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i want to love fear 2

 
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dhex
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:51 am    Post subject: i want to love fear 2 Reply with quote

in part because i loved the first game so much. it's horror was creeping and fleeting, and most importantly, subtle. it's action was ridiculous, and its ai a little too smart for the time. fights were dynamic (i've tested this by loading saves before big fights and doing different things; the ai reacts differently in each case) and there's nothing quite like blowing people apart in slow motion.*

fear 2 improves in one or two areas, namely by blowing out the kinds of enemies into some interesting wacky wall crawler motherfuckers and by making a mech segment(s) that's so fun it makes me pine for a mechwarrior 6 or whatever number they'd actually be up to. (a mechwarrior rpg would be interesting, too...maybe. obsidian?)

it fucks up a few visceral things. grenades used to be this thing that blew up on contact. they got rid of the useless sticky bombs (they were funny but not really that useful in combat) but also dumped the contact explosion, which makes grenades far less useful. on the other hand, the game is much easier, so it's not as necessary. there is one great sticky bit near the end involving a whole load of snipers, but for the most part there's far less tactical action, even if fear's tactical action was tempered by being able to abuse slow-motion powers.

pda's are so 2002. achievements are so 1477. or 1018. or perhaps 4500bc.

the quick time events are pretty silly. on the other hand, quick time events that shoot people in the head are about as neat as a bad idea gets. still, fucking xboxen.

voice acting is surprisingly good except for the replica forces, who went from being crazy gruff to kind of weirdo shut-ins. which makes sense as they're literally shut-in for most of their lives but still, what a strange thing to fuck up. that the generic tuff guy general calls you "chickpea" is totally awesome on several levels and forgives some of the lack of slow motion "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck" type responses from the ai.

level design has been improved. it's still a corridor shooter, but the corridors are far more interesting. the ruined city is pretty ok too as a mech basher.

at the end of the day the plot is what it is, and as a more active villain alma only becomes truly interesting at the end, which is surprisingly bizarre and shocking (or "shocking" depending on how jaded you are) and the cheap scares wear down what was best about the first game.

*(whereas blowing people in slow motion is something only porn stars and people who own video cameras get to do. or i guess jacuzzis, too.)
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:23 pm    Post subject: Re: i want to love fear 2 Reply with quote

dhex wrote:
...

mech segment(s) that's so fun it makes me pine for a mechwarrior 6 or whatever number they'd actually be up to. (a mechwarrior rpg would be interesting, too...maybe. obsidian?)


Stopped at 4. Probably dead forever.

Except for this thing of beauty.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is an interesting article, and makes me not want to bother with FEAR 2 since it sounds like it forgot what made the original so playable.

http://www.fullbright.blogspot.com/2009/02/basics-of-effective-fps-encounter.html
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dhex
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah, that piece hits most of the notes.
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Playing through it again, I find that this article helps highlight what works in Half-LifeČ: Episode Two moreso than in previous iterations of the game: There's a larger focus on arena setpieces than previously and the addition of the Hunter enemy adds substantially to the feel of taking on foxily clever foes.
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Cycle
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Speaking of Monolith games, I finally played through Condemned (which dhex sent me). I liked it, but I didn't like it. I liked how short it was, I liked the crazy story and the David Fincher aesthetic, there were some genuinely creepy moments (in fact, this game generally did fear better than FEAR), the way weapons were more like power-ups, that oppressed feeling of the first level... I liked a fair bit. But the actual gameplay was pretty shallow... the forensics stuff was just pointing the mouse at stuff and clicking (though it was a nice break from combat) and the combat was a little too shallow. It wasn't unenjoyable though, and they paced the game and combat well enough that it didn't become too repetitive, but if the game was any longer I don't think I would have finished it. I hear the second game adds some depth to the combat so maybe I'll check it out.

Oh, and the ending is fucking LAME. What's with Monolith and shitty endings lately?
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dhex
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

actually, the fear 2 ending is pretty good, all told. or at the very least, it's mechanically clever and definitely unexpected.

monolith has always been hit or miss in my estimation. i had the same problems with condemned you did.

monolith's always been hit or miss for me. i know everyone loves them but i was never able to get into the nolf series, for example.
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