If you haven’t yet gone out and at least rented F.E.A.R. 2 – you need to turn in your gamertag now, and navigate away from my webpage.
Seriously. Go.
All joking aside, F.E.A.R. scared the crap out of me when it first came out in 2005, and it continues to haunt me with Project Origin in 2009. If you remember the ending to the first installment in the series, then you remember a massive explosion that totally wrecked shop on the city of Auburn. In F.E.A.R 2, you start the game about 30 minutes before the explosion as Michael Becket, the creamy newbsauce that holds Delta Forcetogether, and ultimately leads just about everyone to their death. Now, usually this would be the time where I would go into the plot of the game and give my insight – but honestly the plot is incredibly condeluded and requires you to grab a shit load of Intel throughout the game. Basically, all you need to know is that Alma is still evil, you’re part of something called “Project Harbinger”, and that you need to shoot at everything that moves without hesitation. Clear?
As I just mentioned, the plot of F.E.A.R. 2 is near impossible to understand. Everything is left to the gamer, and don’t get me wrong, I’m all for interpretation, but don’t leave the whole plot line in 100 pieces of intel to be discovered. At first, I wasn’t annoyed by the intel by any means, I love grabbing achievements for things like this, but my frustration mounted when I found that the intel led to one of the worst endings I have ever seen.
Unfortunately the longer I sit here and think about the ending of this game, the more I’m convinced that there are more cons than pros in F.E.A.R. 2. I’m going to outright say it, the ending could not have sucked harder. For the entire game, you’re led to believe that you’re going to fight Alma and end her reign of terror, which of course I didn’t believe would occur during Project Origin, but I would have rather had Michael Becket and the rest Delta Squad die than deal with the ending that Monolith shit out. I honestly felt like I had wasted my time playing the game, which is not a feeling that I’m accustomed to.
Onto the game play itself.
A new feature of the game which neither helped nor hindered the game play was the ability to flip random objects over to use as cover. While it worked to help me feel like a total badass, it didn’t actually provide any better cover than a column would. What would have really made this feature a lot more useful – being able to post up against your cover. Essentially, your character is limited to running, walking, and crouching. The AI’s on the other hand are able to do everything that you can’t. They can tumble to avoid bullets, hop over obstacles, and post up against surfaces.
Of course, once you’ve finished the single player story mode, there is multiplayer. This was also a bit disappointing for two reasons: there is no slow-motion and all of the creepy audio/visual effects that made F.E.A.R. what it is were not implemented into multiplayer. Granted, there is not much to be expected from F.E.A.R.’s multiplayer, it definitely was not meant to be played like Halo or Gears of War, so this is not being taken into account for the rating. But, I just can’t wrap my head around why Monolith would leave out two of the biggest parts of the game out of its multiplayer.
Just like the original F.E.A.R., you’re going to end up doing a ridiculous amount of wandering about abandoned buildings, trying to figure out where to go to complete your objective. I would say that wandering contributed to about an hour of game play itself. Now, I would have been incredibly annoyed by this in just about any other game, but Monolith did an amazing job of carrying the intense atmosphere in every part of the game play. Random scares from Alma and ghosts are thrown in if you’re lucky enough to trigger the right areas.
This leads us to the pros of Project Origin. The lighting and audio in this game were perfection in its entirety. The flashlight at the end of your weapon will subtly catch shadows of Alma and other human-like figures, music will build up either to encourage you to move forward, or have you sprinting through an area as fast as you can mash down on your L-stick. As aforementioned, even when you’re wandering about the map, the audio is just so damn creepy that you are constantly on the edge of your seat. Monolith knows how to scare the shit out of you, and they do it well.
Other notable enhancements to the game are the Mech suits that you can battle enemies in, and the diversity of enemies compared to the original F.E.A.R. The Mech suits allow you to trample over enemies with relatively little damage to your character. The suit comes equipped with missiles, a machine gun (that overheats when used for extended periods of time), and heat vision. My only problem with the suit is that the heat vision sometimes makes it difficult to differentiate between other Mechs in the area and simple roadside fires. Otherwise, the Mech suit comes a close second to one of the coolest features of the game.
