F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin reviews

A very nicely executed and gripping game. Ended up loosing track of time on several occasions while playing. Perhaps a bit short for my tastes but the amount of detail and the action makes up for that. My one quarm is that you MUST use STEAM or you cannot play the game. Im not a fan at all of being forced to install extra software to play somthing i paid good money for. Im a firm beleiver in the ‘Opt in’ system regardless of how STEAM performs. Afterall i didnt buy an account on steam, i bought FEAR2.

Alma's back. Given that she's essentially dead and all, this isn't good news. Describing her as “slightly peeved” about being used as an incubation chamber for morally bankrupt corporate Frankensteins and then left to rot, would be the very definition of understatement. One character in Project Origin describes her as “the Mother of the Apocalypse” – and he's not far wrong. Alma is a very, very angry little girl. Which is great, because her rage-fuelled paranormal killing sprees are a large part of what makes the F.E.A.R franchise so much fun.

The game begins mere moments before its predecessor's en­ding and places you firmly in the sweaty combat boots of one Michael Becket (“Bucket” to close friends and snarky colleagues), Delta Force soldier and all-round gun-toting bad-ass. Becket and his team have been tasked with taking into “protective custody” one Genevieve Aristide. If that name doesn't ring any bells either you've never played the first game, or you're developing presenile dementia.

Aristide was the manipulative corporate schemer who was directly responsible for unleashing Alma upon an unsuspecting populace through a mixture of greed, unchecked ambition and a callous disregard for both the truth and the lives of innocent civilians. Regrettably for Aristide, she's about to reap the whirlwind. Armacham Technology Corporation's Board of Directors, her employers, are calling her to account for her actions. To this end they've dispatched Colonel Richard Vanek and his battalion of heavily armed thugs to dispose of both Aristide and any evidence linking the ATC to Alma and Project Origin. Your job is to stop them, secure Aristide and find out how to stop Alma. Piece of cake.

All the features that made the first game such a visceral experience remain largely unchanged. Enemy AI is as cunning as ever, seeking cover, attempting to outflank you and throwing an assortment of grenades in your general direction. Weapons are varied, robust and genuinely useful, barring perhaps the rickety pistol which is only really handy when you've exhausted all other options. “Slow-mo” makes a welcome return and unlike in the previous game, where it was an entertaining but superfluous novelty, proves essential during a couple of the more frenetic firefights. (A battle aboard a moving subterranean tram near the end of the game springs to mind. Slow-mo, proximity mines and the automatic shotgun will become your new best friends.)

As one might expect for a game released in 2009, Monolith have made notable improvements. Graphics are gorgeous, particularly the desolated ruins of Auburn. Music, voicework and sound effects are all appropriately ghoulish and contribute heavily to the game's unsettling ambience. But best of all, F.E.A.R veterans will be pleased to learn that level design is no longer limited to a dreary selection of office interiors interspersed with the occasional rat-infested sewer. In a similar vein, enemies are now obviously different, fulfilling different roles within Replica/ATC units. A heavy weapons soldier is bigger and more heavily armed and armoured, whereas a Replica sniper is lightly armoured, but fast, agile and excels at concealment. It's no longer a case of the same bloke in a different coloured uniform. Enemies of a paranormal nature are similarly varied. Abominations, though weak, are particularly good at getting the jump on you, and the way they move is just… wrong. Remnants are an entirely different bucket of entrails, and the first time you encounter one can be a uniquely disturbing experience.

Of course, if anyone's going to induce brown-trousers-time in a hardened FPS gamer, it's Alma herself, and rest assured she doesn't let the side down. A bowel-loosening hour spent in the charnel house that was once Wade Elementary School stands out as a high-point in both steadily increasing tension and moments of stark terror. Alma's also a lot more “hands-on” in this outing. In fact, without revealing too much, you'll find that your relationship with Alma at the end of the game has taken on an entirely new, and grotesque, dimension. As an antagonist, Alma invokes feelings of ambivalence. On one hand, you feel sympathetic toward her and the unrelenting horror she's been forced to endure. On the other hand, she's a vengeful, insane spirit with a penchant for acts of gratuitous destruction and mass carnage. But at least she's not boring.

