Why no FEAR2 love?

I

inotocracy

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
5,625
Decided to finally pick it up over the weekend and I'm pretty pleased with my purchase. Since it was released I was a bit worried to get it because I noticed so many threads bashing it, citing it wasn't very pretty, no lean and some other problems. I've been playing it a lot since I got it and it gets pretty good after you get a little bit into it (around when you finally get bullet time or when the crazy wall walkers show up). So, why don't people like this game again? :p
 
I don't know, I enjoyed it although it wasn't as nearly as scary as FEAR.
 
I've only got the love for the cover art... That body is something I would hit...
 
I enjoyed it but definitely didn't hit the same mark that FEAR 1 did. Overall I would give it a B but I was expect an A effort. What held it back for me was...

1. Too easy even on hard.

2. Bullet time has no real game play use except for the very final boss fight. Outside of that it just a trick to help weak players.

3. They really needed to develop some level design and scenarios where the bullet time was really necessary and still challenging. Or give you another psychic power. For instance it would have been much interesting for you to have been telekinetic. There could have been interesting use of physics for that in battle and it wouldn't have felt like a repeat a clone of the original character.

4. The original game had a real feeling of kinetic destruction during the fights. I would have liked to have seen a lot more physics and destructive environments. We got a little taste during the mech scenes but that was about it.

5. The AI was the main thing people talked about from the first game. Someone gave it a lobotomy because the AI was no better than your average shooter. I would have liked to have seen less but much smarter enemies.

The ending was actually one of the best parts of the game. Also it was a relief to final be able to jump over railings and turn over tables as the clone soldiers were able to do from day one.
 
I thought it was OK, it just did not quite live up to the original. They changed the game play around some by removing lean and adding the console style cover system, and it was just not as much to my liking as the original. It just felt like they were dumbing it down a little too much.
 
GORANKAR said:
I thought it was OK, it just did not quite live up to the original. They changed the game play around some by removing lean and adding the console style cover system, and it was just not as much to my liking as the original. It just felt like they were dumbing it down a little too much.
Click to expand...

what cover system? I finished the game saturday and don't know of any cover system. :confused: Just kicking tables over.
 
how does table flipping make it 'console style'.
I swear some of you just point out something and use it as a scapegoat.
 
ihira said:
how does table flipping make it 'console style'.
I swear some of you just point out something and use it as a scapegoat.
Click to expand...

Well, I believe the issue is it lacks leaning. I never use table flipping, in fact I always forget about it so I just sit behind a wall.
 
inotocracy said:
Well, I believe the issue is it lacks leaning. I never use table flipping, in fact I always forget about it so I just sit behind a wall.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure table flipping was in the first one, but I too never used it and always just stood behind walls.
 
No table flipping was NOT in the first FEAR.

SP for FEAR2 is not bad, but they completely butchered the MP for PC. To be honest, I don't think they even tested it for the PC. There were so many issues that could've been seen by just playing 5 minutes. I was a senior community member for the game and helped Monolith in their viral marketing, and other stuff. I was extremely disappointed by what they did and how they kept the MP a secret because they knew that it would suck. I always hoped for the best and was crushing to see the final product. I mean who releases a game without AC or dedicated server files????

My clan waited for this game for 2 years. FEAR1 put together our clan and now we are left scratching our heads....Everything about the game is pretty much wrong.

/end rant.
 
I like the game and I continue to find multiplayer to be strangely addictive. It's become my current "go to" when I want some fairly quick, "pick up and play" FPS online action for 15 minutes or something like that.

There are some issues with MP like people getting shot through solid objects and some other things I can nitpick, but overall, it's fun and it has a lot of potential. F.E.A.R. in the post above mine is exactly right about this.

Furthermore, the lame lack of balance on some of the weapons and the overly strong and lame melee from part one don't help things, either. Something is amiss when you can pump a guy with several rounds but if he grazes you with a damned kick you're dead on the spot. I hated that in the first game and I despise it in this game.

There's also the inevitable growth of cheaters which, combined with the above, is ultimately why I gave up playing MP for the first FEAR and probably will be giving this up pretty soon as well.


