A7MAD
03-18-2008, 01:43
I disliked FEAR personally, but I have seen some footage of this and it had me interested...
The first F.E.A.R. game was a real curate's egg. See, for every bit that was so good it set a new high watermark for the shooter genre - gunplay, particle effects, ultra cool slow-mo kung fu - there were other bits so dire they made us want to visit Monolith with a nailgun. Namely: boorish level design, deathly dull office-based locations and probably the least scary (cough) 'horror' moments since Killer Klowns from Outer Space. (Strong movie, that - Tim.)
The other problem with F.E.A.R, at least on 360, was that by the time it arrived - a not so timely eleven months after the PC version - it looked and sounded more dated than Ace of Base. Put simply, it was outnumbered, outclassed and outgunned by shinier, newer rivals like Gears of War, Prey and CoD 3. But that's all set to change with this sequel that isn't a sequel, but actually... er, is. Geddit? No? Um, us neither.
Right, pay close attention 'cause this feature is about to get more confusing than an episode of Lost. See, while publishers Sierra have retained the rights to the F.E.A.R. license, developers Monolith still own the actual game world and characters - resulting in the incredulous situation whereby both parties will release their own takes on the scare-o-universe this year. Ironically, while lots of F.E.A.R. fans will probably plump for the licensed sequel it's actually this incarnation that'll continue the adventures of lank-haired girly demon Alma and the First Encounter Assault Recon team chappies. All sorted now? Great.
Alma Mater
Plot-wise, things are still very much under wraps at this alpha stage - but one thing we do know is that Origin will ignore F.E.A.R. expansions Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate and instead pick up the reins directly after the climax of the original. (That'd be when an entire city got nuked with a paranormal A-Bomb). Scary girl-in-a-red-dress-with-black-eyes Alma is up to no good once again, but instead of going toe-to-toe with her as F.E.A.R.'s original protagonist - the silent but extremely violent Point Man - the focus of the story will shift to incorporate a new ghostbustin' hero, newbie Delta Force operative... Michael Becket.
Whereas Monolith stablemate Condemned isn't afraid to get its hands dirty, well... bloody with ultra visceral melée combat and wince-making fisticuffs, Project Origin prefers to carry the fight from distance. One major faux pas a number of recent high-profile FPSs have made are their unforgivably weedy weapons - rest assured Project Origin will certainly not be falling for that one. After all, precursor F.E.A.R. was stellar in this regard - not only boasting the VK-12, the best buckshot blaster since Doom 2's supper shottie - but also the Penetrator nailgun that really made the most of the game's unerringly realistic ragdoll models and helped you make gruesome, gore-drenched tableaus out of roomfuls of unsuspecting baddies. Get in close with the as yet unnamed laser-based successor to the trusty VK-12 and enemies literally disintegrate in viscous clouds of bone and blood.
http://medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/screenshot_194433_thumb300.jpg
The extra good news is that everything that was ace in F.E.A.R. is simply incredible in Origin; the sheer cinematic intensity in particular now looks even more sumptuous thanks to copious dollops of blur and more particle effects than the inside of a flux capacitor. (We're guessing.)
But the good news doesn't end there. Oh no. Because here's the truly great news: Monolith have really opened their ears to fan feedback and, bravely in an age of PR spin, responded to the various criticisms of the first game in super proactive fashion. Out go the bland-o corridors you were forced to trudge through for 85% of the first game, replaced with a much wider range of locales.
Project X
Take, for instance, the opening mission. Set in a hospital ward inhabited by psychic clone soldiers and other, more unmentionable monstrosities, Origin kicks off with Becket being operated upon to imbue him with the same bionic reflexes Point Man boasted. Then, after some freaky hallucinations more akin to the level of horror intensity sported by sicko The Suffering than F.E.A.R., it was back down those hospital hallways for a barrage of unrelentingly bleak blasting.
http://medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/screenshot_194432_thumb300.jpg
There's no denying though that, both visually and mechanically, this is on another level. Plasma drips down the walls, demonic imps clatter thorough vents after rending soldiers limb from limb, while you continue to blaze a trail of carnage through the wards.
Bloody Great
F.E.A.R.'s cinematic combat certainly resonated like no other FPS, in that the focus on slow-motion made everything seem so... well, surreal, as bodies fly up and away, debris scatters, glass shatters and grown men gurgle like babies in their protracted, incredibly uncomfort-able-looking final death throes. In Project Origin, the sheer density of the new environments ramps things up yet another notch. There's also less linearity, wards resembled rabbit warrens with multiple entrances and exits - meaning the chances of being assailed from all angles and flanked into submission are perilously high. Grenades (which now emit an eerily green hue) come in particularly handy in this regard, so get used to lobbing them in order to flush enemies out into the open - before butchering.
As usual, getting your arse behind cover pronto is also a good idea - and since almost every object in the game is imbued with its own physics model, the possibilities for both creating and destroying cover are endless. Remember how you could kick tables over in the first game? Imagine the natural evolution of this idea, with you desperately stockpiling furniture to block off attack routes to lessen the impact of gunfire. Scarily, foes are also adept at turning this strategy against you, further reinforcing the idea that - when it comes to creating legions of believable, truly intelligent AI - Monolith remain unarguably the best in the biz.
So, though we'll be immersed in autumnal darkness before Project Origin sees the light of day, the omens are looking phenomenally good for this scarily phwoarsome FPS.
F.E.A.R., as good as it undoubtedly was, arguably didn't quite live up to its dizzying potential - whereas Project Origin is aiming its shotgun at the stars and looks as if it's well on course to reach them. Monolith might have lost the name then - but they certainly haven't lost their touch.
