Zero Punctuation: Fear 2

[Highlandheadbanger]

Nice, good to know Yahtzee also appreciates the Total War series, don't think he'd be able to do Empires for a review though, considering how long it is in comparison to his release schedule.

 

[MonkeyPunch]

Maybe it's also down to the fact that I am playing this game right now but this show had me laughing all the way through.
Good stuff!

 

[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.

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

sounds solid to me

As I've said, it's mainly a matter of taste and familiarization, though many third person games on the PC suffer from the fate of broken console ports. I played the Sands of Time trilogy exclusively on the PC and when I wanted to do so on a friends PS2, I got frustrated really soon really bad. Mentioned friend had the reverse experience. Stating a game that "requires real-time control of a character" is more enjoyable on whatever platform as fact is utter BS. The only real difference can be found in FPS where a console has to compensate for you not sitting less then a meter away from the screen and the fine granularity of a mouse. But control wise, its tomayto, tomahto.

Edit: "game" is used here as a general term, as *specific* game can be better on a console or PC, depending on the implementation. See broken port (regardless of direction)

 

[Zabadack]

Well I'm still getting it, I loved FEAR1 and if FEAR2 is even remotely similar it's still head and shoulders above any other fps out there right now.

A world without sequels.... no thanks.

System Shock 2?
Half Life 2?
Thief 2?
The Curse of Monkey Island? (the third in series)
Call of Duty 4?
Burnout Paradise?
Devil May Cry series?
Fallout 2?
GTA4?
Street Fighter 4?

There's just a couple examples of how best in franchise wasn't the first game.
I suppose Yahtzee has to be cruel to games, that's what everyone's here for.

 

[Kevin7557]

I made that Umbrella Joke in my review on my blog a few days ago.

"In Fear 2 the evil Umbrella Corporation...Ah I mean Armacham Technologies built massive facilities underneath Raccoon City...Ah I mean Auburn City, In which they conducted biological experiments for profit...Ah I mean no wait I had that right. Cookie for me. ."

 

[sketchesofpayne]

Um, just wanted to say this review, and other recent ones, aren't 'British' enough.

 

[Crazyshak48]

This was one of the best reviews of his I've seen in weeks. I was expecting a bile explosion when I saw which game it was, but he far exceeded my expectations. Glorious

As for the sequel ban, there oughtta be an escape clause or something of that sort to allow only for good sequels (i.e. Half-life 2 or Mechwarrior 4), but otherwise, I agree entirely.

Oh yeah, and I wiki'd the ending on this game (since I'm not about to play it), and yeah. I can already hear a long chorus of "wtf?"s from here.

 

[Vlane]

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.

So you think that making anything else than sequels is not good because nobody will trust it? How did names like Halo, God of War, Gears of War then became so big when nobody trusted them?

 

[JojjeE]

The ending was screwed up and confusing to me
Then I consulted with some fellow nerds and went "Oh so that's what it was"

 

[JLPicard]

"If I ain't cryin', you be dyin'"
EPIC!

 

[TheBadass]

Shenmue. That alone justifies no sequels.

...I take it back, now make number three Sega.

 

[sgtshock]

If we lived in a world without sequels, the video game industry as we know it wouldn't exist. What's the last game you can remember that didn't have a number at the end of it? Mirror's Edge, and Dead Space. That's about it. Maybe more, but I can't think of any at the moment.

Anyway, great review, despite the jab at Rome Total War.

 

[Tharticus]

I'm a bit confused on what Mr. Croshaw considers FEAR 2 as. I guess this game is like game 1, with graphic upgrades and quicktime events.

Also, nice backdrops on the pictures of what you said as one word.

 

[Avida]

Sorry if someone has already pointed this out but FEAR 1 WAS OUT ON CONSOLES!

 

[AndresCL]

The review made me laugh a lot event tho i think it was a good game, but damnit, that damn ending, now well have to wait for F.E.A.R 3 or another two expansions that have no place in the main storyline whatsoever

Lesson of the game? Use condoms

 

[mkxiii]

i dont care how many sequels are terrible, its all worth it for broken sword 3

and why do people get suspended at the start of all of these ZP threads?

 

[TheSchaef]

FEAR had console adaptations of what was originally a PC game. You can usually tell when a game is designed with consoles in mind before PC play. This ain't it.

When he was talking about "not knowing if you'll even make a sequel", I was waiting for Pariah to pop up on the screen. BG&E was a superior choice, though, if for no other reason than it was played by more than seven people.

 

[Odjin]

Duh... Thief 2 is not really great... totally messy AI and you sneaking like a bulldozer. I don't know but Thief 3 had been way better: working AI, sneaking works as sneaking should do ( love the wall hug ) and the story is coherent and not running after you although you sneak like a snail. And HL2 has also been a bad sequel. So we are left with 0 good sequels... no need to fear this new regime

 

[Heroic One]

Sequels are fine, but only if each game has a satisfying conclusion. No Empire Strikes Back malarcky.