Sequel you say?
Fettel handles a little bit differently – given his predilection for the macabre over the machine gun – and so fells foes with a mixture of telekinesis, energy blasts and possession; assuming he's consumed enough souls of the dead to power his psychic conflagration. The two can also co-operate in FEAR 3's most publicised feature, the local or on-line two-player mode, but here’s where it begins to become obvious that a new developer has taken over the franchise, the baton having been passed from Monolith to Day 1 Studios.
Drop in the stock market
Up until now FEAR as a franchise has always been about atmosphere, often eschewing fire fights in favour of taut explorations of lonely buildings, complete with tricks of the light and sound effects to make even the bravest feel uneasy in their skin. It has been akin to the videogame version of The Ring, a subtle but terrifying exercise in, for want of a better description, fear.
By putting emphasis on co-op play, thereby feeling obliged to keep players moving from encounter to encounter, Day 1 has lost any sense of mounting tension, losing FEAR's unique selling point simultaneously. In fact, the scares are so diminished that the only links between this and previous games in the series are the names of the characters and the story arc which, having finished the game, is neither rewarding nor particularly revelatory.
Messy crib
Even in single player the atmosphere is similarly lacking – a real shame as the few scant sections where the ambience reverts to type are enough to hint at what might have been. Instead, what we're presented with is ostensibly an inferior Call of Duty clone, sporting second rate visuals, the worst AI yet seen in the series and featuring some particularly irksome set pieces.
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COMMENTS
oh well
I knew this game was going to suck, FEAR was a masterpiece, the AI was cunning and the supernatural was used sparingly and to good effect, Alma was both an omnipresent terror and someone that on some level you developed a certain degree of empathy for (much like Sadako if you'd seen Ring 0 and gained more of her and her mothers back story.) The enemy in in FEAR was much more the people that had done what they did to Alma you reserved your hatred for them, dealing with Alma was a tragic necessity that you didn't relish in.
The second game, though developing the story some more also broke with the first games sense of pace and narrative, it became a bit more pop action with only a few memorable moments the AI had become a bit of a joke and the game became more of a "shoot at these waves of enemies for no particularly good reason whilst hiding behind cover." Learning more about Alma was really the only reason I finished the game.
When I got whiff of the third game and its co-op theme I knew the series was good and buried, not that I had much hope for a resurrection anyway. As it is I'll wait till it costs a fiver on steam as I want to see how they ruin the promising story set up in the original.
First Duke now this
Reviewed on the XBOX 360? Why?
Looking at things objectively the PC is leagues ahead when it comes to playing FPS games. The mouse and keyboard combo hasn't been bettered to date and the graphics are always going to be so much better.
If you are going to review games on here why not view them in their best light?
No mention of online pass
Second hand copies will not be able to do online as is.
review format
i think they said that they reviewed what they were given.
whats intresting is why they gave out a console game for review to a largely PC website. My only guess is that either A, they couldnt give a damn about PC, or B the PC version was crap....
indeed
Unfortunately due to the money and companies involved the main stream games industry is exactly like the holywood industry, games developed by committee and marketing teams based on "market research", the last "big thing", or a "recognised brand." Unfortunately after awhile all you have is a never ending stream of so so action flicks and a few rom coms and sit coms with the occasional piece of goreography.
Remember when horror films were fun? Or scary? There was a lot to be said for the tongue in cheek teen slasher era of films (from Halloween to I know what you did last summer and across to Freddie) Not anymore, they're either shot with a handycam or are full of people being vivisected. Most films have gone the same way being railroaded into insignificance. You can almost have a check sheet next to you and tick off the required events "martial arts style fight where they stand in a circle for no reason", "car chase with predictable crashes and whitty banter", "scene in a ware house", etc, etc, etc.
Then all the "re-imagining" of titles.
le sigh.