Some of the more formidable opponents in the first game were the Replica soldiers piloting mechanised power armour. These lumbering behemoths were capable of unleashing jaw-dropping torrents of firepower, and soaking up truly massive amounts of punishment. In Project Origin, the shoe is very much on the other foot. When you first clamber into the cockpit of an Elite Power Armour and the onboard computer calmly states (in that soothing feminine way that all sci-fi computers seem to have) “Systems Online”, you feel something you've not felt for pretty much the whole of the game so far – safe. Snugly ensconced within roughly three tons of reinforced steel plate, with a pair of chain guns and dual missile launchers at your fingertips, you feel secure, relaxed, content. And then you start stomping through the ruins of Auburn, laying waste to all in your path, and that sense of peace and tranquility is swiftly replaced with a demented urge to shoot things and blow stuff up, cackling like a muppet all the while. As a pleasant change of pace from being constantly on edge as you slink through gloomy, mutant-infested corridors, it works really well. Oh, and it's a wheelbarrow-load of fun.

Okay, so Project Origin is fun and scary and appallingly violent, but what else is it? It's dark. Really, really dark. And it doesn't help that the torch with which you've been provided could be effortlessly replaced with a Bic lighter taped to the end of a broom handle for all the illumination it provides. Feeble doesn't begin to describe it. And yes, we all know that it's a survival horror game and pervasive gloom helps to reinforce the claustrophobic ambience, but why go to all the trouble of tarting up the graphics if you can barely see your hand in front of your face. Becoming acquainted with the gamma correction setting in the options menu is strenuously advised.

Another bugbear is the new checkpoint system. Despite being able to quicksave at any point in the proceedings during the first game, Project Origin uses pre-programmed checkpoints. No quicksaves for you, young man. I suspect this, along with the new three medpack limit imposed, is an attempt to regulate the game's difficulty given that it seems, on the whole, significantly easier than its predecessor. This is all well and good in theory, but in practice, it's just annoying. See, I'm weird in that I like to select the game's difficulty by adjusting the ‘difficulty’ slider in the options menu. That way, if I'm all liquored up and exhibiting the hand-eye coordination of an arthritic pensioner with chronic epilepsy, I can just set the difficulty to ‘easy’ and not spend the next six hours feeling like an emasculated failure.

Project Origin is also short. It's nowhere near as long as the first game, though what little there is of it is highly entertaining. I guess when you fritter away all the zots on new environments, enemies, weapons and big stompy robots, you've not a whole lot left over to give the convoluted story the in-depth and sufficiently lengthy treatment it so desperately needs. Is the game worth $100? Subjective. If you have the attention span of a three year-old whose ingested four pounds of raw sugar and a bucketful of treacle, then I'm sure you'll get your money's worth. Otherwise, you may want to wait for the price to drop.

Verdict: By turns enthralling and horrifying, but far too short.

like the game over all. just finished the game on normal difficulty and found the majority of it really simple but there were some part that were a challenge.

I found the HUD fine and the Crysis 'esk middle mouse button weapon change useful or though a little cumbersome, and the avatar for radio transmissions very useful. also the border makes it more obvious to see it flicker when Alma or other paranormal activities are near.

storyline is ok, it's totally linear which i don't really begrudge the developers for but that limit my inclination to play it again, cinematicly i think they could have taken better advantage of this. it's also ridiculously unrealistic and hard to identify with the character you play. a lot of the story line is in found documents, i don't really like this method because you can miss some and there is no emotion presented with the info.

game play was good i liked the feel of most the game but was frustrated with the ladders, improvised cover and vaulting over objects where all very slow and awkward movements that did not feel right and where bad ideas in combat. i would not include the Elite Powered Armor (EPA) in the full version there was plenty of time to get in to the EPA before the fire fight gets in full swing. and boy was it fun to drive, would have liked more time in it with more of a challenge to it. i really like the weapons but would have liked one or two more new experimental weapons. was not too dark and the flash light could used from the first time i tried and was only unusable in one or two places that it would have been detrimental to the game atmosphere but some of the times i think i should have been able to use it. the maps were mostly linear, with only one way to get to most areas so the enemy could almost never flank you. there where not many interesting looking places.

the game seemed to run well and it never crashed and on my 64bit Vista that is a miracle, but with 6 hours (estimated) game play time it might not have had enough chance.

overall i liked the game would have liked it to be a bit more open with more complex environments in maps and with a stronger character development. but was fun to play and an interesting story, despite repeating a lot form the first game.

