FEAR 2 demo next week

[mkreku]

They shoot, but not very fiercely, and they don't seem to hit you very often.

At first, when you claimed the demo was too easy, I thought you were one of those idiots trying to boast about their FPS skills by claiming every game is too easy for them. But after going through the demo on normal without ever even figuring out where the damn health meter was (I didn't exactly have to), I am bound to agree.

 

For me it wasn't that they didn't hit. They just didn't shoot enough. I was standing behind a pillar and a bunch of soldier burst into the room (I think it was a cafeteria). So I stayed behind the pillar and observed them from across the room. Every time I took a step to the side of the pillar (where the hell is my leaning function?!), the enemies would fire 1-3 shots and then immediately dive for cover. And since diving for cover usually means running up to a soda machine and tipping it over, I had plenty of time to pepper them full of bullets. But even if I didn't fire back, they would do this every time: I peek out, they fire a couple of bullets in my general direction and then scramble for cover. It was weird.

[Starwars]

I haven't tried this yet (the good computer is waiting for a new vidcard fan) but I must say it's a bit depressing reading some of these comments. I always regarded the original FEAR to be a sort of "hardcore" FPS (or maybe I just sucked more when it was released, who knows), meaning that it could actually be a real challenge when bumping up the difficulty. STALKER fell into this category as well.

 

With the removal of leaning and addition of stuff like glowing enemies in slow-mo, I feel like shouting out things like "dumbed down for consoles", but I shall patiently wait until I can try the demo myself.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Starwars

[Purkake]

I have never been a huge fan of shooters, but maybe the "corridor shoot" genre has really been watered down to a level where all they really have to offer over each other is pretty graphics(with gray/brown filters and lots of film grain) and useless eyecandy physics.(having stuff fly around when you shot it got old after Max Payne 2).

 

Back in the day you had FPS-s with cool twists like AvP2, Half-Life 2 and Farcry.(at least they were more than generic corridor shooters) Today you need a little more than "me too" bullet time and eye candy physics.

 

EDIT: Is it REALLY that hard to mix the scary and shooty segments together? It feels so mechanical when you know that the scary segment ended because someone talks to you on the radio. Have some ghosts appear when you are shooting guys, have them get in the way and distract you from the real targets. Keep the player guessing.

Edited January 23, 2009 by Purkake

[Musopticon?]

On FPS difficulty, Stalker:Clear Sky just kept handing me my ass on a platter until I scavenged enough dough for a reinforced suit and a silencer-scope combo for my TRs 301(which I picked up from a dead merc after a fight where I mostly stayed put in a small hole). Even after that the game presents you with situations that complete mess with your "lol, I can pick them from a mile away and never even be hit" attitude, such as enviromental hazards, enemies that resist your normal ammunition, unorthodox attack methods like psi and gravity, etc. Not to mention, leaving you alone without equipment or protection in the center of the Zone and having to fight your gear back armed with a lousy sidearm and one set of bandages. That was awesome.

 

Then again, quick-saving takes the edge off everything.

Edited January 24, 2009 by Musopticon?

[Hell Kitty]

The demo for FEAR was awesome and I couldn't wait to play the full game. This demo was underwhelming, and has served only to lessen my interest in the final game.

[Calax]

Just remembered I'd seen a preview with the devs talking about the game on Xplay last week. The reason behind the mech combat was because in the first game the first thing the developers saw people doing was making mods to put themselves within the mech.

 

Just wanted to throw that out there.

[Niten_Ryu]

At first, when you claimed the demo was too easy, I thought you were one of those idiots trying to boast about their FPS skills by claiming every game is too easy for them.

 

I'm not sure if it's fair to call 'em idiots just because they'd like harder difficulty option. It's not like you can just forget what you've learnt over the years. Genre is 17 years old and most FPS are relatively similar. Multiplayer option in modern FPS will increase play skills even more. Most modern FPS are designed for both consoles and PC but only PC has keyboard + mouse combo as default. This advantage alone makes many FPS feel too easy if developers don't add several higher difficulty levels.

 

From game mechanics point of view it's easy for developers to add higher difficulty settings to FPS then to many other genres of games. AI is always stupid but mobs can have higher health, faster movement or do more damage.

[Morgoth]

The AI is FEAR2 is superb, it's just that they're not showing that in being very offensive. That's why it's baby-easy. Console gamers would otherwise get owned. But there's still hope the full version is more challenging.

[Calax]

I just got done with the demo.

 

Few things I noticed, I didn't know how many medkits I had on me at the time, I'd just hit z and a kit would be applied but it didn't tell me how many I had on me. Dispite what you might think I actually enjoyed the horror segments do a degree. The segments where you played shoot the ghost weren't that fantastic, mainly because they get mixed in with visions of adult Alma, so you either shot everything or had to slow your reaction time.

 

At a few points I did jump out of my skin.

 

two spots that caught me in particular were when alma literally grabs you and tires to drag you into her nightmare for a second before it reverts to "normal". The other was I was walking along and heard the music cue go off but couldn't figure out where the heck a horror was, then I turned a little to my right and there was alma LITERALLY on my elbow.

 

 

That said I got a few feelings about the track for the game. One of them was that the Origin project was just the beginning. Several of the Data Slates you find point this out. I'm starting to think that they decided to go with the "evil corporation" motif too much. One of the joys of fear was that you found out their ONE dirty little secret. Now these secrets feel like they are being forced into your face.

 

I'm going to be interested to see how the original FEAR characters fit into the story but won't be to surprised if all the members of the squad you work in are Armacham super soldiers.

[Musopticon?]

I loved the school level in the demo. It ties so very well into the previous game.