Overall, this game was incredibly entertaining, though at times it felt like it was maybe what the first F.E.A.R. should have been. If you liked the original, you will enjoy Project Origin, and perhaps even like the ending. Thanks to the amazing audio, lighting, and character-to-character dialogue, my overall rating of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a 3 out of 5.
I won't lie, I think it's hilarious how many people hated the end of the game. I love it. It's a massive departure from basically ANY expectations you'd have about it. Not to mention, it's hinted at throughout the game, Alma's attraction to you and all you have to go on is a few opinions of what she may be trying to accomplish by following you. People enjoy typical endings too much. So what that it doesn't end in some massively epic psycho-kinetic gun battle between the burly soldier and the mentally deranged supervillain Alma? Why is that so bad? It means we get another game!
I love games, movies, and TV shows that try different ideas in breaking the molds of commonality when it comes to standard structures of their mediums. It shows they're willing to try harder, to take risks, and not to just oblige with a predictable and stupid ending. What if the game ended with a massive gun battle? I would have been less than impressed to be honest. The ending is great and I can only hope to own the game myself someday so I can play it in it's entirety (since I've only gotten to play with and watch friends).
I don't have any problem with Monolith branching out, going above and beyond expectations. But really - really? The only thing I could think of when the game ended was "Come on! I played through all of THAT only to get raped by some entity?" I wouldn't have wanted some crazy gun-battle, and in fact I was disappointed every time that possibility was even slightly foreshadowed. I wanted something original, but upon reaching the end of the game all I could think was that Monolith finally ran out of ideas.
I just can't fathom what the next installment in the series will involve. Becket is going to have to be killed off - I can't imagine Monolith having him kill Alma and his own child.
I want to get your opinion on how Alma got pregnant though. Throughout the game, Alma was discussed as wanting to "absorb" Becket. Do you think that the death of his teammates contributed to Alma taking on a new physical form? And after raping Becket, do you think that her resulting pregnancy was Alma "absorbing" him?
I wanted something original, but upon reaching the end of the game all I could think was that Monolith finally ran out of ideas.
Not to be a completely rude bastard, but how many games have you played where the ending involves a rape of the hero by the villain in an attempt to increase the villain's power by giving birth to a more powerful offspring (that isn't a Japanese animated porn game)?
I just can't fathom what the next installment in the series will involve. Becket is going to have to be killed off - I can't imagine Monolith having him kill Alma and his own child.
That sounds like a pretty sweet angle if you ask me. Perhaps Becket manages to kill Alma but her offspring lives? I mean, what emotional stake does he have in all this? I don't think he would have a problem killing her or her child.
I want to get your opinion on how Alma got pregnant though. Throughout the game, Alma was discussed as wanting to "absorb" Becket. Do you think that the death of his teammates contributed to Alma taking on a new physical form? And after raping Becket, do you think that her resulting pregnancy was Alma "absorbing" him?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the whole "absorb you" theory come from one scientist's best guess department? It's not like Alma approached you and said, "I want to absorb you". What do you mean by "new" physical form? Alma's human form? That's what she truly looks like. Her emaciated and child forms are just illusions. Don't forget that Alma is still human, she's just an extremely powerful psychic. I think Alma's motives have to do with her wanted to get revenge if you ask me. As a kid, she was repeatedly impregnated and reproduced to create the Point Man and Paxton from FEAR 1 and this left her in an emotionally and mentally unstable state which caused her to break loose and begin her murderous rampage. This is probably an attempt on her behalf to recreate "herself" essentially by having a child and raising it to be even more powerful than her (since it's the combination of her and Becket's powers) and let's face it: more powerful than Alma?
Alright, maybe original wasn't the right word. It just didn't feel like there was any thought put into the ending. Maybe it's just me... I wasn’t really blown away by it.
I think Alma just used to Becket to get a child that she could keep. Part of me really felt for Alma, perhaps it’s the woman in me. Being kept as a prisoner, used to create children that she could never hold or love, it drove her over the edge.
