F.E.A.R. review (360) IGN

[turkish a. punkass]

just picked this one up a few days ago. really good action. condemned did feel a bit more polished though. both games look like they use the same engine, but they must have spent a little more time optimizing some things on condemned. the clone troops remind me a lot of the movie equilibrium. it's a shame about the lobby thing... i wonder how they could overlook something like that.

 

[AlNom]

Not quite sure whats so special about these graphics. The environments bring me back to Splinter Cell 1....just plain bland and boring. Unless I'm missing something here, if there are people praising this game for graphics, then nobody should be giving Resistance Fall of Man a hard time. For all I can see, the too have similar styled textures (not too bumpmapped) and similar enemies but Resistance has the upper hand in both.

There are quite a few rooms/levels that felt uninspired with blocky hallways with low ceilings. It felt much more cramped than even Doom 3 IMO. Still, there are two things that attracted me including the particle and sound effects for the guns. The A.I. is very well done in particular, easily one of the game's high points.

It would have been great if they got soft shadows working there. On PC, it's a better experience for me.

 

[jpr27]

I have both versions of FEAR as well and I must say it does look better (Texture Wise) on the PC. Some of the metal textures like ladders and pipes are much cleaner and sharper (higher rez or better filtering) in the PC version. I do give the Xbox 360 version some thumbs up for effects though. Explosions, Slo-Mo and character animations are well done and at least equal the PC in that area. It runs at a consistent framerate and unless major explosions and effects are all happening at once, there is minimal slow down on the Xbox 360. It is kind of strange though. The game actually seems to look better the deeper you go into the game. Im not sure if this is due to tweaking or enhancements for the 360 but check it out for yourselves and tell me what you guys think. (although the metal and wood textures still has inconsistencies).

One other thing I did notice in the Xbox 360 version is I did have some sound clipping issues about half way throught the game (cutting in and out) and character clipping issues. Also although a added feature to the 360 (the dual machine gun pistols) they had a rather light tin sound to them which I wasnt really crazy about. Other then that the sound is truely impressive on a good surround system. (Not to mention turned way up and the lights down low )

Overall I think it was a nice port to the 360 and although the points above are small details, I am really enjoying playing Slo-Mo TDM on Live with friends. The PC multiplayer didnt catch on as well as I would have liked (even given out free) and I hope people will get online and give the multiplayer a chance. With the right group of friends MP is great and fun experience. Now if they can just fix the post game lobby so you can replay with the same peeps without having to make another game. :/

 

[pipo]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=69931

9/10

As far as shooters go on the 360, deciding whether to buy F.E.A.R. is a simple decision to make. Stood next to its direct competitors like Call of Duty 2 and 3, Quake IV, Perfect Dark Zero and Far Cry Instincts it's leagues ahead, and there's simply no better on the 360 right now. F.E.A.R. is the 360's first shooter to score a nine on Eurogamer for the simple reason that it's such a consistently exciting game that gets the core of the experience so absolutely spot-on that most of the niggles are swiftly swept aside. Slow-mo gunplay and cunning AI don't sound like next generation ideas, but somehow Monolith combines the two so expertly that it feels more alive and more exciting than could ever seem possible. With a more exciting and varied set of environments and a more polished narrative it'd be an effortless 10 - but for now a celebratory and 9 seems entirely justified for what is easily one of the most richly entertaining action games released this year - or any other year for that matter.

 

[scooby_dooby]

So F.E.A.R > GOW in eurogamers eye's? A year old port with mediocre GFX?



Any credibility I had given them with regards to that review just went out the window. If GOW is an 8, which I can respect, then F.E.A.R is a 7 at best...give me a break, GOW is bristling with innovation compared to FEAR, and wasn't that their main knock against it?

 

[MasterDisaster]

the developer says that they added HDR.

there's nothing to say anymore. comma.

 

[Ben-Nice]

Any credibility I had given them with regards to that review just went out the window. If GOW is an 8, which I can respect, then F.E.A.R is a 7 at best...give me a break, GOW is bristling with innovation compared to FEAR, and wasn't that their main knock against it?

They gave Doom III a 9. Now that is

 

[Acert93]

Any credibility I had given them with regards to that review just went out the window. If GOW is an 8, which I can respect, then F.E.A.R is a 7 at best...give me a break, GOW is bristling with innovation compared to FEAR, and wasn't that their main knock against it?

Every year it seems the big sites pick a title to make a statement with, especially ones with hype. 1UP pulled their Neverquest review as they (shockingly) had a reviewer who disliked and rarely played the genre. HL2's Gamespot review in 2004 was rife with complaints and criticisms, yet they gave it a high score (yet lower or equal to 3 other previous 2004 FPS titles), and yet somehow when "GotY" came around HL2 creamed those 3 games (would not later released game getting a lower score not even be in the running?) All kinds of excuses and reasons (i.e. reviews are individual... for huge corporate sites; scores do not reflect text; rating systems suck; etc) but having followed ratings a long time, and having done it myself, I have absolutely no doubt that mags, especially THIS time of year, do get kind of controversial. It drives exposure.