 

Unfortunately, the demo was pretty easy. I only died because of 360 and snipers.

[Morgoth]

I loved the school level in the demo. It ties so very well into the previous game.

 

Unfortunately, the demo was pretty easy. I only died because of 360 and snipers.

The school didn't really fit into FEAR at all. FEAR was about bleak, eerie and wonderfully gloomy corporate offices and industrial complexes. Ahh I loved that. But I'm gonna buy FEAR2 anyway, knowing that I can accept change.

Edited February 1, 2009 by Morgoth

[Calax]

Well from what I can tell from the Demo, it's really been spliced together from different levels throughout the game.

[Purkake]

What's the deal with the city anyway? Is it the same city that get's (Alma)nuked at the end of FEAR 1? The locations have always confused me. It will be pretty sad if all you do is go through the desolated city to visit schools, hospitals and theaters.

[Calax]

What's the deal with the city anyway? Is it the same city that get's (Alma)nuked at the end of FEAR 1? The locations have always confused me. It will be pretty sad if all you do is go through the desolated city to visit schools, hospitals and theaters.

The city as a whole is called Freeport I think, there are several districts, only one is named (The Auburn District) and that district is where Alma was kept and got blown up in the first game. In FEAR 2 you're running around in the ruins chasing a freed Alma.

[Purkake]

What's the deal with the city anyway? Is it the same city that get's (Alma)nuked at the end of FEAR 1? The locations have always confused me. It will be pretty sad if all you do is go through the desolated city to visit schools, hospitals and theaters.

The city as a whole is called Freeport I think, there are several districts, only one is named (The Auburn District) and that district is where Alma was kept and got blown up in the first game. In FEAR 2 you're running around in the ruins chasing a freed Alma.

 

It always felt like the same damn city, can't they switch it around a little? I don't mean ice level and lava level, but like HL2. Some change is refreshing, and you could try to do creepy forest and creepy country side for a change.

[Calax]

What's the deal with the city anyway? Is it the same city that get's (Alma)nuked at the end of FEAR 1? The locations have always confused me. It will be pretty sad if all you do is go through the desolated city to visit schools, hospitals and theaters.

The city as a whole is called Freeport I think, there are several districts, only one is named (The Auburn District) and that district is where Alma was kept and got blown up in the first game. In FEAR 2 you're running around in the ruins chasing a freed Alma.

 

It always felt like the same damn city, can't they switch it around a little? I don't mean ice level and lava level, but like HL2. Some change is refreshing, and you could try to do creepy forest and creepy country side for a change.

I think both of those would require more work by the developers because while those would be AWESOME, yhe devs would still have to fit a way to block characters from running off like a nutjob and not following objectives. Either invisible walls or something. It's possible but blending it into the gameworld is much harder than in destroyedsville.

[Musopticon?]

I loved the school level in the demo. It ties so very well into the previous game.

 

Unfortunately, the demo was pretty easy. I only died because of 360 and snipers.

The school didn't really fit into FEAR at all. FEAR was about bleak, eerie and wonderfully gloomy corporate offices and industrial complexes.

It's a gloomy, eerie and depressing school for an industry giant's human genetic experiments on children in their early years, where teachers' desks have notes on the use of psychoactive drugs on the kids, instead of say, how well Billy did in the gym last week.

 

I'd say that fits pretty well.

[Morgoth]

I loved the school level in the demo. It ties so very well into the previous game.

 

Unfortunately, the demo was pretty easy. I only died because of 360 and snipers.

The school didn't really fit into FEAR at all. FEAR was about bleak, eerie and wonderfully gloomy corporate offices and industrial complexes.

It's a gloomy, eerie and depressing school for an industry giant's human genetic experiments on children in their early years, where teachers' desks have notes on the use of psychoactive drugs on the kids, instead of say, how well Billy did in the gym last week.

 

I'd say that fits pretty well.

No. They shouldn't try to pull a Condemned. But we'll see what the full version offers, it's hard to judge a demo that consists of glued-together maps from everywhere. But my stomach tells me it won't be as good as FEAR1.

[Purkake]

I loved the school level in the demo. It ties so very well into the previous game.

 

Unfortunately, the demo was pretty easy. I only died because of 360 and snipers.

The school didn't really fit into FEAR at all. FEAR was about bleak, eerie and wonderfully gloomy corporate offices and industrial complexes.

It's a gloomy, eerie and depressing school for an industry giant's human genetic experiments on children in their early years, where teachers' desks have notes on the use of psychoactive drugs on the kids, instead of say, how well Billy did in the gym last week.

 

I'd say that fits pretty well.

No. They shouldn't try to pull a Condemned. But we'll see what the full version offers, it's hard to judge a demo that consists of glued-together maps from everywhere. But my stomach tells me it won't be as good as FEAR1.

 

Oh man, the kool aid is wearing off? Somone get this man a new drum!

Edited February 3, 2009 by Purkake

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Ruins just aren't as scary as the original offices and generic buildings. Hell, I personally think there's too much color.

[Calax]

So, I went to gamestop and preordered Project Origin, and got a nice little packet that explains everything about FEAR1 and a few other things.

 

Basically one of the tests you get hints about in the Demo is Project Paragon. The drug manipulation of children to produce psychic commanders like Fettel. The primary lab for this is located beneath the school that you run through in the demo, and from the looks of it the Main character of Origin is a product of this program. The program wasn't capable of producing something like Fettel, but rather something more like the original Point Man, this fact is why ATC reopened the Origin Facility before FEAR's events.

 

Interesting stuff actually. I'm surprised they are giving us this before the game came out.