Back in 2005, the original First Encounter Assault Recon (F.E.A.R) was created by Monolith and released for the PC to wide acclaim, winning notice for it's creepy atmosphere, brilliant enemy A.I, and incredibly forced acronym. The game centered on the Pointman of the titular F.E.A.R team, a squad created by the U.S government to combat paranormal threats. It was regarded by many as a superior FPS with masterfully executed horror sequences, with the only real problem being the bland environments. Note, this is not to say the atmosphere was, just that one area felt like the others; the wastewater plant felt like the office building which in turn felt like the Origin facility, with the only standout area being the Apartment complex. I was a huge fan of this game, and had been waiting for this sequel, F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, for years. Now that I finally got it, it barely seems worth it.

First, I'll start with the good; the combat is absolutely amazing, it might honestly be the most satisfying FPS I've ever played in that regard. The game still bleeds atmosphere as well, and these two factors combined make it incredibly immersive. It also addresses another flaw people found with the original: the fact that virtually every encounter was against the same type of enemy, with the only the occasional variation in the form of an assassin, elite soldier, mech, or nightmare. This game tends to keep the encounters varied between the Armacham Black Ops soldiers, Replicas (the main enemy in the first), and several supernatural beings I haven't even begun to name yet. Finally, the areas are actually distinct.

That said, there are some issues, many of which outweighed this stellar gameplay for me. First off is the complete abandonment of all the mystique. In the original game, you had only a vague idea of who Alma was or even what was happening, which added to the suspense and, dare I say, fun, as you unraveled the mystery. All that is pretty much abandoned here; you know what's going on and why all the way until the end, with the important aspects of the plot being spoon fed to you by your squad (whose presence, by the way, also undermines the horror, as part of horror is usually being alone) as opposed to the laptop and phone message method of exposition in the original (although it is worth noting that you can find more minor parts of the plot in computer disks that you have to find). The ironic thing is, the ending itself is pretty ambiguous. Seriously, I had to look up a plot summery on Wikipedia just to find out what happened in the last 30 seconds or so.

Going hand-in-hand with this is their pseudo-sciencing of all the paranormal things which happen. They explain everything that should have been left unexplained, how Alma was created (beyond the torture that was mentioned in the first game), what caused Alma and others to be psychic in the first place, why some can see Alma and feel her effects while others can't. Simply, mysteries lose all their appeal the second you reveal them. In this sense, F.E.A.R 2 fell into a similar pitfall as Condemned 2.

As well, with their correction of the previous games mistakes, they also create more problems. Like how all the supernatural enemies trickle out by the end, leaving you fighting wave after wave of Replicas.

Next is the fact that it isn't nearly as scary as the original. Now, I'm going to go ahead and say Your Mileage May Vary here, because others might well find it scary. All I'm saying is that a lot of the new additions seem to undermine the horror aspect for me. Sure, it has moments where I'm startled, maybe even a few where I'm outright scared, but no where near as many as the original. It seems the series is becoming more about the kind of scares that are based on a monster jumping out at you, which is fine, but the original was built on more psychological fear, on creating and then dashing expectations. I must say, the only dashed expectations were mine when I made this realization (/bad joke).

Finally, it simply doesn't feel like F.E.A.R. It's hard to explain, but the original, while more than occasionally dabbling in the supernatural, always seemed like it was firmly based in reality. This is one reason Alma was so disturbing; in a world that seems much like ours, anyone, let alone a little girl, who can do something that just seems so wrong (like liquefying someone by standing near them, or sending manifestations of nightmares at someone) is just disturbing. In the sequel, it's all par for the course. Even if I hadn't played the original, it would be hard to think of Alma as anything other than just another enemy because in this game, the abnormal is suddenly normal. Frankly, I wouldn't have been surprised by anything by the end. I realize that this might not make complete sense, but it's hard to word.

Just an inconsequential nitpick, why were they using Teenage Alma for this game? Child Alma is so much scarier.

It's hard to formulate an opinion on this. On the one hand, the fire fights are hectic and great fun, as I said, quite possibly the most satisfying of any FPS I've ever played. On the other, in Monolith's rush to fix everything bad about the first game, they abandoned nearly every GOOD thing, especially in terms of the horror and tone. It doesn't help that it shat on one of my favorite stories. So, I'd have to say this; download the demo. If it appeals to you and you aren't planning to buy any other games soon, certainly give it a try.

I had never played fear 1, but I still got the idea of the game and I thought it was a pretty awesome game, especially at the end!

To start off though, there is nothing wrong with having a game on steam unless your on dial up. Otherwise it is one hell of a lifesaver as it self patches and that is very helpful when some games have different regions and are patched multiple times!

The game does have some “scary” moments but in general it is more about the gunfights. You do have a fairly nice selection of weapons from missile launchers to machine guns to flamethrowers to weapons that shoot spikes! There are a few different enemies but in general you do find yourself fighting 2 types of soldiers.

