MENA Gamer - Where Game Begins

  PC : F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin                                                  8/10
[Also on Xbox 360 and PS3]                                                                                       
Very much like its predecessor, the game continues to deliver some horrifying scenes, as Alma brings the F.E.A.R. to screens once again.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a solid, scary shooter in a nut-shell, but rather than plunge deeper into the abyss of what could be a truly horrifying FPS, it’s a kind of, step to side, as the thing that made the original F.E.A.R. so good was the new depths of evil, sinister and scary twists and turns a game could have, but for its successor, it merely gives us nothing extra.

Story
Project Origin picks up exactly where F.E.A.R. left us standing, the world of F.E.A.R. is in ruins, as it crumbles around you, it’s up to Michael Becket of Delta Force, the games protagonist, and his squadmates to capture the elusive Genevieve Aristide, president of the notorious Armacham Technology Corporation, and prevent mass destruction, though of course this does not go to plan and soon you uncover plans of a new project.

 The exterior of FEAR 2 looks stunning as it collapses around you...

F.E.A.R. 2
Very little questions that was thrown at the players of the originals are actually answered within this game, some may even confuse players even more, but one thing that can draw the fans and newcomers into the universe of F.E.A.R. is the compelling atmosphere, incredibly created to fit the name of the game, although reading the experiences in text format is nowhere near as good as actually experiencing them yourselves, but generally the flashlight will flicker and visions can be seen surrounding you that make you jump out of your skin. Even musical scores add to the atmosphere with a crescendo of tension as you encounter hordes of sinister beings, to get the full feel I advise headphones and the lights switched off for this one.

Some areas can be really twisted and really strike fear into the players, though some look worn out and boring, using very minimal ambience and almost the ‘shocks’ are too predictable, although level design does offer far more variety of environments, still including the subway F.E.A.R. includes environments such as offices, streets and a school that is sure to raise the hair on ones neck.

The debris of the land can soon aid you, as you use it as cover

Your arsenal of weapons isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but a nice variety of guns does keep the solid FPS action flowing, the hammerhead weapon is by far the most satisfying attaching creatures to nearby walls for you to carry on blasting, or to leave them hanging, whilst being rather mutilated.

The game uses a simple HUD like system which displays ammo and health, but set out as if you’re looking through your visor and it works in the same way once in a mech, simple yet works well and doesn’t interfere with what’s going on, though what we do get to see on screen isn’t all that, with the likes of Dead Space and Far Cry 2 hitting us last year, perhaps some inspired aspects could have been depicted within this, but sadly this is not the case, you can go from one of the most horrifying scenes, to a very miserable, bland scene, as if the developers got bored and decided to be very inconsistent with there work, and there are various glitches which can hinder the gameplay of Project Origin. Project Origin though is not all that bad, it highlights the strengths of what a first person shooter should be like, just a little bit more time and game testing could have made this game a whole lot better.

...Though some of the interior could do with decorating

The AI has been tweaked, often your teammates will use parts of the surrounding areas to there advantage, tipping over furniture, which they know would be effective as cover, flanking enemies and blindly firing when not being able to see a target, the enemies on the other hand are not quite as smart, knocking over something as cover, then running away from it, rather than actually shielding itself with it, the enemies do vary though, spectres that appear ethereal are challenging to defeat and some that are so visually obscure that you often have to find a new way to defeat them each time, which is a nice variety that keeps the game from getting repetitive.

One of the main additions to the game is the use of the big metal gun mech, which is extremely versatile for its size and can destroy anything that gets in its way, it makes short work of the feeble creatures as you walk around swatting them away like flies, also the environment is quite destructible, and the explosions and gore can really warp you into the feel of the situation as you boss around in your machine of chaos.

Multiplayer
FEAR’s multiplayer is quite interesting, a very noticeable and well loved mode is the slow-motion modes, which works where people are brought together in an arena and fight within bullet time, this can be very enjoyable and fun to watch. The classics are there as well, including deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag, though it also boasts some new modes which are quite good, Control, Blitz, Failsafe and Armoured Front.

Control is a favoured mode from the original where a team must capture areas within the map and regain possession which then equates into points, Blitz is very different, slightly like a game of ‘bulldogs charge’ where the game splits into two rounds, one team’s players has a canister, the opposing side must steal the canisters and then the next round the roles are reversed and the one team who stole or kept the most, win.

Failsafe, each player only has one life; the ATC team has the mission of planting a bomb and destroy a cache of chemical nerve agents and of course the Replica team must stop this from happening, but best til last, the Armoured Front mode, where a team must take over the map, one control point at a time, but with the addition of the lethal EPA suit, that can be commandeered after the second point has been secured.

Each mode can host 16 players, and sustain a decent frame rate, and this is very similar for the console versions, though the multiplayer isn’t anything special though does add for an extra few hours of gameplay.

The EPA suit in action

The good
-    Slow motion action is always well loved and very satisfying landing that precisely aimed shot
-    Horrifying and spooky at times
-    Some interesting multiplayer modes that provide some entertainment
-    Can run on a moderately powered PC and still run smoothly

The bad
-    Random scares do get a little bit overused and can be predicted
-    Multiplayer doesn’t offer as much as it could
-    Story doesn’t answer as much as it has asked in the previous game
-    Environment’s can go from stunning to boring and bland very quickly

The ugly
-    Unfortunately there are a few minor glitches, one involving an elevator where the doors won’t open and a few times I got stuck in furniture.
-    Enemy AI like to shoot at nothing sometimes

Some monsters could literally jump out of the screen

Summary
Overall I believe the fans of FEAR will be slightly disappointed and expected far too much from this sequel, the aspects of the original that made it so great has been lost within this title, and as much as it tries to retain its strengths from the original, they somehow get lost and merely tries to jump on the bandwagon of other FPS’ and does try to retain an individual genre, but seems much more of a step to the side, than forward. The single player campaign is fun nevertheless, with some very good scares and stunning parts, and the very welcomed addition of the huge beast of a war machine, the EPA suit. The multiplayer’s not quite as good but interesting to play around with until the novelty wears off, though it shall provide some entertainment until the next instalment, it’s not exactly a must have game, but for FPS fans it’s still a sinister treat that will make you sleep with the light on and your teddy bear very close for some time.

By Liam Copping