FEAR; go buy this game NOW, easily best game of year

JetSonic · Post by **JetSonic** » 20 Oct 2005, 05:11

Wholly mother of something, this game is kick ass!!!!!!!!! WOW. Now, I can add this game to the list of games I have played that left lasting impressions on me, like playing Half-Life for first time, GoldenEye on nintendo, Doom on playstation, FarCry and Call of Duty and Doom 3.

Someone mark October 18, 2005 on thier calendar because a new era of First Person Shooter for the computer has finally arrived.

FEAR is what FarCry, Doom 3, Half-Life 2 and Soldier of Fortune should have been!!! Damn, this is a good game. What is it that makes this game so special? ahem, yes indeed.....

1. Enemy AI. OMG, I got in a firefight with four soldiers, and before I knew what happened two of em snuck around behind me and there I was in the MIDDLE with two in front of me and two behind me!!!!!!!!! Wholly shit. They flank your ass all the time! We all remember the enemy voice chatter on the radio from the original Half-Life, "recon" well it's in this game big time. Words cannot describe the combat in this game, the enemy talks smack to you too, its simply the best ever seen by this poster.

2. Graphics, well its got the Half-Life 2 graphics and then some. Lighting and Shadows and particle effects are extraordinary. Try this on for size.... Blood dripping off a ledge in individual droplets and dropping 8 feet below spattering into a puddle of blood, omg. I stood under the blood droplets and if the blood had dripped onto my rifle and fell off that, I would have pissed my pants, but no such luck, hahaha. They are not THAT good yet.

3. Atmosphere, ambience, Sound. This game should win an Oscar for these three things. THIS is what I believe is so critical and what draws you into the game and has been missing from all previous first person shooters. FEAR finally delivers. This game sends chills running up and down your spine. Don't play this game alone in the dark with the sound turned up, its just too scary.

To sum up I would describe this game as a combination of System Shock and Half-Life 2 and CounterStrike. You got the visuals, combat, storyline, horror, enemy AI, a Mature rating hell throw in the girls from DOA Beach Volleyball and you would have the best PC game of all time!

FEAR is a pc game you hope never ends.

This game is really really good.

Post by **Gilly** » 20 Oct 2005, 09:20

might give it a whirl now my x-fi fatality is here :P

Post by **skipclarke** » 20 Oct 2005, 21:03

Sounds interesting. Glad you're enjoying the game. :)

I played the demo, and thought that they did a wonderful job creating an atmosphere of suspense and tension. When it came around to the firefights though, things seemed to get somewhat monotonous. It felt like standard first person faire with bullet time.

Post by **skipclarke** » 20 Oct 2005, 21:45

The scary stuff for the most part is just.. not that scary. I did jump out of my seat once, when a body flew through a window, but that's about it. And the ending was pretty funny. I enjoyed it anyway though, it's unique at least among the current crop of shooters.

But the gameplay is what keeps me coming back, this game has the best shootouts of any FPS. The weapons all feel good to fire, there's plenty of gore to make you feel like you accomplished something :) and all the debris and dust that flies everywhere.. things can get insane. Though I did find the game too easy, even on Extreme difficulty. I just started the game again (this is my 3rd time through the game) and decided that I will not use slomo at all. So far it's adding a little more challenge, I imagine it will be really hard on some of the later areas.

I guess I'm rambling a bit.. all I need to say is, this game has great shooting action. If you're looking for some variety, like a level where you can drive a vehicle or something, you're not going to find it. But if you want some pure, awesome FPS gameplay, this game has got it.

Personally I prefer that. Half-Life 2 for example was a great game, but they were always trying to mix things up on me (way too much time spent driving go-kart and hovercraft) when all I wanted to do was shoot zombies and combine soldiers.

Post by **Gilly** » 20 Oct 2005, 23:37

there was too much to the hovercraft and driving bits in HL2, nova prospect was so awesome, must give it a whirl again ;)

Post by **skipclarke** » 21 Oct 2005, 10:14

there was too much to the hovercraft and driving bits in HL2, nova prospect was so awesome, must give it a whirl again ;)

Slightly off topic, but that reminds me. You got me interested in trying out HL 2 again, but the darn game still "stutters" on me every now and again, even on my new system. Crzy! :shock:

JetSonic · Post by **JetSonic** » 21 Oct 2005, 14:21

Yes, this game has the best combat and shootouts ever put to PC. This game is not a fragfest like Serious Sam or Quake but if you want serious enemy artificial intelligence, it can't be beat.

The realism comes into play when you have a shootout and debris like dust and paper is flying everywhere from the bullets, and you hear the empty cartridges rattle when they hit the ground.

