I must be getting old.
As a Gamer, I know I'm suceptible to the hype: the glowing reviews, the trailers, the well designed websites, the whispers of how good the game will be in some random forum.
So I have a love hate relationship with "game release day." You know what that is, because you are a Gamer too.
Somewhere, sometime, we have all felt it: the release of a hot new title is like a mini-Christmas morning, full of promise of 20-40 hours of singleplayer bliss, or a riveting multiplayer experience.
Then the reality sets in: the game is nowhere near as good as the hype.
I admit: when I was 10 years younger, I did not care. If the game entertained me for 10 or 15 hours, I would consider the money well spent. As I'm getting older, dropping $40-$50 dollars on a game that can't hold my attention starts to tick me off.
F.E.A.R., First Encounter Assault Recon, is a good example of this.
You got the fear....
Monolith, the developer behind this game, tries hard. You can tell. Every aspect of the game feels polished. From the textures, to the artificial intelligence, it seems like Monolith's team weighed their options, and tried to make the right decision.
For all of the polish, F.E.A.R. falls short.
Oh, Hell No!
You are a member of an elite team sent in to mop up some Black Ops mess the government created, and when you get there, all sorts of weird things start to happen.
There is a strong paranormal element to the game, but it never really bleeds into Silent Hill type horror. Lots of blood, a creepy little girl, and some Japanese horror movie style cutscenes are as bad as it gets.
This guy is still waiting for a A level FPS
F.E.A.R. is pretty much a straight FPS for all the bluster.
It's straight rip of Doom III, and countless other titles.
Like Doom III, the game that F.E.A.R. will most often be compared to, the setting is set with darkened corridors, random noises, things that move without anyone in them, and cut scenes.
Actually, much of what passes for a story is told in the cutscenes. We get to meet the rest of the team, get orders, and meet Paxton Fettel, our nemesis.
Can someone get Mr. Fettel a Kleenex?
I guess it's exposition. It does drive you on through the next set piece.
Note to Monolith: No One Lives Forever (1 & 2) had great writing, and didn't seem like a hack of someone else's work. Stick to your roots in the future, ok?
Once you are back in control of the game, you get to meet the real star of the show, the AI. Your opponents are not varied: there is a batallion of cloned soldiers between you and Paxton, and you have to slog through everyone of them.
Ready for your close up boys?
They are smart, however. They execute real tactics, including cover fire, flanking, etc. They seem to have orders to capture, because they press the combat into hand and hand whenever they can. After slogging through Doom III, it is refreshing to have a game that challenges you. The AI will keep you on your toes.
Another game decision that will keep you on your toes is the lack of health packs. On normal difficulty, there is tons of ammo, both in the form of pistols lying on desks, and from the fallen enemies.
Off topic question: if all these places were so heavily armed, how come they didn't defend themselves in the first place?
Back to the health packs: they are few and far between, which means you tend to think twice before going into a room.
Luckily, the developers gave us two outs: corner leans, and bullet time.
Ok, they do not call it "bullet time", but if you've been within 5 feet of a Max Payne game, you know it for what it is. You can look around a corner, and get a glimpse of what is ahead. If you don't like what you see, you can use the bullet time, and gain an edge on the enemy. There are many times throughout the game where you will rely on these crutches.
The game sure looks good, although at a hardware cost: on my 1.53 ghz AMD/128MB Nvidia 5700LE system, single digit frames per second are normal. To Monolith's credit, the game never feels like it is stuttering, and even at low FPS levels, the controls are still fluid.
Once you are through with this solid single player experience...well, there is an online component to the game I suppose. Uninspired, like the rest of the game, but it's there. It's more than what Doom III had, but I fear that is damning with faint praise.
Overall, F.E.A.R. is a game that makes me wishing there were more too it, and angry that there was not.
The elements of a great gamer are there: great graphics, smart AI, entertaining levels, solid coding. For some reason, these elements just do not assemble to a great game.
Maybe with some better writing, and drawing on their creative past, they will fix that in the inevitable F.E.A.R. 2.
Maybe I won't be as angry by then.
Summary:
Doom III, only better. Slightly.
Score:
B
