Zero Punctuation: Fear 2

[LordBojangles]

Grr. I loved Rome Total War and I'm nobody's hairy dad . . .

 

[Simbacca]

I have a new proposal. Instead of banning sequels, all creative writers, directors, and producers must run any sequel ideas by Mr. Croshaw. If the sequel does not pass his requirements, it will not be released to the public at large.

 

[zdogg1222]

i played the game and... well... sad, just awfully sad

 

[Dectilon]

Maybe they know about it but ZP is not what I would call a high level of intellectual discussion on game design.

To be fair, FEAR 2 isn't exactly a high level of intellectual game design either. Fear 1 had a few effective sequences, but most where cheap scares, like Alma popping up right at the top of a ladder.

Since you're pretty much the epitome of super soldiers there's never anything to be afraid of, and since you're nothing but a gun transportation unit without a voice interface it's not really possible to care about your own relation to the various goings on. It might get better, but so far it's more of them same, only now the cheap scares are gone too.

 

[MisterIncognito]

Eh, it's a servicable shooter. I run, I shoot things, I run some more, I shoot some bigger things. Seems like I'm renting more nowadays....

My question though, is why, if this is supposed to take place directly after the events in the first F.E.A.R. did the clones soldiers suddenly upgrade their armor and weapons? Shouldn't the look exactly like the clone soldiers from the first game, and be using the exact same weapons?

 

[MortisLegio]

How about just a "Bad Game Death Penalty" istead of no sequels?

 

[Anaphyis]

Is Yahtzee making a crack about console gamers there? If not, my bad, but if so....I bring to your attention, Mr. Croshaw: Exhibit A: Any console controller of the last four generations save the Wii. Exhibit B: The keyboard and mouse on your PC. Scientific control: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I am a console gamer because every game that I have ever played that has ever required real-time control of a character is a hundred times less aggravating and a thousand times more enjoyable playing it with a console controller than a PC set up.

Taste and familiarization with a certain control scheme is pretty much the direct opposite of scientific. Also, there is a reason most successful console FPS have some kind of aiming assistance.

 

[panthrjd]

Complaining about games that had cliff hangers for sequels that have no confirmation of getting made and he puts Beyond Good and Evil instead of The Longest Journey? Guess he never played the latter.

And doesn't Beyond Good and Evil sorta-kinda-maybe have an announced sequel?

 

[deadly.by.design]

My question though, is why, if this is supposed to take place directly after the events in the first F.E.A.R. did the clones soldiers suddenly upgrade their armor and weapons? Shouldn't the look exactly like the clone soldiers from the frist game, and be using the exact same weapons?

I think one of the intel tidbits you find explains this. Something about a newer batch of replicas that were being tested during the incident. They weren't out and about until the crap hit the fan, as opposed to the ones Fettel already had for the first game, so they're late to the party.

Not 100% sure of it, but it seems like the typical ret-con for game continuity. Then again, feel free to correct me or simply say Monolith got lazy. (and didn't feel the need to explain)

 

[Ghost]

"So far, only the Japanese has succeeded in creating a 'scary' game."

why was he banned 14 days for saying that?

 

[yourbeliefs]

Complaining about games that had cliff hangers for sequels that have no confirmation of getting made and he puts Beyond Good and Evil instead of The Longest Journey? Guess he never played the latter.

And doesn't Beyond Good and Evil sorta-kinda-maybe have an announced sequel?

Wasn't "Dreamfall" a sequel to TLJ? To be fair, "Dreamfall" ended on a cliffhanger too, which I wasn't exactly thrilled with when I had reached the end.

 

[tobyornottoby]

Yes! A world without sequels would be a beautiful place. Companies wouldn't deign to drop the coolest of IP's involving people who bust spirits just because they are only interested in "sequel and franchise properties" and we would get much more innovation and variation. Prototype 1 (and I am going to be the first to call it that because that's what it is) will be awesome Prototype II and III and so on will be considerably less so.

This is why I respect Croshaw and enjoy his reviews (I won't even deign to watch any other video feature on this site) he knows and is saying the things it will take developers and publishers a good ten years to figure out on their own.

Although I love to be an optimist, I'll have to side with Shadowkirby here:

Do developers not know about Zero Punctuation? Or are the production teams really that thick?

Maybe they know about it but ZP is not what I would call a high level of intellectual discussion on game design.

A world without sequels... A good thing?

Nope, the game industry would be dead.

Yeah right. Good joke.

The game industry was built on the sequel model. No Mario series, no Zelda series, only the original Prince of Persia, only one Madden, NHL games that, like it or not, sell. People will buy franchises they trust.

NO it wouldn't be wonderful, as I don't see how a world that doesn't allow its people to do what they like as 'wonderful'.