Voice acting is pretty well done but it's generally heard over a radio and fits in perfectly as you always end up separated from others.

But overall it is a very fun first person shooter, with an interesting storyline and good game-play to keep you wanting to play more.

Great game, for an even greater price, thanks mighty ape!!!

If you are looking for a scary game, this would be a game to look into.
I found myself hooked into the story after the first fifteen minutes of playing. The scary, off putting, surroundings were very mysterious and creepy. The quick flashbacks of Alma kept the tension high, and had me jumping off my seat D:
Overall, very frightening, but also a very good, action packed FPS.

Project origin can be just as creepy as any of the previous titles and as always the music and ambient sound really add to this.
Really enjoyed having the ability to become one of the ‘stompy robots’ and the massive amount of fire fights against a multitude of replica's.
Alma lacks the scare factor this time but no so other creatures in this game, at least for me anyway. The ‘wall crawlers’ still manage to get the hair standing up on the back of my neck . Watching bodies being dragged away right in front of you by an invisible force, losing your torch one of the darkest places in the game with ghosts coming after you, the dead coming to life, its all there. Play this game in the dark with the volume high......

While graphically nice, this game offers all that the original FEAR did, but not nearly as scary as the first installment. The story is a little better, but without the scares, it's just a typical shooter. it's a good shooter, but way too generic to get full score.

I always wanted to play this game mainly because I played the first one which I really liked and it did receive very good reviews and plus I wanted to know what happens in the second one.Having played it i found it to be very combat orientated rather that story driven.It has atmosphere and horror elements and it does look good for a game which is a few years old.It also has alot of action to keep one entertained.

Good:
Good A.I
Alot of Action
Good Levels
Atmospheric
Right number of weapons

Against:
Standard Shooter
Lacks certain creepy elements that makes your skin jump
Story telling could have been better
Squad members should have been more involved

finally clocked FEAR 2 today. It is a scary game. For those who say it isn't, harden up and play at night time with no lights and and headphones on full.
definitely worth the purchase.
if your thinking about fear 3 id strongly suggest playing the first and second fear games.

I loved Fear 1, and Fear 2 is living up to my expectations – still playing it as it just arrived a few days ago.

F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin is a game that will keep you wanting more as you play through the campaign, and in my case was hard to stop playing at times.

Project Origin continues on from the first F.E.A.R game and is very similar in many ways, and very different in others.

Alma still makes her presence felt, scaring you out of your skin and generally creeping you out, although she has a lot less appearances then she did in the original F.E.A.R. In fact, the scares are less common in this game.

When you aren't being creeped out, you will experience amazing gunfights ( the bullet time make these awesome) and exploring amazingly crafted, and hugely varying environments (a HUGE improvement from the repetitive levels in F.E.A.R 1).

The graphics in my opinion are amazing, but made even better with film grain off as I think in a way it “covers up” the great visuals.

The game took me 3 days to complete playing at a pretty steady pace, and I would happily re-play it.

The multiplayer aspect of the game is also a bonus. Servers are generally well populated so you will get a good few games in in one session.

In conclusion, Project Origin is an amazing FPS experience and will be even better if you have played the original F.E.A.R games(s), and the multiplayer keeps you coming back for more.

Single player on par with first. MP is frustrating with no dedicated server support. I played FEAR2 multiplayer for two weeks before switching back to FEAR 1 and haven't gone back to FEAR 2 for over a month. Mulitplayer support is quite disgusting and unsatisfactory. The patches are slow to release and are only minor fixes. Wait for a dedicated server patch before buying otherwise, if you're into multiplayer, this game is a waste of time and money!

In essence, FEAR 2 is a great shooter. The slow-motion mechanic returns from the first game and is as satisfying and useful as ever, and, the game doesn't make any significant departures, gameplay wise, from the brilliant original.

Some players may take issue with the game's anamorphic 16:9 presentation, as the game will show black bars at the top and bottom on 4:3 screens and standard 16:10 widescreens.

Performance wise, the game runs well (I'm able to run smoothly at maximum settings, 1920×1200 resolution on a 2 year old machine), and the graphics look every bit as good as the screenshots would indicate.

However, in my opinion, the game's one failing is in story. Put simply, the story doesn't match up to the brilliance of the first game, and, without revealing any plot points, players of the original may find the sequel's plot to be somewhat of a letdown. The game is also somewhat on the short side (it took me 13 hours on Hard difficulty)

Multiplayer, while offering standard shooter fare, also suffers from latency issues – as far as I know, there are no dedicated servers available, causing some lag problems, and ranked matches are very hard to come by.

