F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo Now Available

[Andy Chalk]

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo Now Available

Holy crapamolie, did you see that? There, in the shadows, just out of the corner of your eye! It's a F.E.A.R. 2 [http://www.whatisfear.com/] demo!

The 1.76 gigabyte demo for Shacknews [http://www.whatisfear.com/] have compared it favorably to the original F.E.A.R., with challenging AI and solid weaponry, and the demo also appears to run quite well even on mid-range PCs.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin has had an interesting history. Monolith, the developer behind the original game, was initially forced to produce a F.E.A.R. sequel under a new name - Project Origin - after it was bought out by Warner Bros. because original publisher Sierra held the rights to the F.E.A.R. title. But when Activision bought Vivendi - Sierra's parent company - it had no interest in the franchise and cast it back into the sea, at which point Monolith snapped it up and reattached the F.E.A.R. name to the sequel [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86153-Project-Origin-Renamed-To-F-E-A-R-2].

But that's not the only confusion. Following the success of F.E.A.R., Sierra released two add-ons, F.E.A.R. 2 forums [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.E.A.R._Extraction_Point] in late 2007. "In short, ignore all expansions and ignore anything related to the franchise not produced by Monolith Productions. Sorry for any confusion that this may have caused."

Got all that? F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is set for release on February 10 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.



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[calelogan]

Interesting. I didn't get to play any of expansions, though I did play the original. I'd like to know what is the "canon" continuation to the story...

 

[GoldenShadow]

Wow, This game runs great on my PC and the atmosphere is freaking nuts. I've played FEAR 1, and I know that the game like to do weird stunts to try and scare you with cheap tricks. Even knowing that, I jumped outa my seat more than once while playing the demo. This is a definate must play.

My specs Vista 64bit, Core 2 Duo at 3.08Ghz, 4 GB RAM, Radeon HD4870. Game defaulted to maximum settings 4X FSAA and it plays smooth as butter at my native res of 1360*768 (32" HDTV)

I'm preordering this now.

Thats all reaction from the first part of the demo, I havent even finished it yet.

I hope they fix the inability to map the mouse 4 and 5 buttons

 

[Rednog]

Interesting. I didn't get to play any of expansions, though I did play the original. I'd like to know what is the "canon" continuation to the story...

All of the original is cannon, the expansions don't count, though I seriously doubt we will see or hear from Pointman and his friends at any point of the game.
I personally think they should've at least kept extraction point's story in there because it didn't go that far out of line and they could've at least brought back Pointman as some sort of torn apart entity (like the older Alma) and have an epic dual against her while you scuttle around.

 

[stompy]

Do not want. Sorry, I value my sleep...

 

[Stylish_Robot]

I pre-ordered mine and d/led the demo and I gotta say I had a blast though I found myself throwing grenades when I wanted to change weapons (RB was weapon change in original, now it's grenade)

 

[Avatar Roku]

I've been waiting for this game for a long time. The demo's good, and I like how each combat encounter feels rewarding. Can't wait for the full game.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Just played the demo and loved it. Much more creepy and scary then the first. Going to preorder this tomorrow.

 

[Fenring]

Just wondering, does anyone know if it's the same demo as the one at PAX? If so, I really like it, I have a few nits to pick with it. I think letting you enter one of the mech suits was bad, they were a big monster that would always be able to kill you if you just ran at them. Allowing you to use the suits just kind of takes that away for me.
I'm going to download it in the morning.

 

[calelogan]

Interesting. I didn't get to play any of expansions, though I did play the original. I'd like to know what is the "canon" continuation to the story...

All of the original is cannon, the expansions don't count, though I seriously doubt we will see or hear from Pointman and his friends at any point of the game.
I personally think they should've at least kept extraction point's story in there because it didn't go that far out of line and they could've at least brought back Pointman as some sort of torn apart entity (like the older Alma) and have an epic dual against her while you scuttle around.

In a way I'm glad Pointman isn't showing up again. Though I did enjoy a bit of the conspiracy involved I never really felt bonded with the main character.

On the other hand, I'm curious: I did finish the original F.E.A.R. and I'm not sure as to why he should come back as a "torn entity of sorts". Am I missing anything?

*Feel free to send me spoilers, but I'm trying to not reveal anything for other forum users*

 

[Andy Chalk]

I must be in the minority here, because virtually everyone I've talked to has been gaga over the demo, but I came away a bit on the unimpressed side. Some great freakout moments with Alma, yes, but the combat felt softer than the original. At normal difficulty I never once felt threatened by the Replicant forces. There's also way too much gibbing of enemies in combat, and bodies disappear far too quickly.

Of course, I'm one of those weirdos who actually liked the office building environments of the original game. Played it through three times from start to finish (a rarity for me) and I wouldn't mind doing it again someday. The FEAR 2 demo was good, but I'm a bit concerned that in attempting to address the shortcomings of the original Monolith may have lost a little bit of what made it such a kick-ass game in the first place.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I must be in the minority here, because virtually everyone I've talked to has been gaga over the demo, but I came away a bit on the unimpressed side. Some great freakout moments with Alma, yes, but the combat felt softer than the original. At normal difficulty I never once felt threatened by the Replicant forces. There's also way too much gibbing of enemies in combat, and bodies disappear far too quickly.

