F.E.A.R. stands for First Encounter Assault Recon, and while I could care less about the acronym, I figured I ought to go ahead and explain it now so I wouldn't have to later. Moving on.
First thing, F.E.A.R. plays extremely well... this coming from a gamer that plays mostly fighter games, is a big deal. Right from the level start very little controller tweaking is needed feel comfortable playing the game. The visuals in the game are gorgeous. A lot of attention was paid to detail you find as you run through the levels: dripping liquids from ceilings and pipes, and great use of light and shadow that is equally balanced by nearly perfect audio. Background music swells in places heightening the player's awareness, which is then startled even more by some gameplay element that seems to appear out of nowhere. The game also uses time manipulation to slow down your movement and focus the player on some increasing spooky or "weird you the hell out" stuff. [Which they succeed at, by the way]
There is nothing special about the game control setup. Like most FPS games you use one analog stick for aiming, one for movement, a button for weapon switching, a button for reloading or action, a button for jumping, and the d-pad for incidental items. [Flashlight, medpacks, etc] Yes, all in all, F.E.A.R. would be just another good-looking, solid, FPS if it weren't for the storyline and environment development. Where F.E.A.R. differs from most FPS games is that the story isn't just a run of the mill "kill the alien invaders" type deal. As the game starts, a base is taken over by some military unit that takes a bunch of hostages but make no demands. The F.E.A.R. Unit is sent in to take control of the situation, but some unknown force or entity takes out nearly every member of the team. The player is left alone to save the hostages from the intruding military unit, and find out who or what is behind the mysterious stuff that has started happening on the base.
From the start, the game unfolds more like a love child from a Resident Evil, The Shinning, and The Grudge. [You might even want to throw in Eternal Darkness as, like, maybe a fluffer] I mean the game is designed to psych you out and then scare you out of your drawers not by just bombarding you with gory images, but with creating environments that draw you in and then confine you. The use of space, dimly lit areas with a finite light source, music that seems to build to a crest as something is about to happen, all lead the player to a worked up state that lends itself well to the quick introduction of a "what the fuck was that" element. F.E.A.R. does this over and over and over in the game. As you progress on in the game your character starts experiencing paranormal things... you start seeing people in an area that when you get there, aren't there. You hear children laughing in a place that is just littered with dead bodies... a place that no children belong at all. I don't even want to mention the voices you hear from time to time. F.E.A.R. wants to un-nerve you, and it will.
That's what I really enjoy about this game. I don't like games that are just gory for the sake of being gory. Not because they are fodder for the likes of Jack Thompson, but because they just aren't entertaining. F.E.A.R. is made more scary to me, even terrifyingly so at times, for me because the game directly tries to mess with my head. That excites me. Get me where I live and I'll be loyal to your franchise until the day I die. The plot is revealed through accessing data via intercepted voicemail message, laptop access, listening to radio newscasts, and pc character encounters throughout the game. And while I never played the PC version of the game, I'm almost certain that all these elements combined will still leave some gaps in the story that my imagination gets to fill in. That's even more exciting to me about this game. I love games that just give me enough... enough of the story that I can let my fertile and active little imagination run around free and create it's own story scenarios. That keeps me engaged in the game and ultimately makes me go back for more. Maybe there was a bit of info that I missed, or a clue I somehow didn't see. Maybe it was a puzzle I didn't know I had to solve, the answer that I needed might have been right there and I just missed it. I have to go back and find out... I need to know for sure. Any game that makes me feel that way is a game that I will probably pre-order.
So even though I totally suck at FPS games, I am probably going buy F.E.A.R. when it comes out on 16 NOV 06. The game will be available on both the XB360 and PS3 platforms, but if you have an XB360 with a hard drive you can get the demo from the marketplace right now.
Tell them NinJaSistah sent you.
First thing, F.E.A.R. plays extremely well... this coming from a gamer that plays mostly fighter games, is a big deal. Right from the level start very little controller tweaking is needed feel comfortable playing the game. The visuals in the game are gorgeous. A lot of attention was paid to detail you find as you run through the levels: dripping liquids from ceilings and pipes, and great use of light and shadow that is equally balanced by nearly perfect audio. Background music swells in places heightening the player's awareness, which is then startled even more by some gameplay element that seems to appear out of nowhere. The game also uses time manipulation to slow down your movement and focus the player on some increasing spooky or "weird you the hell out" stuff. [Which they succeed at, by the way]
There is nothing special about the game control setup. Like most FPS games you use one analog stick for aiming, one for movement, a button for weapon switching, a button for reloading or action, a button for jumping, and the d-pad for incidental items. [Flashlight, medpacks, etc] Yes, all in all, F.E.A.R. would be just another good-looking, solid, FPS if it weren't for the storyline and environment development. Where F.E.A.R. differs from most FPS games is that the story isn't just a run of the mill "kill the alien invaders" type deal. As the game starts, a base is taken over by some military unit that takes a bunch of hostages but make no demands. The F.E.A.R. Unit is sent in to take control of the situation, but some unknown force or entity takes out nearly every member of the team. The player is left alone to save the hostages from the intruding military unit, and find out who or what is behind the mysterious stuff that has started happening on the base.From the start, the game unfolds more like a love child from a Resident Evil, The Shinning, and The Grudge. [You might even want to throw in Eternal Darkness as, like, maybe a fluffer] I mean the game is designed to psych you out and then scare you out of your drawers not by just bombarding you with gory images, but with creating environments that draw you in and then confine you. The use of space, dimly lit areas with a finite light source, music that seems to build to a crest as something is about to happen, all lead the player to a worked up state that lends itself well to the quick introduction of a "what the fuck was that" element. F.E.A.R. does this over and over and over in the game. As you progress on in the game your character starts experiencing paranormal things... you start seeing people in an area that when you get there, aren't there. You hear children laughing in a place that is just littered with dead bodies... a place that no children belong at all. I don't even want to mention the voices you hear from time to time. F.E.A.R. wants to un-nerve you, and it will.
That's what I really enjoy about this game. I don't like games that are just gory for the sake of being gory. Not because they are fodder for the likes of Jack Thompson, but because they just aren't entertaining. F.E.A.R. is made more scary to me, even terrifyingly so at times, for me because the game directly tries to mess with my head. That excites me. Get me where I live and I'll be loyal to your franchise until the day I die. The plot is revealed through accessing data via intercepted voicemail message, laptop access, listening to radio newscasts, and pc character encounters throughout the game. And while I never played the PC version of the game, I'm almost certain that all these elements combined will still leave some gaps in the story that my imagination gets to fill in. That's even more exciting to me about this game. I love games that just give me enough... enough of the story that I can let my fertile and active little imagination run around free and create it's own story scenarios. That keeps me engaged in the game and ultimately makes me go back for more. Maybe there was a bit of info that I missed, or a clue I somehow didn't see. Maybe it was a puzzle I didn't know I had to solve, the answer that I needed might have been right there and I just missed it. I have to go back and find out... I need to know for sure. Any game that makes me feel that way is a game that I will probably pre-order.
So even though I totally suck at FPS games, I am probably going buy F.E.A.R. when it comes out on 16 NOV 06. The game will be available on both the XB360 and PS3 platforms, but if you have an XB360 with a hard drive you can get the demo from the marketplace right now.
Tell them NinJaSistah sent you.
Labels: Games, Jack-Thompson, Ninjasistah, PlayStation, PS3, Scary
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