Customer Reviews

Fear 2: Project Origin

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This game works quite well. Lots of levels are spent inside hallways of schools, hospitals, office buildings, and other such cramped locations. Sounds fine, but I found myself longing for some open space to play in. When you finally make it outside and you actually breathe a sigh of relief, I'd consider that to be a sign of a pretty good game.

This game is not one to play in a crowded room, or anywhere where there are lights on. Wait till it's dark and crank it up. While not as scary as Dead Space, I certainly had a few jumps during the playthrough of this one. Creepy scenery, eerie circumstances, sweet weapons, cool enemies, and an interesting story make this a blast to play.

At the time of this writing, I've still not played any multiplayer, so I can't comment on that. But the singleplayer is great fun.

All details aside though, this is pretty standard fare for an FPS. First-person perspective shooting. Lots of weapons and lots of enemies. Linear in structure. PSN Trophies that take quite a while if you want to get a platinum in everything.

For such a reasonable price, and even if you haven't played the first F.E.A.R., this is a quality purchase that is worth at _least_ one playthrough.

So FEAR 2 is a sequel. But, you do not need to play the original to enjoy this game.
The story of FEAR 2 is dovetailed into the ending of FEAR 1. The opening level is rocked by a large explosion that marked the conclusion of FEAR 1. This is a nice touch. It ties the second game into the first one without beating you over the head with it.
You play Sgt. Beckett. A generic military soldier type of hero who's back story is largely forgettable. Your squad mates are equally a "cut and paste" kind of group. You are tasked with arresting a CEO of an evil corporation bent on bringing clone troopers to a military near you. The operation goes south when the explosion, I mentioned earlier, interrupts you. Oh, and those clone troopers are lead by psychic commanders that have a tendency to go psycho. This is due to their mother being locked in a dark room when she was a kid and suffered all kinds of physical and mental abuses at the hands of her father who turned her into a supernatural force to be reckoned with. And when the evil company tried to pull the plug on the whole operation, Alma (the aforementioned girl) breaks out to exact her revenge on the world.
This back story is the set up for FEAR 2. The game takes a little bit of time to get going. But, once it does, I found it interesting enough to see it through to the end. I like the "horror" elements the designers worked into the story. Seeing fleeting glimpses of a ghostly Alma walking across your vision can raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Speaking of Alma... The story never explains why Alma is a child in the first game and a woman in the sequel. I mean the sequel happens immediately after the first game, so why is she so much older? Kind of a major hole in the back story. But, I'm not going to lose any sleep over this.
As the story plays out, you encounter ghosts and flesh eating ghouls. The ghosts are not really enemies but the restless souls of the victims of Alma's rage or the explosion at the beginning of the story. The ghouls are rejects of the clone trooper program. Nice touches to the storyline. And to be sure you do not miss this, there are various documents littering the ground to give you little nuggets of information about the story. All of this doesn't save FEAR 2 from all the usual short fallings of the FPS genre.
The single player campaign is woefully short. And the multiplayer half is more of an afterthought. The graphics look a bit dated. I mean FEAR 2 looks like a FPS from around 2001 running on a high end PC. Complete with all the bump mapping and pixelization you would expect from a game from that year. This dated look pulls down the entire presentation. Plus, you are bound to get nauseated from the overly exaggerated bobbing back and forth motion of your character's head when he walks. I wish there was some way of turning this off.
The vehicle sequences are sorely lacking as well. Mostly due to you piloting a mech that is capable of raining down death on the multiple waves of enemies. It is a little pedestrian of a plot device to stretch out the story.
Some of the more specialized weapons of the game give you little reason to use them once you realize how useful your ability to slow down time really is. It is that "bullet time ability" that helps you survive against overwhelming odds. And some of those specialized weapons just are not fun to use in bullet time. Plus, ammo for these weapons is very limited.
In the end, FEAR 2 is a worthwhile rental at best. I enjoyed it as such. I doubt many people would find it worth $60. The story is what carries the game. Not the graphics or the depth of game play. There are so many better FPS titles available on the Playstation 3 (like Killzone 2 or Call of Duty 4) that are worth your time.
I prefer to rate games on a scale of 10. So FEAR 2 earns a 7.5 out of 10 in my book.

I was expecting more from Alma and I got more then I wished for. Awsome title to have in your PS3 library and well worth the wait. I recommend this to anybody who played FEAR at all. Don't worry the PS3 of the first FEAR was a let down but if you played it for the PC then get this one. If not get it as a rental if you question it. Trust me won't be let down.

Well, not exactly, but I would venture to say that "F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin" is very close to "Silent Hill" in a FPS format, minus all of the item collecting. I never played the first one, so I was skeptical going in whether or not I'd be able to follow the story. I am happy to say that you'll have no problem playing this one without having played the first game. There's enough informational items and flashback-like scenes to help fill you in and from what I read, this story takes place parallel to the events in the first one.

After booting it up, I have to say I was pleased with the graphics, sound, and controls. Everything seemed familiar (as is the case with most FPS's), BUT the backgrounds and detail to the creepy atmosphere bumped it up a level or two above an average, typical shooter. The whole plot with the ghostly girl, Alma, is compelling and makes you want to fight forward to find out just what went on in the research facility.

