Review



The first FEAR was critically praised for its marriage of intense firefights, ferocious AI, and creepy atmosphere. Shortly after the original game released, there was a big stir as the IP was torn between the developer and the publisher, leading to two forgettable expansions (Perseus Mandate and Extraction Point) developed by another studio since the publisher had owned the name. During all of this chaos, Monolith began work on a game known as Project Origin, and as more information became available, it was fairly apparent that this would be the true successor to the F.E.A.R. name, just possibly without that title stuck to it. Things started to fall into place for Monolith however, primarily that they earned the right to use the series name and were signed back with Warner Bros. Does F.E.A.R. 2 manage to make up for those horrendous expansions? Read on to find out!


Gameplay - 7/10

FEAR 2 doesn't really do much to differentiate it from the original game when it comes to gameplay, which is a good and bad thing. While this means that the incredible AI has made a triumphant return, it also means that the game is going to rely a lot on the same scare tactics as the original. Stumbling down hallways and looking for a door in dimly lit areas while lights flicker overhead might scare the bejesus out of you once, but by the end of the game, you'll be more surprised when it doesn't happen. In order to break up the tedium of walking through cramped areas, the developer integrated outdoor areas and a giant mech every now and then that you can pilot, effectively turning your once vulnerable hero into a clone-slaying war machine. It's a bit jarring at first, but I actually appreciated the change after a while. Many games lose their tension when you gain a super weapon like this, But FEAR 2 keeps these sections brief, keeping it from turning into some sort of Dynasty Warriors slaughterfest. The last minor, yet incredibly annoying thing that needs to be mentioned is that there are no options to customize the control scheme from what I noticed. This means that all of the crazy melee moves are rendered somewhat useless on the PS3 version of FEAR 2 because of how awkward it is to have to press in the analog sticks, jump, and tap the melee button all at once for whatever move you're trying to execute.



Graphics - 7/10

As previously mentioned, this game still relies heavily on dimly lit environments and a clone army. On the bright side, the dimly lit environments are no longer just once office complex consisting of brown corridors. Instead, you stumble through some fairly eerie locations that all look slightly different from each other when you can actually see what's going on. While the change in color is greatly appreciated, something about the actual models looks a bit dated and you ultimately still spend a lot of time wandering down halls. Enemy designs, while effective, never really struck me as anything creative. When you consider that most of the things you face are just clones, you'll love it when the game introduces more enemy types until you realize that, yes, it's just 10 or so different types of enemies that all look exactly the same. At least the action keeps moving at a steady framerate the whole time!

Sound - 7/10

I've always appreciated it when a game nails weapon sound effects. This is the one area that FEAR 2 succeeds in incredibly well. Fitting in the the tense action sequences and creeping through hallways comes some great environmental sounds, from leaky pipes to rattling cans. The enemy voice overs in battle, although basic, still mange to add to the gameplay experience, especially when you come around a corner and hear "Flashlight over there, get in position!" and are able to get a somewhat accurate count for how many enemies you're about to face based on their footsteps in the next room. While these sounds are amazing, the voiceovers for plot points are questionable at best. I'm still unsure what kind of story they were trying to create, which is why this score is so low, but when you hear characters comparing you to pizza or making fun of other characters for being secretive, you want to let out a laugh, but it's kind of awkward in a game that made a name for itself by being a scary action game.



Overall - 7/10

FEAR 2 is one of those games, like Wolfenstein, that you could go your entire life without ever playing and might not be missing much, but if you're bored and just want something a little bit different and on the cheap side (now), it's worth a play through. If you're thinking of picking this up for the multiplayer component, you might want to pass since it's incredibly hard to find a game now, and when you do, it's just Deathmatch or Team Deathmatch. If you loved the first game, or are a fan of shooters/horror games, I'd advise picking up FEAR 2, but for everyone else, I'd say check out the demo first.