The first F.E.A.R. game was a real curate's egg. See, for every bit that was so good it set a new high watermark for the shooter genre - gunplay, particle effects, ultra cool slow-mo kung fu - there were other bits so dire they made us want to visit Monolith with a nailgun. Namely: boorish level design, deathly dull office-based locations and probably the least scary (cough) 'horror' moments since Killer Klowns from Outer Space. (Strong movie, that - Tim.)
The other problem with F.E.A.R, at least on 360, was that by the time it arrived - a not so timely eleven months after the PC version - it looked and sounded more dated than Ace of Base. Put simply, it was outnumbered, outclassed and outgunned by shinier, newer rivals like Gears of War, Prey and CoD 3. But that's all set to change with this sequel that isn't a sequel, but actually... er, is. Geddit? No? Um, us neither.
Right, pay close attention 'cause this feature is about to get more confusing than an episode of Lost. See, while publishers Sierra have retained the rights to the F.E.A.R. license, developers Monolith still own the actual game world and characters - resulting in the incredulous situation whereby both parties will release their own takes on the scare-o-universe this year. Ironically, while lots of F.E.A.R. fans will probably plump for the licensed sequel it's actually this incarnation that'll continue the adventures of lank-haired girly demon Alma and the First Encounter Assault Recon team chappies. All sorted now? Great.
Alma Mater
Plot-wise, things are still very much under wraps at this alpha stage - but one thing we do know is that Origin will ignore F.E.A.R. expansions Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate and instead pick up the reins directly after the climax of the original. (That'd be when an entire city got nuked with a paranormal A-Bomb). Scary girl-in-a-red-dress-with-black-eyes Alma is up to no good once again, but instead of going toe-to-toe with her as F.E.A.R.'s original protagonist - the silent but extremely violent Point Man - the focus of the story will shift to incorporate a new ghostbustin' hero, newbie Delta Force operative... Michael Becket.
Whereas Monolith stablemate Condemned isn't afraid to get its hands dirty, well... bloody with ultra visceral melée combat and wince-making fisticuffs, Project Origin prefers to carry the fight from distance. One major faux pas a number of recent high-profile FPSs have made are their unforgivably weedy weapons - rest assured Project Origin will certainly not be falling for that one. After all, precursor F.E.A.R. was stellar in this regard - not only boasting the VK-12, the best buckshot blaster since Doom 2's supper shottie - but also the Penetrator nailgun that really made the most of the game's unerringly realistic ragdoll models and helped you make gruesome, gore-drenched tableaus out of roomfuls of unsuspecting baddies. Get in close with the as yet unnamed laser-based successor to the trusty VK-12 and enemies literally disintegrate in viscous clouds of bone and blood.
http://medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/screenshot_194433_thumb300.jpg
The extra good news is that everything that was ace in F.E.A.R. is simply incredible in Origin; the sheer cinematic intensity in particular now looks even more sumptuous thanks to copious dollops of blur and more particle effects than the inside of a flux capacitor. (We're guessing.)
But the good news doesn't end there. Oh no. Because here's the truly great news: Monolith have really opened their ears to fan feedback and, bravely in an age of PR spin, responded to the various criticisms of the first game in super proactive fashion. Out go the bland-o corridors you were forced to trudge through for 85% of the first game, replaced with a much wider range of locales.
Project X
Take, for instance, the opening mission. Set in a hospital ward inhabited by psychic clone soldiers and other, more unmentionable monstrosities, Origin kicks off with Becket being operated upon to imbue him with the same bionic reflexes Point Man boasted. Then, after some freaky hallucinations more akin to the level of horror intensity sported by sicko The Suffering than F.E.A.R., it was back down those hospital hallways for a barrage of unrelentingly bleak blasting.
http://medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/screenshot_194432_thumb300.jpg
There's no denying though that, both visually and mechanically, this is on another level. Plasma drips down the walls, demonic imps clatter thorough vents after rending soldiers limb from limb, while you continue to blaze a trail of carnage through the wards.
Bloody Great
F.E.A.R.'s cinematic combat certainly resonated like no other FPS, in that the focus on slow-motion made everything seem so... well, surreal, as bodies fly up and away, debris scatters, glass shatters and grown men gurgle like babies in their protracted, incredibly uncomfort-able-looking final death throes. In Project Origin, the sheer density of the new environments ramps things up yet another notch. There's also less linearity, wards resembled rabbit warrens with multiple entrances and exits - meaning the chances of being assailed from all angles and flanked into submission are perilously high. Grenades (which now emit an eerily green hue) come in particularly handy in this regard, so get used to lobbing them in order to flush enemies out into the open - before butchering.
As usual, getting your arse behind cover pronto is also a good idea - and since almost every object in the game is imbued with its own physics model, the possibilities for both creating and destroying cover are endless. Remember how you could kick tables over in the first game? Imagine the natural evolution of this idea, with you desperately stockpiling furniture to block off attack routes to lessen the impact of gunfire. Scarily, foes are also adept at turning this strategy against you, further reinforcing the idea that - when it comes to creating legions of believable, truly intelligent AI - Monolith remain unarguably the best in the biz.
So, though we'll be immersed in autumnal darkness before Project Origin sees the light of day, the omens are looking phenomenally good for this scarily phwoarsome FPS.
F.E.A.R., as good as it undoubtedly was, arguably didn't quite live up to its dizzying potential - whereas Project Origin is aiming its shotgun at the stars and looks as if it's well on course to reach them. Monolith might have lost the name then - but they certainly haven't lost their touch.