To that end, something I've been mentioning for the last few weeks is well on its way to happening: The game is dying. What I mean by that is that gamers are moving on and away from this game in noticeable numbers. The number of players and servers online at any given time has dropped off dramatically in the last several weeks. I think if they don't at least announce some concrete plans for the next updates, and one of them needs to be dedicated servers...this thing will be done for pretty soon.
 
Good thread, i was wondering the exact same thing. I saw next to no hype leading up to the release, and pretty much nothing since. I didn't play this one or the first, but just thought it was odd after how much praise the first got to see so little for this one.
 
pigpen said:
Good thread, i was wondering the exact same thing. I saw next to no hype leading up to the release, and pretty much nothing since. I didn't play this one or the first, but just thought it was odd after how much praise the first got to see so little for this one.
Click to expand...


Some folks remember the first FEAR through rosy colored glasses so that set them up for some extra, needless disappointment as far as this game goes. Single player? I think the game is pretty close to the first game. In some ways better, some ways maybe not.

Lord knows this thing is way better than Extraction Point and certainly Perseus Mandate. I think you'll a new wave of folks come in and buy this thing once the inevitable price drops start happening. I could have spent $50 a lot worse than I did buying this on opening day but to that end...yeah, I probably could have done just fine waiting for $25 or so.
 
I love it! There's nothing fancy about, its simply a technical update to the original. I'm an easy to please gamer. I buy a lot of games but I really game for diversions sake, just a couple of hours a week max. I like the good old fashioned FPS with good gun play, maybe a few tricks. The bullet time in the original FEAR was the best fresh concept in a game in a long time that fit in with the game well as opposed to something grafted on for the sake of being original.

Love it and didn't mind at all paying $50 for it!
 
heatlesssun said:
I love it! There's nothing fancy about, its simply a technical update to the original. I'm an easy to please gamer. I buy a lot of games but I really game for diversions sake, just a couple of hours a week max. I like the good old fashioned FPS with good gun play, maybe a few tricks. The bullet time in the original FEAR was the best fresh concept in a game in a long time that fit in with the game well as opposed to something grafted on for the sake of being original.

Love it and didn't mind at all paying $50 for it!
Click to expand...

I believe Max Payne 1 did bullet time first (I still remember my jaw dropping), but I agree that FEAR's implementation was indeed pretty. I love bullet time in FEAR2, it looks absolutely gorgeous personally.

Even though some people aren't "satisfied" with FEAR2's looks, I'm quite pleased. It looks great.. why the issues with it? Because its not Crysis? At least this one runs great on loads of hardware and looks good doing it :)
 
I only play SP maybe a couple of times for games and that's it. Then I move to MP. So for me this was a waste of $50. Lesson learned....
 
As I've said in another Fear thread, the consolitis of this game is ridiculous.

Checkpoint saving. No lean. Weapon select is for consoles. Instead of pressing a number or key for types of grenades, you get a picture that you have to scroll around or click with your mouse like you were using a controller. AI is stupid and difficulty is set for consoles that don't intend for you to be able to headshot everybody with precision and speed with a mouse.

The SP game itself is pretty bad. None of the interesting scares of Fear 1. Everything is predicatable and the few sequences with Alma don't have the impact they should as she's an adult now and not a little girl in a red dress. It looks more like a homeless meth addict is clawing at you for spare change. There is less cinematic scares (like corridor turning to blood). At most the scares are a few lights turning off and adult alma popping out a few times. The other ones are just the same swingset scene repeated over and over again.

As far as the tactical game, it's rendered much worse due to consolitis and it's just plain mundane and repetative. You kill so many clone soldiers in this game (with bad AI) that you get numb and bored to tears in the first three levels. It's nothing but a ridiculous shooting gallery in a terribly scripted game that throws in silly "man the turret" sequences and "mech sequences" that really don't belong in a game like this. There's nothing new in this game. It's just just slo-mo, shoot soldiers, wash, rinse, and repeat about 1000 times. Sometimes there are "find the key sequences" which are even worse. You are telling me that I have all this heavy weaponry and explosives I can't just blow through an office wall or a cheap elementary school wall? The story is lame, my team is lame, my character never speaks, it's an overall very disappointing game. It's a generic console focused shooter and just about everything wrong with the FPS genre today.

