Developer: Monolith
Publisher: Warner Bros, Interactive Entertainment
Rrp: £9.99 (Steam)
Released: 12th February 2009
Available on: Steam
Played using: Mouse and Keyboard
It was supposed to be a routine mission, in and out, simple. Of course how could you plan for a being that can manipulate reality with seeming ease? The answer is you can’t, you merely adapt and try to survive until you can work out what can be done.
Welcome to FEAR 2, a FPS game with a action filled horror story in which you take the role of Sergeant Michael Becket. You are a member of a second team sent to find and escort one of Armachams a higher ups to safety. As you might well imagine things don’t go according to plan.
The game begins while the events of the original FEAR are happening. You and your team are at a different location, attempting to secure your target. You come across some resistance but nothing that wasn’t expected. There are some slight hints that something… Bigger is happening but those are exactly that hints. No, the really messed up stuff starts with a very literal bang.
In many ways FEAR 2 plays the same as its predecessor, armour and medkits are scattered around to collect, the ability to use slow-mo, melee abilities, and a scary little girl. What makes it more than a graphical overhaul is the execution of how these aspects are carried out. The melee is more smooth and includes a new move that when used correctly makes you feel like a badass. Combat overall has had significant tweaks with the weaponry and enemies A.I. Of course we can’t forget the horror aspects, yeah FEAR 2 relies on how frightening Alma (the little girl) can be, to freak you out, but there’s more to it than that. The horror itself feels more well executed, I suspect that Monolith learned some important lessons on how to make use of the great asset they have in Alma.
There are some other changes that have been included that, I think it’s safe to say, were made specifically with a console port in mind. Now, please don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a ‘glorious PC master race’ rant. In fact I feel that these changes improved the game, creating with a console in mind forced the developers to cut out extraneous features leaving the whole thing feeling more focused. For example, the lean left and right function that was in the original FEAR has been removed, which is actually understandable. That function didn’t really have much of a place in the original and I personally found it was rare that I ever used it. Plus when you take into account the limited available buttons on a control pad it makes a lot of sense.
Those are by no means the only changes made to the game, some of the others are;
- You now have an information screen, found with the [TAB] key, that gives you information about your weapons, objectives and Intel that you collect.
- The amount of weapons you can carry has increased from two to four and some of the weapons allow you to change the fire mode. A Sub-machine, for example, has a burst and semi-automatic mode.
- This time it’s not only the enemy that can create cover, you can too! Flip over tables and tip bookcases like a badass to create impromptu cover.
It should go without saying that FEAR 2 is graphically superior to its predecessor, on that I doubt there can be any argument. Admittedly, compared to today’s AAA titles it looks pretty bad but it’s not ugly by any means. The physics engine also produces more realistic results (although occasionally it still flids out and throws a body high into the air), and the sound design has been improved a lot.
Unfortunately the thing that keeps FEAR 2’s story at pretty good rather than being really good is the characters. Monolith have done their best to make the characters at least a little interesting but they just come off as flat, even when something horrific has happened. I honestly can’t say if it’s their writing, the animation, the voice acting or a combination of the three that make it seem this way.
That being said, something that I found very interesting is that I found that Alma (the scary little girl) was both terrifying and someone you could have sympathy for. Though that does depend on the player taking the time to find and read the Intel.
There are some issues that I find quite annoying chief among them is the default positioning of the slow-mo key [CTRL]. By the time this game had come out the convention for [CTRL] to be used to duck or crouch was well entrenched so having to use the [C] key felt off and was quite uncomfortable. It wouldn’t be so bad if a control pad were supported but sadly they aren’t… Which makes no bloody sense considering it was ported to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2.
At the end of the day the recommendation of this game comes with a caveat. That caveat being that you have to be someone who can handle themes like torture, rape, incest and quite a few others. If you can then you really should play this, it’s a great game that’s also a hell of a lot of fun.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Singularity
Aliens Vs Predator 2000
Half-Life 2
