And that’s the last time I’ll be using the full title.
As much as I’d love to do a full review of the title, I don’t have the time. So I’ll simply talk about it for a bit.
F.E.A.R. 2 is a solid current-gen corridor shooter with a high level of polish, beautiful graphics, and a bit of a convoluted story. That is all.
No, I wouldn’t do that. Let’s start by talking about graphics and aesthetics.
F.E.A.R. was something of an intermediary step in generations. Though it used parallax mapping and real-time effects well, we look on it today as having fairly low-resolution textures, along with aliasing problems and shadows too hard for their own good.
F.E.A.R. 2 is different. It’s a wholly current-gen game. The lighting model is well done, antialiasing works evenly, it runs well on computers of all specs, and the textures are basically all high-res. I do miss the flying concrete dust, and, as many have complained, the bullet holes seem significantly downgraded (in FEAR, they appeared almost 3D–here they fall quite literally flat); but these problems are insignificant to the whole picture of a beautiful game.
That’s the graphics for you. Now, let’s talk about gameplay.
FEAR2 is strictly a corridor shooter. There’s almost no puzzle solving, and a minimal amount of exploration. That being said, it’s a damn fun corridor shooter. I never finished the first FEAR. It never sucked me in. This one has, and I actually finished it. It’s pretty rare that I finish a game.
The guns feel like guns, here, whereas in the original I found them a bit flimsy. There’s also a few key incredible setpieces–like one sequence where you battle Replica forces on tram cars speeding through a miles-long cargo tunnel. If you like the introductory train sequence of games like Half-Life and the second, imagine battling another train car as you ride into Black Mesa. Only the train cars can pivot. It’s been done before, definitely, but here’s it’s done quite well.
The scares here, unfortunately, don’t return. Much like Condemned 2, much of the scare factor from the original game has been removed. Alma no longer scares me. There are a few jumps, but nothing compared to Condemned 1 or a few moments in FEAR (like the Alma-at-the-top-of-your-ladder bit). They try very hard to get a rise out of you, but mostly fall flat.
In brief, Project Origin is damn solid. It’s fun, if a bit heavy-handed, but with incredibly solid gunplay and a spit-shine level of professional polish. It took me about 10.6 hours to complete, from pressing play to the ending credits. I’d recommend it.
Also: about that ending. WT-royal-F. If anyone knows what the hell went on, email me.
