F.E.A.R. 2 Developer: Alma Will Be "More Intimate"

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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F.E.A.R. 2 Developer: Alma Will Be "More Intimate"


F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin [http://www.whatisfear.com/] will still have that same great J-horror taste you love, but Art Lead Dave Matthews says other influences will make themselves felt in the game, including current horror trends from the U.S. and even Eastern Europe.

"Alma is the result of our biggest inspiration from films. She's clearly from Japanese horror, and the notion of taking what you expect to be innocent and harmless and turning it into this amazing destructive force," he said in an interview with Saw [http://www.gameplanet.co.nz/features/132829.20090204.F.E.A.R.-2-Q-A-session/], he added, saying, "We pulled some fabulous things from them that fit really well with the great recipe for horror that we had in F.E.A.R."

Alma's newfound freedom will manifest itself in a more "intimate" experience for the player in F.E.A.R. 2. "Alma is a more active antagonist now. She's a lot more aggressive, and she's going to touch you more. Alma was freed from her prison at the end of the first game, and as such her needs have changed. Her interactions with the player reflect these new needs," he said.

Horror may be the game's most identifiable characteristic, but combat is the foundation upon which all else rests, a fact not overlooked by Penetrator [http://www.lith.com/], will be back for the sequel, Matthews said the developer took things further by adding a new dimension to how guns actually work. "We brought an armor penetration value to each weapon," he explained. "For instance, the pump shotgun has a high damage value, but a low armor penetration value. This means it's great for your standard troops, but starts to have less and less effect against those with heavy armor. Whereas a rocket launcher has a concussive element to its damage, all of these factors will play out in how the enemies will react to you and being hit."

Matthews also did his best to allay the fears of PC gamers who may be worried that F.E.A.R. 2 will be "consolized" because it's being simultaneously developed for the PlayStation 3 [http://www.xbox.com]. "Because we are developing all three versions of F.E.A.R. 2 in tandem, this allows us to take advantage of the strengths of all three platforms," he said. "We aren't building the game on a primary SKU and porting to the others. Each platform is treated with a goal of synonymy, as an example, when a piece of art is generated we make sure that it works as intended on all three versions."

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is set for release on February 10 in North America, and February 13 in Europe and Australia.


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Dectilon

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The original FEAR was a parade of office buildings and the occasional sewer level. They're gonna have to do better this time...

I think the one thing that bothered me the most was that you picked up the radio chatter of the clone soldiers screaming about how you, the player, was coming and how they needed backup... CONSTANTLY! Seriously, FEAR was supposed to be action-horror, right? But when your enemies scream in terror when they face you the horror just sort of evaporates :p

And since you're constantly being reminded of how important you are, the Alma bits never get that intimidating either.
 

Wolvaroo

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FEAR lost any hope of being terrifying the moment I realized I had picked up a second pistol and not just more ammo.

Supernatural forces < Dualies.

EDIT: Plus I was at a small LAN and was quite determined to be the only one to not freak out and quit. It quickly became a testosterone filled MANLY contest.
 

Elite L Dizzy

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I for one have just heard about F.E.A.R. 2 and wasn?t initially excited. #1 ended with a nice cliff hanger? if you sat through the 9 min of credits after 20 min of ghost attacks. After the second wave you just kept your weapon fully loaded. I loved the melee in the original and hope it will be a big part of #2. The story also is very awesome and while you seem to be running a parallel story it is interlaced in every level. After reading the article I am intrigued by the idea of armor sensitive ammunition and console specific graphic development. The first one scared the crap out of me for 90% of the game. I think #2 will take it to the next level.
 

ellimist337

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F.E.A.R. largely turned into just a shooter with a few "scary" parts that didn't do much for me, fright-wise after the first few hours. Hopefully this can ramp up the horror parts a bit. The demo looked somewhat promising in this, but as it's mainly a concentration on gameplay, it's hard to tell.
 

mooncalf

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Dectilon said:
The original FEAR was a parade of office buildings and the occasional sewer level. They're gonna have to do better this time...