Of course, I'm one of those weirdos who actually liked the office building environments of the original game. Played it through three times from start to finish (a rarity for me) and I wouldn't mind doing it again someday. The FEAR 2 demo was good, but I'm a bit concerned that in attempting to address the shortcomings of the original Monolith may have lost a little bit of what made it such a kick-ass game in the first place.

Hm... I can see that. I felt that the combat in the demo was actually more satisfying than the first game, but that might be a bad thing in a horror game, as you should never feel secure. And I also played F.E.A.R 3 times, its amazing how overblown the samey environments were by the reviewers. And its also amazing that, even after 3 playthroughs, I still find some parts (mainly in the second half) scary.

 

[Andy Chalk]

There are parts in FEAR that still freak me right the hell out, even when I know when they're coming and I know what they are. I love FEAR for the combat first and foremost - I'm really not a horror fan, and sometimes I wish they'd just left all that Alma business out of it and made it a straight-up shooter. But it sure does put me on the edge of my seat.

 

[stompy]

Do not want. Sorry, I value my sleep...

F.E.A.R was scary!?

You're talking to someone who was damn scared over Bioshock (though, I did go through it). I've played F.E.A.R. before, and like I said, I'd love if they scrapped the horror and focused on the gun-play, which I liked.

sometimes I wish they'd just left all that Alma business out of it and made it a straight-up shooter.

^^ Like he said.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I for one liked the horror aspects of FEAR, probably mainly because they were so sparse (unlike Doom 3's "a monster in every closet" philosophy). Sometimes you knew it was coming, but sometimes it would surprise you.

Once this demo finishes extracting so I can install it, I'll give it a whirl.

Final verdict: I am extremely unimpressed. This feels like a console port, complete with letterboxed gamescreen, obtrusive HUD elements and annoying controls in the info menus. And the blood effects are quite simply silly.

I can hope they'll try to improve it, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I don't mind the HUD elements, although they do seem unnecessary, but the menu system is horrible and the propensity of enemies to explode into red piles of goo make the human body look like it was designed by the same team that came up with the Ford Pinto. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm "extremely unimpressed," but I'm not as impressed as I was hoping I'd be.

F.E.A.R was scary!?

I've read this kind of thing a lot, and I really think it's too bad for people who feel that way. I suppose it'd be simple enough to pull yourself out of the game to the point where you just shoot guys and move on, but why? I don't like horror and sometimes FEAR drove me nuts with the shit it pulled, but at the same time I played it as much as possible with the lights down and the volume up. I'd do whatever I could to maximize the effect, and willfully immersed myself in it as deeply as possible. As a result, the game went from being a very good shooter to a uniquely intense experience. Different strokes and all that, but people who don't let themselves be scared, or at least heaviliy startled a few times, by the game (or by any game for that matter) are missing out.

 

[Dalisclock]

Well,

On the bright side, the gunfights are fun, you get to play with power armor and it looks amazing.

However, it doesn't feel like it really changes much from the original. It still isn't scary(a few moments of good startle) and there's still that abrupt transiton between "gunfight" phases and "horror" phases.

I'll admit, I'm picky about my horror because most of it doesn't scare me, but whenever I hear the static on the radio, I think "Here comes Alma. At least I don't have to fight (gag) 'Psychic Clone Supersoldiers' for a while". Of course, then there's the "I hear a girl crying. She said someone took her babies. I'm going to find her". All I can think is "You're a retard and deserve to die. May the gene pool be improved by your removal from it".

Then again, I still think that the whole "Bullet time mute fighting pyshic clone supersoldiers in a nondescript(okay, Ruined) urban environment w/ corporate malfesence" doesn't really mesh with "Creepy little girl walks on walls and fucks with your head". It seems that both would make an awesome game on their own but otherwise it feels like a good shooter with a fairly generic plot and environment with "creepy" bits shoehorned into it, which takes away from the atmosphere of the "creepy" parts.

And after playing the demo, I really have no urge to play the full game, let alone pay for it. It matches my impression of the original to a tee(albeit nicer looking). Read my original review from a year ago for more elaboration.

BTW, what's this "Partial Nudity" in the ESRB warning? Alma looked pretty damn nude to me.

 

[Dalisclock]

And the blood effects are quite simply silly.

Well, at least they haven't forgotten that there's nothing more "scary" then a room covered with blood....on all surfaces. Or at least it would be if they haden't resorted to it 50 times in the first game.

 

[Baby Tea]

I loved it, I'm probably getting it.

 

[mrjinx]

I enjoyed the demo. I found it was very immersive and ran very well on Max settings on my PC. I'll probably buy it, but I agree that it could use some more polish on the PC side as far as the UI goes and controls.. For some reason the game's mouse sensitivity was rediculously high for me and even after dragging it all the way to the left, it was still too sensitive for me. (As in I could turn all the way around moving my mouse less than 2 inches)

Still, I loved the first so I'm sure I will love this one.