All the same, it's a good game – definitely worth buying in spite of its flaws.

Expecting something new? Well, the powered suit is good.
Its still FEAR however.
What a pity they had to mess with it.
STEAM – was that necessary?!!
And no saves other than the ones generated which overwrites the previous save. Very annoying.
I kept them all, but if it wasn't for the fact that Steam means I can't sell it without major jumping through hoops I probably wouldn't keep this one.

Just finished on hard and wow what an absolutely stunning game. Worth every peny spent. To get the full effect make sure you have a widescreen monitor preferably a big one and good surround sound with lots of sub woofer goodness. Man this game sure scared the crap outa me !

(My review is based purely on the Demo Download, which loaded flawlessly.)

A thoroughly immersive and enjoyable, if some-what short, demo. (But it was still 2GB in size!!)

Good Points:
Excellent weapons, especially the sniper rifle. This is on a par with CoD's sniper rifle, with an awesome zoom function to get up close to the action (and see the after-effects of a head shot).

Loved the Armour – hop in, kill stuff, hop out – go looting, return & repeat!!

Graphics are immense, with so much happening – debris raining down, and "litter” blowing around.

Very graphic "splatter” scenes – hence the R18 classification.

Bad Points:
Appears to be a system-hog for the graphics intensity required.

Weapon selection is "clunky” when using the Press & Hold Mouse Button 3 option. (I much preferred the scroll option, or keys for weapon selection).

To get the game to play without tooo much lag, I had to turn down the resolution & "eye-candy” somewhat, but still encountered lag from the immense graphics.

My current system : CPU: Intel C2D E6750, Graphics Card: XFX 8800GTS 320 XXX edition, 2 GB Ram, MSI P35 MoBo & integrated sound.

No – it's not the top-of-the-ladder specs, but it's still no slouch, and I would have thought that it could run a bit better, considering the following minimum & recommended systems:

Min System:
CPU:AMD Athlon64 3000+ * Intel P4 2.8GHz
Graphics: ATI Radeon X700 Series 256MB * NVIDIA GeForce 6800 256MB
Memory: 1024MB
Free Disk Space: 12GB!
OS: XP SP2/Vista SP1

Recommended System:
CPU: AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ * Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT 512MB * NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 512MB
Free Disk Space: 12GB!
OS: XP SP2/Vista SP1

You can check how/if your system will run this game at:
http://www.yougamers.com/…meter/10306/

Overall Impression:
I will no doubt get this game, after I have upgraded my graphics card at least. I really enjoyed FEAR + FEAR Extraction Point. Although, they did become a little ‘mindless’ in that there was only one way you could go to proceed, and that was blatantly obvious most of the time.

I enjoyed the pace of the demo, the graphic "splatter” scenes, and the "mood” capturing a post-explosion holocaust setting.

I also thought the new HUD-style view was great – adding a more futuristic look to the game.

Those that enjoyed F.E.A.R as well as the original 2 expansions will no doubt enjoy this game.

If you are a fan of the FPS style games, this is a MUST GET GAME, and sets the benchmark for other game-makers to follow.

Ok, it's taken 3 days to download the demo…that being said; I've just finished playing it:

Good points:There are some very good new weapons, the sniper rifle is the best I have played with to date, the Half Life series could definitely do with one like this! The ‘slo mo’ control is fun and you can beat the bad guys relatively easily. Lip smackin' good weaponry.

Bad points:The character movement is dreadful – he's too slow and unwieldy, unless there's a “run” facility in the full version, this is very tedious.
You can't see a damned thing – it's too dark – oh yeah, I know all about ‘atmosphere’ ‘n all that, you still can’t see well and you don't get a flashlight for a while.
Reading PDA entries whilst under fire is ridiculous.
You cannot enter the robotic armour from any other point than face front – remember that, you're under fire when you get it.And you cannot face upwards to see what's shooting at you from above.

I am ambivalent about the new HUD – I don't think it's necessary, but I guess you're supposed to think you're wearing a helmet.

This game will probably prove popular as the weaponry really is good, the storyline is no doubt as silly as the first one ( the ‘spooky things’ are easy to shoot by the way).
So folks, that's the demo version, bear in mind I do not have the full version and probably won't buy it until it's at least half the price – I found the first game fairly boring and repetitive, this new one looks a better game for graphics and weapons, the rest I don't know about.
Cheers!