I think the one thing that bothered me the most was that you picked up the radio chatter of the clone soldiers screaming about how you, the player, was coming and how they needed backup... CONSTANTLY! Seriously, FEAR was supposed to be action-horror, right? But when your enemies scream in terror when they face you the horror just sort of evaporates :p

And since you're constantly being reminded of how important you are, the Alma bits never get that intimidating either.
I found the Alma bits creepy! C'mon, remember being in that ventilation duct and having her scramble towards you? :D

Agreed about the annoying soldier radio chatter, they're supposed to be laying in wait and setting ambushes for you, instead they broadcast themselves long before you actually see them and you barely get surprised by them... Why do they even need radio chatter? Aren't they communing telepathically?
 

Stylish_Robot

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I always hated the D-pad since I'd try to lean to get in a shot but it'd turn on my flashlight and "flashlight! checking it out" and it's like aww damnit, time to Rambo these punks. One thing I hoped they change is the brief Alma appearances since in the first game there were literally times where something would happen (thanks to distorted HUD and creepy sound effect) only I never saw something and be like "um...did I miss something?"

for example, when you get to the elevator, I had no clue she was on the second floor looking down
 

ElArabDeMagnifico

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"Each platform is treated with a goal of synonymy, as an example, when a piece of art is generated we make sure that it works as intended on all three versions."

Is it too much to ask for LEAN KEYS?!
 

Rednog

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johnx61 said:
Ok, so the major selling point of F.E.A.R. 2 is that you will get "intimate" with a creepy little girl?

And people wonder why we can't get Jack Thompson to shut his god damn mouth...
She's dead so its just necrophilia...and not pedophilia...
 

I III II X4

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Dear god, people. Do y'all honestly think by intimate they mean sex? Horizontal hokey-pokey?

By intimate, I'm sure they mean that Alma will use your fear in new, and relevant ways against you, and at a greater frequency than the original F.E.A.R. (damn, I really need to add it to my collection), such as let's say your in a sewer (See? Another sewer level, terrifying), and you notice that the junk floating in the water is following you...suddenly it launches out of the water towards you, then when you turn around you see Alma lunge at you and send you into a battle with spectral forces.

Or, you find a friendly NPC, they tag along...and then attempt to bust a cap in your ass. See? Possession!

It could be anything!

Or I could be fuckin' wrong and the dev's actually are making Alma a horror sex icon...
 

GloatingSwine

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Rednog said:
johnx61 said:
Ok, so the major selling point of F.E.A.R. 2 is that you will get "intimate" with a creepy little girl?

And people wonder why we can't get Jack Thompson to shut his god damn mouth...
She's dead so its just necrophilia...and not pedophilia...
It's also incest, since she's the player character's mother.
 

Crimsoneer

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Dec 24, 2008
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GloatingSwine said:
Rednog said:
johnx61 said:
Ok, so the major selling point of F.E.A.R. 2 is that you will get "intimate" with a creepy little girl?

And people wonder why we can't get Jack Thompson to shut his god damn mouth...
She's dead so its just necrophilia...and not pedophilia...
It's also incest, since she's the player character's mother.
You play a different character in the second one, so strictly speaking, no, it wouldn't be.

It would however, be very, very wrong. You'd have to get seriously smashed.
 

Pyre1million

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I think by 'intimate', they mean "Holy fuck the creepy woman is trying to murder me with her spectral hands and ability to wrap reality oh god oh god." Judging by the demo, anyway.

And yes, it's woman now. Alma's all grown up...sometimes(?)

And those creepy music moments where you can miss the creepy event are still there. If you can get the demo, there'll be one when you're in a room in a basement, after the school. There's some kind of blue machine in the room, I can't remember what. Turn around when it happens.
 

BARADOK

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Feb 16, 2009
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Spoiler alert! Dont read if you dont want to know.


Just got finished beating the game, and yes, you do actually have sex with alma, this is no joke.