The locations are somewhat varied, some inside and some outside. You are always in a first person perspective, though you do get to man a human controlled robotic suit for certain sections of the game--still in a first person view.

The graphics are not mind-blowing, but they are clearly next-gen, particularly the particle effects and water effects. The attention to detail on the weapons is particularly nice. Each weapon seems to be thought out well and not just added as an after game multiplayer ploy. Likewise, the sound is good and sets the tone for the creepy moments you will encounter.

The enemy AI is pretty good and pretty hard on the default difficulty. Sure there are occasional things they do that scratch your head, but for the most they act pretty intelligent and as a group collective.

I only noticed an occasional slowdown or glitch, which I think everyone is becoming accustomed to, particularly on multi-platform games.

The game is about a solid 10 or so hours and with the exception of the ending level (just play it), the levels are well layed out and have abundant checkpoint saves. Overall, this is a very good FPS that survival horror fans, in particular, might want to check out.

4/5 stars

Pros:
*10+ hrs. of gameplay.
*Nice selection of weapons, attention to the graphical detail of them.
*Compelling story, making you want to keep playing section after section.
*Controls are solid.
*No need to really have played the first game in the series.
*Enemy AI is good.
*Sound is good.
*Has the "survival horror" creep out factor.

Cons:
*Graphics aren't as sharp as they should be, though effects are really good, particularly when Alma makes her appearances.
*Some levels are just too hard with the enemy AI.
*The locations, while diverse, start looking the same.
*The few glitches and slowdown, which just shouldn't occur in a next-gen game.
*The ending level.

I have not written many reviews and do not consider myself as creative as other writers. However, I felt it necessary to take the time to write this to encourage others just how good this game is. This game has variety, different environments and looks and boy...is...it...creepy. I guarentee you will jump. The story line will keep you intrigued (I do not want to offer any spoilers. Would not recommend this game to players under the age of 17 as the language can be extreme and there are a couple scenes where there is brief nudity. The game can be played as a "run and gun" by using the slow motion "juice" but most often you will find it more rewarding to not use the slow motion and to think out your next move. I would urge you to buy this, especially at the price that it can be purchased for.

I loved F.E.A.R when it was initially released. I thought Monolith had established a great name for themselves in the action/horror genre, and had another series named Condemned to prove it. Now as much as I loved FEAR, it had alot of problems. Not enough scares, repetitive environments, and some lackluster set pieces to name a few. Let me just say that while F.E.A.R 2 isn't perfect, it is a cut above the original. If you have the gut for it, slide this badboy in and get ready to Fear Alma a second time.

The story, while parallel to the storyline from the original, is pretty good as a whole. You play as Sgt. Beckett, who is tasked with recovering a scientist held up in her penthouse. It is there that you learn Alma has escaped, and a massive explosion destroys the city. A stark difference from the original is that Project Origin focuses more on Alma, and who she was, where as F.E.A.R was all about Paxton Fettel and who the Operative you played was as well.

The sound design is spectacular. You still get that high pitched whine when one of many scares occur, and bullets never sounded better. Surfaces all have different sounds when you melee them, and the voice acting isnt so bad either.

The controls will work for some, and not for others. Im a little bummed that the Leaning around corners mechanic hasn't returned. That would have been pretty fun with Sixaxis. But the main gripe is that they aren't very responsive some of the time. Jumping isn't as reliable as I would like it to be, and the movement can get wonky.

Something PO does much better, is that it greatly improves the combat and the scares. This installment feels more refined as a shooter, there really is no other way to explain it. The scares are much more abundant this time around. Where as in the original, you would go levels at a time without seeing something disturbing. My only issue with them is that.. they just aren't that scary. I can definitely give credit for originality, Monolith has earned it, but I just didn't jump that much. To be fair, I don't scare easily, so thats only a personal gripe, and doesen't affect the score.

I wont spend much time on the graphics. The textures are great, and the environments don't suffer from "I've been in this room 100 times before, I can just tell" Syndrome. As a whole, they are on par with today's standards.

If you liked the first, get this. It takes practically everything the first did right, and improved upon it. This is one Fear, That I don't want to go away.

I really enjoyed the game a lot different scenarios and buildings to enter which added to the excitement and being able to climb into a robot and use all the fire power it has was just a blast. I do agree it was a short game to play but the graphics and characters were a lot more fun to kill and some are more difficult then others to kill like the robots.

Fear Alma Wade.
Again.
You will in this game.
Great graphics. Good characters and story. Great controls.
Have only played a full days worth so far, but am NOT disappointed!
The sound effects and visuals of Alma and other paranormal activities are really well done and does keep you on the edge of your seat!

good game but to short played on medium and beat it in 6 hrs. good blood and guts but garbage ending i wld just rent it. dont waste 60 bones. but then again i dont do the multi player. and like every other game i guess thats what makes it really fun idk.

This is a great game example of a good horror survival game. There's not too many FPS like this, but this is definitely worth it. Although the loading screens are slow and do get annoying, I still have fun with the game. With mutated doctors at the hospital to possessed corpses at the elementary school, this game is full of suspense. The game isn't scary, but it's sure as hell creepy. The controls in the game are easy to get used to, but lacks weapons. There is only a small number of weapons to use and you don't really get to them till later in the game. Other than that, the game is worth it. Especially for people who enjoy bioshock.