Remakes are made because they SELL, and they sell because people LIKE them

(and of course because a sequel can build on an established working idea, instead of having the risk of not finding new solid ground)

You, sire, have a way to optimistic view of things. Sequels are a money grubbing tactic and result in the perpetual "or do they?" endings referenced in the movie. Games like Zelda and Mario and Final Fantasy had sequels because they were truly great games that had a market for revisits. And none of those titles readily interconnect from one to the next. Gears of War and F.E.A.R. and god knows what else have sequels because the companies don't want to spend money on developing new art and game-play, but still want to charge just as much for it.

People like them? People like what marketing tells them to like. End of story. (or is it? Check out the next post I may or may not make to find out for sure.)

Thanks for the compliment =)

You're right about the "it's not always artistic but marketing direction"-thingy that causes a lot of sequels. But, as an industry, money has to be made... (see above)

As for the latest quote, not entirely People like what they like. Marketing makes sure people think the product is the thing they like (As in, marketing is not shaping what you like, but it is shaping what you think you like, or something)

Banning sequels probably isn't worth losing half life 2, Civilization 3, and Super Mario Galaxy, but remakes should have the death penalty, preferably death by auto cannibalism.

I love remakes =)

 

[panthrjd]

Complaining about games that had cliff hangers for sequels that have no confirmation of getting made and he puts Beyond Good and Evil instead of The Longest Journey? Guess he never played the latter.

And doesn't Beyond Good and Evil sorta-kinda-maybe have an announced sequel?

Wasn't "Dreamfall" a sequel to TLJ? To be fair, "Dreamfall" ended on a cliffhanger too, which I wasn't exactly thrilled with when I had reached the end.

Yes, I was referring to "The Longest Journey" series in general, so yeah, the actual game would be Dreamfall that had the cliff hanger. The Longest Journey itself didn't end on a cliff hanger, if it was left alone, it would've been fine, I think.

 

[KeithA45]

Excelent review. To be honest I was hoping he'd like it considering how many of my friends love the game, but he tells it like it is and I respect/love it

 

[tobyornottoby]

Is Yahtzee making a crack about console gamers there? If not, my bad, but if so....I bring to your attention, Mr. Croshaw: Exhibit A: Any console controller of the last four generations save the Wii. Exhibit B: The keyboard and mouse on your PC. Scientific control: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I am a console gamer because every game that I have ever played that has ever required real-time control of a character is a hundred times less aggravating and a thousand times more enjoyable playing it with a console controller than a PC set up.

Taste and familiarization with a certain control scheme is pretty much the direct opposite of scientific. Also, there is a reason most successful console FPS have some kind of aiming assistance.

Third-Person -> Controller?
First-Person -> K&M?

sounds solid to me

 

[Foreign Shadow]

Is Yahtzee making a crack about console gamers there? If not, my bad, but if so....I bring to your attention, Mr. Croshaw: Exhibit A: Any console controller of the last four generations save the Wii. Exhibit B: The keyboard and mouse on your PC. Scientific control: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I am a console gamer because every game that I have ever played that has ever required real-time control of a character is a hundred times less aggravating and a thousand times more enjoyable playing it with a console controller than a PC set up.

Taste and familiarization with a certain control scheme is pretty much the direct opposite of scientific. Also, there is a reason most successful console FPS have some kind of aiming assistance.

....have you even tried playing a platformer using the keyboard and mouse set-up? It's not simply a matter of taste and familiarization, it's a matter of design and ease of use. Many styles of game-play are simply much easier with a console controller than the keyboard. You can adapt to and use the keyboard-I've done it myself-but it's not as natural or intuitive as console controllers. I concede your point regarding FPS's though. I just don't really play them, so they don't enter into my calculations very often...

EDIT: And I see the poster directly above me has made an excellent point. Many First Person games use the Keyboard and Mouse set-up well. Since I regard nearly all First-Person games in the same way I regard rotten cheese in my fridge that is humming Sprach Zarathustra, you can see where my feelings on the matter come from..

 

[Mischiviktus]

I'm surprised you didn't emphasize how the endings a "*Tilts your Head to the side and exclaims* Ummm, wtf?!" It's entertaining if your looking to grind off some frustration on an AI that's tactical (by tactical I mean retard zerg rush)and predictable. The difficulties are laughable, if you can look and shoot at the same time, you'll burn through it quickly, even on the hardest mode, without the reflex crap.

Other than that, it's just rent-worthy for the easy late night achievement whoring.

 

[TwistedEllipses]

Maybe having to do the quick time events is the horror element...

 

[joeychuckles]

Excellent review, and fortunately I don't seem to have missed out on anything by avoiding FEAR 2, just as I hoped.

Agreed. i tried the demo despite never playing FEAR 1 - any sense of terror the game might have evoked was overshadowed by my confusion at pretty much everything. "Okay, so here are some army looking guys and - wait, no, he's on the other side. Got it. Now - hold on, why is there a skull-head guy fighting WITH them. . .oh, i can flip this table to, nope, i forgot to throw that grenade i guess. Game over."

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

"So far, only the Japanese has succeeded in creating a 'scary' game."

why was he banned 14 days for saying that?

It must be for the same reason people thought RE5 was racist.