Alma’s dead. Her actual form (if you can call a dead person with a lingering psychic force that) was the creepy emaciated corpse for the majority of the game. I believe that after enough people died, that Alma was once again able to take on a physical body. As for her most significant moments in her life, she gave birth to Paxton and the Point Man, then she was killed off by her father (maybe not her father, but she was definitely killed.) It’s stated somewhere in Project Origin that she’s just an incredibly strong psychic force that was left behind even after she died. Hence why she couldn’t be killed off by anyone other than Becket, because he had the strongest telekinetic skill as far as anyone knew. In the ending, if you look closely, you can see a calendar and the numbers are going out of control, which tells us that Becket has absolutely no concept of time. So either the entire ending was a hallucination, or Alma took on a physical form and kept Becket locked with her long enough to create a child. That’s my best guess.
Becket needs to abort this bastard child - otherwise you'll be right. The world is doomed. Game over.
NOTE: This message was edited by the author on Mar 3, 2009 at 8:13pm
It's actually never very clear if she's dead or not. Her scumbag of a father is the one who theorizes that she died and was only a "psychic force" left behind. It's quite possible she's transcended her physical form in which it's arguable whether or not she's "living".
Either way, I think it's kind of crazy to say that the ending was disappointing.
So if the ending is hinted throughout the game, doesn't it make it a stupid and predictable ending(someone contradicted themselves)? I thought the game was too predictable all around, and the last mission was way to easy, just sprint past the dude and flip the switch three times...whoopdy do...not an ideal ending at all for me.
The last mission needs to be the hardest and most interesting part of the game in needs to make you say "Damn this game to hell!" slam the controller down while yelling, "I am never gonna play this game again!!", that's my opinion and that's all the ending is, it is supposed to make you question what the hell is going on.
I think if you care more about twists in the plot, than the actual game play go watch a damn M. Night Shyamalan movie... I heard he enjoys throwing people for loops. Just because it is different doesn't make it good I hear heroine is different than tea but I wouldn't call it good.
NOTE: This message was edited by the author on Mar 3, 2009 at 10:51pm
It's my article and I'm sticking to it :) The ending was disappointing, and up until now, it was unanimous. Way to break my mold.
HeismanHopeful - I completely agree. The final objective was too simple. I wish Keegan had interfered more because I felt like I strolled through the whole thing. Probably should have mentioned that as another reason that I was not happy with the ending. I deal with ridiculous AI throughout the whole game, and for the last mission, I have to flip switches. Lame.
The last mission needs to be the hardest and most interesting part of the game in needs to make you say "Damn this game to hell!" slam the controller down while yelling, "I am never gonna play this game again!!", that's my opinion and that's all the ending is, it is supposed to make you question what the hell is going on.
That's interesting, I've never heard someone outright equate difficulty with quality in a game. No offense dude, you sound like a masochist if you think the way to make a game good is to give the gamer an aneurysm! Obviously it's your opinion and I respect it, but I can't fully agree. To me, you probably enjoy a difficult ending because it's what we as gamers have grown used to. The ending is supposed to have the "last boss" and we're supposed to have something either epic or profound happen.
I think if you care more about twists in the plot, than the actual game play go watch a damn M. Night Shyamalan movie... I heard he enjoys throwing people for loops. Just because it is different doesn't make it good I hear heroine is different than tea but I wouldn't call it good.
So you don't believe plot matters at all in a game? I'd imagine you're a Halo fan then.
I never said that different makes a game good and I don't think a lot of people believe that, but it certainly makes the game a relief from all the crap we play these days. Also, comparing FEAR 2's ending to heroine? Someone is really stretching to bash the game.
Actually I was comparing heroine to tea, saying that just because something was different doesn't make it a good... Can you comprehend that?
Halo is quite possibly the worst game I have ever played, but Gears 2 is more my speed great plot, great writing and it's difficult. I love how games are moving towards being like movies, BUT and I stress that word because a plot twist does not make the plot better in this instance I agree it had a good plot up...up until the end. I really didn't want to write this twice but just because the plot has a twist doesn't all of a sudden make FEAR 2 a better game, note the M Night comment, if you aren't familiar with his movies most of them are good up until the twist, the twist ruins the movie. Got that point?
ok moving on let me know if I am going to fast for you...
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That's interesting, I've never heard someone outright equate difficulty with quality in a game.