I think the developers of this game put top priority on making it feel like Counter-Strike. This game is for people who love Counter-Strike with added horror element.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 21 Oct 2005, 15:18

Eh, well, I'm not that keen on Counter Strike, but I'm impressed by FEAR. It even runs reasonably well, although I did spend a while playing with the settings to find the best ones. The only problem was that the 'test' ran fine on 1680x1050, but in the game itself, it was very sluggish. Nice and playable on 1280x800, though. :D

You're right about the AI. Wow! :shock:

XenoS · Post by **XenoS** » 21 Oct 2005, 17:24

Loved the demo, but seemed a tad scripted to me. But I do love the AI, and maybe it's because they tend to chose the same actions more often than not. My wife picked up the full game yesterday, but I refuse to install it until my Logitech G15 shows up in the mail. I so want to play FEAR with the sound up and the lights off. ;)

sjchmura · Post by **sjchmura** » 21 Oct 2005, 19:47

So is widescreen supported out of the box (ie custom resolutions etc from NVIDIA drivers)??

HL-2 is the best at this - if you HDTV can show it - it just shows up as an option

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 21 Oct 2005, 21:00

No, it's not 'native' in that it is menu selectable. However, when I installed the game, it stuck a shortcut to the 'User' folder in the Start menu that contains a .cfg file that is easy to edit. Very small, so no searching; just change the width and height values, and you're away. :)

Contra34 · Post by **Contra34** » 22 Oct 2005, 01:39

i also find this game very fun

Contra34 · Post by **Contra34** » 24 Oct 2005, 05:22

DARN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this game is starting to frighten me lol

Enygma · Post by **Enygma** » 25 Oct 2005, 05:26

The game is fun to be sure, however I am not being sucked in like I was hoping.

It has had a couple of moments of keeping me on my toes, but other than that, no real fright/horror etc...

The graphics are very nice, but I must be missing something as I don't feel they are any great leap past HL2, or even FarCry (which is old now) Sure, the "effects" are better in this game. All the particle effects are very kewl, the water is very nice, the lighting... Just the other parts, such as walls, desks, when on top of the building looking out... just seem ok to me.

The enemy AI is good.
The multiplayer part is not.
The areas you go through at times seem to be more of the same, that you have been through before.
Particle effects are great.
System hog to be sure.

So all in all, a good game, but not as great as I was hoping. Who knows though, I may change my mind in time on it. :)

Contra34 · Post by **Contra34** » 25 Oct 2005, 19:20

well i gotta say it isnt as cool a far cry but it is about as goos as HL2 (to me)

and as far as system hog

yes but the 2 gig of ram i have helps alot

kashik · Post by **kashik** » 25 Oct 2005, 21:01

The extra ram doesn't really do anything with FEAR. It'll be a few percents better than a system with 1Gig, unfortunately. :?

Zak · Post by **Zak** » 26 Oct 2005, 00:28

Hey all,

I think FEAR is a different game than FC and HL2, so I wouldn't compare them directly as whole games. It is totally kick ass, I agree too. But I still like HL2 and FC. Yeah, the gunfights are amazing in FEAR. The spooky factor wears off a littlle bit later but I did get goose bumps a few times. Very, very well done in terms of action, gameplay, AI, story, voiceacting. No cheap tricks like in Dumb 3, err.. I mean Doom 3 when you walk into a dark room, pick up ammo and monsters jump out of hidden closets behind you. About only thing I didn't like was the stupid flashlight that runs for like a minute and then needs recharging. Come one, this is not realistic and only annoys people. So I carry hight tech weapons and gadgets and a stupid low tech flash light??? I liked flash light in Riddick, felt 'normal'. But yeah, this game is definitely a mark of new era in FPS.

Cheers!

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 26 Oct 2005, 18:50

I agree - the flashlight was the one vague disappointment, really.

Battery powered ones last days now - especially if you use one of the ones which use multiple ultra bright LEDs, rather than a traditional Halogen bulb. And even if you've got a torch that is powered by 'pumping it up' (as one of my friends put it once) then it'll last for a good twenty minutes or so...

Plus there was no 'push' forward in the dark sections. If you stood still, you could let it charge up again, then continue on... ;)

Zak · Post by **Zak** » 27 Oct 2005, 01:02

Yup, it wasn't really an issue in the game, and it recharges quickly.

Contra34 · Post by **Contra34** » 28 Oct 2005, 00:48

well finished this game in 4 days so either i played alot
or it was short
either way it was well worth the money and i liked it alot

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