What's laughable is I think the devs know this and that's why the demo was actually a fake compilation of the best stuff from the game cobbled together into a sequence that had a lot more scares and horror and suspense in it than ever appeared in the game in any real solidified form. The demo was about 7/10 horror and 3/10 console shooter. The real game is like 1/10 horror and 9/10 terrible FPS.
 
Spare-Flair said:
As I've said in another Fear thread, the consolitis of this game is ridiculous.

Checkpoint saving. No lean. Weapon select is for consoles. Instead of pressing a number or key for types of grenades, you get a picture that you have to scroll around or click with your mouse like you were using a controller. AI is stupid and difficulty is set for consoles that don't intend for you to be able to headshot everybody with precision and speed with a mouse.
Click to expand...

Do a lot of people really use weapon menus? I always just hit a number key to swap weapons, or a key to toggle through grenade types.

I'll admit the game on hard does leave something to be desired. :rolleyes:
 
ihira said:
how does table flipping make it 'console style'.
I swear some of you just point out something and use it as a scapegoat.
Click to expand...

To me flipping over a flimsy wooden table to hide behind is a console style cover system. I was not using consoles as a scapegoat to call it a shitty title, in fact I thought the game was OK. Only that they altered the game play mechanics, and dumbed it down in a way that I found inferior to the original. While I am sure the consoles are partly the reason for it, my post lacked any venom or tears over it, and was merely my opinion on the game.
 
Really - whats with the lack of leaning...Far Cry 1 was perfect in that regard ... you LEANED around a corner. Why has every recent game since screwed up and not included leaning?
 
Hey JayteeBates!

System Shock 2 has leaning :) Not to mention it is far more scary than F.E.A.R. Maybe some of you fans should check it out. :D
After having played SS2, maybe that's why I found F.E.A.R. (1) to be so lackluster in terms of scare factor.
 
FrozenLiquidity said:
Hey JayteeBates!

System Shock 2 has leaning :) Not to mention it is far more scary than F.E.A.R. Maybe some of you fans should check it out. :D
After having played SS2, maybe that's why I found F.E.A.R. (1) to be so lackluster in terms of scare factor.
Click to expand...

I never figured out why the original FEAR was scary to people, it didn't make me jump. Not once. But so far in FEAR 2 I've jumped twice when those wall walkers popped out of no where. Kind of just caught me off guard :)
 
Becouse it lives in Half-Life 1 times. Basically if you gave HL1 hd textures it would play almost same - tons of scrypts everywhere, only scrypted enviroment destruction etc.
Add to it easy difficult and forcing people to use steam and you have bargain bin game.
 
Spare-Flair said:
As I've said in another Fear thread, the consolitis of this game is ridiculous.

Checkpoint saving. No lean. Weapon select is for consoles. Instead of pressing a number or key for types of grenades, you get a picture that you have to scroll around or click with your mouse like you were using a controller. AI is stupid and difficulty is set for consoles that don't intend for you to be able to headshot everybody with precision and speed with a mouse.

The SP game itself is pretty bad. None of the interesting scares of Fear 1. Everything is predicatable and the few sequences with Alma don't have the impact they should as she's an adult now and not a little girl in a red dress. It looks more like a homeless meth addict is clawing at you for spare change. There is less cinematic scares (like corridor turning to blood). At most the scares are a few lights turning off and adult alma popping out a few times. The other ones are just the same swingset scene repeated over and over again.

As far as the tactical game, it's rendered much worse due to consolitis and it's just plain mundane and repetative. You kill so many clone soldiers in this game (with bad AI) that you get numb and bored to tears in the first three levels. It's nothing but a ridiculous shooting gallery in a terribly scripted game that throws in silly "man the turret" sequences and "mech sequences" that really don't belong in a game like this. There's nothing new in this game. It's just just slo-mo, shoot soldiers, wash, rinse, and repeat about 1000 times. Sometimes there are "find the key sequences" which are even worse. You are telling me that I have all this heavy weaponry and explosives I can't just blow through an office wall or a cheap elementary school wall? The story is lame, my team is lame, my character never speaks, it's an overall very disappointing game. It's a generic console focused shooter and just about everything wrong with the FPS genre today.