I never said that the quality of the game should be based on difficulty go ahead read what I wrote...
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The last mission needs to be the hardest and most interesting part of the game in needs to make you say "Damn this game to hell!" slam the controller down while yelling, "I am never gonna play this game again!!", that's my opinion and that's all the ending is, it is supposed to make you question what the hell is going on.
The last mission should be difficult enough not to beat the first time around, and yea that is what I am used to and that's why I like it, I played the end of this and just felt let down because I wasn't challenged throughout the game especially the ending, I mean that is what gamers play for right, a challenge? If not you might as well go rent a movie because or go play a Hello Kitty game on your sisters DS...I heard they have amazing plots.
All in all dude we can go back and forth forever but to me FEAR 2 was alright but it wasn't the complete game I was hoping for.
Actually I was comparing heroine to tea, saying that just because something was different doesn't make it a good... Can you comprehend that?
Chill out kid, no reason to get pissy over nothing! Here's a quick tip on conversational structure: If you make a comparison of two irrelevant things after discussing two other subjects extensively, it's obviously a device to make a contrast. If I wrote an article about the differences between men and women and then towards the end made a random comparison to marshmallows and dog shit, you'd think I was using those two objects as an abstract way of speaking about the original subject. Remember, we can't measure your intentions online, be clear and if you can't fathom how a contrast argument works, you shouldn't use it.
Halo is quite possibly the worst game I have ever played, but Gears 2 is more my speed great plot, great writing and it's difficult. I love how games are moving towards being like movies, BUT and I stress that word because a plot twist does not make the plot better in this instance I agree it had a good plot up...up until the end. I really didn't want to write this twice but just because the plot has a twist doesn't all of a sudden make FEAR 2 a better game, note the M Night comment, if you aren't familiar with his movies most of them are good up until the twist, the twist ruins the movie. Got that point?
I never said the twist at the end made it a better game (apparently you believe so and I'm not sure why), I said the twist was an original idea and broke the mold of the typical game. I'd agree that Halo wasn't that great, but Gears 2 was not much better. The first one was new and fun and the second one is old and fun because there's just not a lot of difference.
And dude, again with the snappy comments, why? Are you afraid of having a decent conversation or something? I'm not sure if you're trying to be sarcastic or really just asking me if I can follow along, either way it makes you look foolish, just stop already.
ok moving on let me know if I am going to fast for you...
Is there an absence of pussy out there at Austin Community College? You're awfully snappy for someone having a legitimate discussion with you. FYI, it doesn't make you look cool.
If not you might as well go rent a movie because or go play a Hello Kitty game on your sisters DS...I heard they have amazing plots.
Okay, this proves it, you haven't been laid in a long time. Seriously, haven't you heard the saying? Fighting on the internet is like winning the Special Olympics? Ring a bell?
NOTE: This message was edited by the author on Mar 4, 2009 at 5:47pm
Dude I'm not sure how I came off as pissy I was letting you know how I felt about the game, anyone who has ever read your article can see you are the one who is mad at the world.
And yea I am sarcastic, I am sorry that hurt your feelings you are obviously threatened by me or you wouldn't start making direct personal attacks... and yes a legitimate discussion, that's why you tried to insult me with the halo fan comment, also with the masochist, yes very legitimate and level headed you are clearly my mistake. You had snappy little comments scattered throughout your post but just because I came back at you, you say I haven't got laid? In my eyes I'm still having a nice conversation, even you in your own article stated that you get ugly online...your are just full of contradictions here.
Oh and the thing about winning an internet discussion? Really? Is that not what you are striving for, or you would not keep posting replies.
I understand why you deflect arguments, because you have nothing better to come back with, and if you had ever been to 6th street or heard about it you would know its the place to be if you want to find a girl. I am not sure if i was going for cool, I wouldn't be posting comments about a video game if I was...sorry to give the wrong impression.
I still feel my comparison went over your head. FEAR 2 ending different than others, heroine different than tea or do you want me to say weed, but yea I would say FEAR 2's ending is dog shit and lets say Gears one is marshmallows, better? All mighty knowing being of the universe?
CLOSE
NOTE: This message was edited by the author on Mar 3, 2009 at 8:13pm 