 

[swaaye]

Ya know, IMO, Doom3 may be better than FEAR, minus the AI dept. FEAR is so horror cliche-ridden (I'm sort of a horror film buff), and for some reason at the time I played the game it felt so much like a Doom3 wannabe. I don't like Doom3 a lot per se, but I thought the crazed-gothic-dark-shit-loving folks at id really nailed the look and f-ed up atmosphere there. Some of the guys at id are totally into that kind of atmosphere as can obviously be seen in like all of their games. Doom3 really got me jumpy me when I played it alone in the dark, but FEAR wasn't really as gripping in that way. Probably partly because it came after Doom3, I suppose.

But, FEAR has awesome AI for sure. Too bad the game just gets horribly old. The best parts IMO are the beginning when things are fresh for you, and the end when it gets pretty darned cool. But there's a lot of "scary offices" nonsense to run through in the meantime and that was really quite boring.

It also definitely runs worse than Doom3 engine and doesn't look all that great IMO. It's decent though.

I thought the fighting moves were really cool. Kinda tricky to pull off tho.

I'd definitely give it a rent if you haven't played it before.

 

[Sis]

Ya know, IMO, Doom3 may be better than FEAR, minus the AI dept. FEAR is so horror cliche-ridden (I'm sort of a horror film buff), and for some reason at the time I played the game it felt so much like a Doom3 wannabe. I don't like Doom3 a lot per se, but I thought the crazed-gothic-dark-shit-loving folks at id really nailed the look and f-ed up atmosphere there. Some of the guys at id are totally into that kind of atmosphere as can obviously be seen in like all of their games. Doom3 really got me jumpy me when I played it alone in the dark, but FEAR wasn't really as gripping in that way. Probably partly because it came after Doom3, I suppose.

But, FEAR has awesome AI for sure. Too bad the game just gets horribly old. The best parts IMO are the beginning when things are fresh for you, and the end when it gets pretty darned cool. But there's a lot of "scary offices" nonsense to run through in the meantime and that was really quite boring.

It also definitely runs worse than Doom3 engine and doesn't look all that great IMO. It's decent though.

I thought the fighting moves were really cool. Kinda tricky to pull off tho.

I'd definitely give it a rent if you haven't played it before.

Are you talking about the 360 version?

 

[ninzel]

I just finished playing it and I really liked it. I would easily recommend it over GOW. Just way more fun and atmosphere.

 

[Nesh]

Really? Its that good?? :smile:

 

[Dot50Cal]

It was fairly good when I played it on PC, give it a shot if your an FPS fan. Not so sure the game would work properly on the consoles but there are those people who can Console FPS' good.

 

[Nesh]

It was fairly good when I played it on PC, give it a shot if your an FPS fan. Not so sure the game would work properly on the consoles but there are those people who can Console FPS' good.

I am not that much of a FPS fan, but if a FPS has great gameplay and the appropriate art direction I may go for it and this has the potential. I ve heard great things about FEAR. But I didnt even expect it to be good enough that someone would even like the gameply more than GoW. Not that I ve playied GoW. But I dreadfully want to get my hands on it

 

[DuckThor Evil]

But I didnt even expect it to be good enough that someone would even like the gameply more than GoW. Not that I ve playied GoW. But I dreadfully want to get my hands on it

Well there are over 6 billion people on this rock, so it's clear that opinions will vary. I think they are both very good games, but I like the core gameplay of Gears more, it also feels a bit more polished than Fear.

 

[Dot50Cal]

Well there are over 6 billion people on this rock, so it's clear that opinions will vary. I think they are both very good games, but I like the core gameplay of Gears more, it also feels a bit more polished than Fear.

Agree with that

 

[ninzel]

I ve heard great things about FEAR. But I didnt even expect it to be good enough that someone would even like the gameply more than GoW. Not that I ve playied GoW. But I dreadfully want to get my hands on it

I just bored with GOW after the first few hours and FEAR kept my attention to the very end.
I found the AI in FEAR much better. There were a few very cool moments where I would be upstairs or taking one route and the AI would creep up on me from behind from a different route.Which leads into my next thing which is level design. FEAR IMO had less linear level design which kept things more interesting and allowed for varied approaches.
I prefer the look of dynamicaly lit worlds for these creepy types of games and in that way FEAR again delivered better.
The bigesst thing for me in FEAR was the bullet time. When I first saw it it looked gimmicky but it ended up adding a certain level of depth and strategy to the gameplay. Plus it looked cool to boot.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[fulcizombie]

Man ,you are trying way too hard.The level design in F.E.A.R is horrible,it is the one huge disadvantage of this,otherwise,very good game.Non-linear my ass.An endless wave of corridors ALL LOOKING EXACTLY THE SAME.GoW,despite being also limited,manages to have bigger battlegrounds than FEAR and having WAY MORE(not even comparable) variety in its levels.With FEAR you spend something like 6-7 hours playing on the same design before the background changes.The fact that this industrial design is pretty boring looking doesn't help things.

Other than That FEAR is a very good game.The A.I of the enemies is indeed outstanding,only the Halo games come close.the firefights are amasing if yu are not bored with the slow motion effect.The core gameplay mechanic of FEAR is the slow motion effect just like cover is the core of GoW's gameplay.

One strange thing.The first,almost never ending,setting of FEAR looks quite bad when it comes to texturing and you have to spend several hours on it.When it's finally over and you enter some "ruined house" level the texturing becomes way better and reaches Condemnend's levels.

To conclude FEAR is a very good fps,but play it BEFORE COD3 or gears cause it looks way too old after these 2 games.