F.e.a.r. 2

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    Hammerhead Shark [PinPals]Apu's Avatar
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    Feb 2003
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    F.e.a.r. 2

    Ok finally got a chance to plug some time into it, and heres my first impressions/early review. Ill start with some simple pros and cons:

    Pros:
    - Great graphics, runs very smoothly at 1680x1050, max detail, 4xAA, 8xAF. Environments look great, as do fires, water effects etc. Explosions, gun shots, creepy Alma sequences all look fantastic. Water drops splash on your face if you stand near running water/fountains, blood splatters when you shoot an enemy at close range. Very well done. Im surprised on how smooth it all ran.

    - Weapons are very well done and have a nice punch when you fire. A couple shots will blow most enemies away. It feel like youre actually firing a nice high-powered weapon. Variety is also nice as they give you some fun weapons (napalm cannon) along with the standard SMG and shotgun.

    - AI is well done again as always. Enemies stick together in squads. They anticipate youre plan of attack, they try to flank, and they use cover well. The cover system is a nice addition too, you can push tables, carts, etc around or flip them over to create cover. Enemies can and will do the same.

    - Alma is again well done. So far theres fewer long drawn out sequences with her that take you out of the game. Theres alot more briefer shots of her, popping in your face, turning everything red, disappearing from sight as you turn a corner, shredding enemies apart, that kind of stuff. It seems like they arent trying to make-you-****-youre-pants scare you but more of making it a very creepy environment and keep you guessing and tensed up. They almost never take you away from the game (ie take control from you), instead bringing Alma to you and letting you interact as you want. It makes for a nice creepy environment.

    - Theyve made healing a bit more steamlined this time. Instead of carrying 10 medipacks and having them as youre only source of health, theyve scattered health boosters around the levels. Youre now limited to 3 health packs and are used more in extreme life or death emergencies.

    Cons:
    - No 3+ button mouse support. You have fire on mouse1, melee or whatever on mouse2, and thats it. You cant bind anything to clickable mouse wheels or thumb buttons. Very annoying and my one big gripe. In the original FEAR I had slo-mo, health packs, melee etc all on my mouse in easy reach. Im not a fan of stretching for the Z or Ctrl button when needed. This is 2009, I havent used a 2 button mouse in years. Unacceptable.

    - Although showed more diverse locations, almost all of the first couple hours I played were located in this medical complex/lab. A little more variety throughout wouldve been welcome.

    - Menus suffer from a bit of consoleitis. Not a biggie tho.

    - Saves also suffer from consoleitis, even more so than the menus. Its 100% checkpoint base. You die, you go back to the last checkpoint. If you quit the game before making a checkpoint, youll have to replay a bit next time you play. This is another gripe I feel shouldnt be in todays game, even if they are designed to be multi platform. I cant imagine it would be horribly difficult to implement a save anywhere feature for PCs. The saving grace is that the game does save fairly often and it barely makes your screen lag for a half second as it saves.

    Overall Im enjoying FEAR 2 alot. I feel they learned alot from FEAR 1 in giving us more locations, more creepy Alma and less trying-to-hard-to-be-scary moments, and making sure the weapons and enemies were top-notch shooter material. I tried to get screenshots, but couldnt find the button. Found out its F8 so when I play again later Ill snap a few. Great creepy shooter combined with a lack of mouse support and a somewhat lame save system, Ill give it an 8/10 so far. Im anxious to get out of this hospital and try those mechs from the demo. If they fix the mouse thing id happily bump FEAR 2 up to a 9/10.

    Ok got some screens:

    This is my fav so far. Hit F8 at the perfect moment. The little mouse in the bottem pops up when one of these mofos jumps on you. You spam the right mouse to punch his face in.

    And heres the picture of me punching his teeth in.

    Epic blood splatters.

    When psychic commanders don't turn out.

    Water splashes.

    Rated M for really gory.

    Why do my goggles ALWAYS break when I die?
    Last edited by [PinPals]Apu; 02-15-2009 at 11:24 PM.
    My armor is Contempt
    My shield is Disgust
    My sword is Hatred
    In the Emperor's Name
    LET NONE SURVIVE

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