What's laughable is I think the devs know this and that's why the demo was actually a fake compilation of the best stuff from the game cobbled together into a sequence that had a lot more scares and horror and suspense in it than ever appeared in the game in any real solidified form. The demo was about 7/10 horror and 3/10 console shooter. The real game is like 1/10 horror and 9/10 terrible FPS.
Click to expand...


what he said
 
I'll pick this up used or once it dips below $20 (assuming I get through my ridiculous backlog as it is). I LOVED the first FEAR though I'm admittedly only halfway through Extraction Point. That said, even before release and after trying the fun demo I didn't intend to pick it up right away. I had/have no interest in the multiplayer and I don't pay full price for single-player games ever.
 
{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB} said:
I'll pick this up used or once it dips below $20 (assuming I get through my ridiculous backlog as it is). I LOVED the first FEAR though I'm admittedly only halfway through Extraction Point. That said, even before release and after trying the fun demo I didn't intend to pick it up right away. I had/have no interest in the multiplayer and I don't pay full price for single-player games ever.
Click to expand...

You can't get used pc version for it. it uses steam.
 
Simple answer really, it is because FEAR2 is mediocre by today's standard. Compare to FEAR, which was pretty much revolutionary when it first released, FEAR2 didn't have that charm or innovation. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game. But, it's not something that I'll remember two years from now. FEAR1 scared the shit out of me when it first released, so I'll always have a sweet spot in my heart for it :).
 
I want to have your baby Alma.:D
FEAR22009-03-0105-03-44-27.jpg
 
I liked it/finished it. It just wasn't up-to-par with the original though IMO. Don't get me wrong, it was fun but nothing really new/ground-breaking. Seemed like a so-so shooter to me without anything really memorable. I'll probably play through it again soon to give it another shot to impress me. ;)
 
inotocracy said:
Explain how FEAR 1 was revolutionary?
Click to expand...

Combining amazing creep factor with kickass gun play? That, and a creepy little girl that was able to scare you worst than any mobs from Doom3. I don't know, for me there wasn't any game like it when it first released.

Btw, the I just realize what FEAR 2 lacked: subtle horror. In FEAR2, it was too much in your face gore, and that does not really scare me. Piles of mutilated corpse just isn't scary.
Why wasn't there any scene like this in FEAR2:
 
Why no love? Simply because it was boring. Fear 2 just didn't make any impression on me. I really tried to get into it and had a good playthrough but it just didn't stand out. Fear 2 didn't scare me for the same reason Doom 3 didn't scare me. In the latter, hell had opened and from it poured an unending horde of terrible, violent creatures. So, when I was confronted with a dark room or an uncertain corner, it really wasn't surprising when one of them appeared. IIn Fear, from a psychological standpoint, the environments played to contradict the situation. When wandering through a sterile, clean office I don't expect to encounter an ambush. Sure, after several levels it becomes commonplace but the novelty, for me at least, endured through the first playthrough. Fear 2, like Doom 3, had no surprise. When wandering around a city ravaged by a nuclear or very similar large yield explosion, I expect danger. Oh well, maybe I'm just not easily scared. As I said, solid gameplay, fun playthrough, but nothing special and a bit disappointing knowing what Monolith is capable of.
 
inotocracy said:
I never figured out why the original FEAR was scary to people, it didn't make me jump. Not once. But so far in FEAR 2 I've jumped twice when those wall walkers popped out of no where. Kind of just caught me off guard :)
Click to expand...

It depends on what kind of horror you like, i guess

For me, DOOM 3 made me jump a lot, but only because of the monster jumping out of closet, which is not really what I was looking for

FEAR and Silent Hill series hardly make me jump, but I really love the horror element that doesn't involve sudden monster jumping on your face. Its the creepy atmosphere or creepy "sightings" of Alma and stuff like that. Of course its nice having those sudden surprise here and there, but I prefer those horror element that doesn't involve sudden surprise

Silent Hill games is still my favorite horror game :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top