Nowadays Lara Croft is nothing special... a gaming grandma who some people remember fondly but most will disregard as bygone.

I say if there will ever be another game, make it a finale, and give up the ghost already. Tomb raider is no longer relevant.

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Hopefully this won't have anything to do with the next game.

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Every PC gamer should at least give demo a try. And then I believe they will buy the game.

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In the mean time, I'll link up my review on the game.

[xbitlabs.com]

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I liked FEAR 2. It was worth my money. I liked the gameplay of it and the scary experience while playing it. I did get scared and I am the kind of guy who can get scared quite easily. I did post up my own review in a different forum. I'll post it up to those who want to read it.

F.E.A.R.2 Project Origin Review

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just finished the game today and I have to say, I feel . . . somewhat robbed a bit, story wise.

The actual game experience was fantastic . . . at first. I am the kind of guy who can get scared quite easily so I did get some really good scares from this game. To improve my experience, I used headphones instead of my puny speakers. This really had my heart racing. However, it got to a point where the scares became expected. At first, these creepy crawly guys who scales wall and ceilings freaked the shit out of me. But after a while, they became somewhat annoying but got me pumped up as I blew them up with a shotgun. Gave me lots of smiles when I did that. After progressing more, the scares won't really scare you, just make you startled or swear. In the beginning, I felt afraid. scared. But that ebbed away later on in the game. But don't get me wrong, I still spouted out swear words right to the end, just not as loud anymore.

I also noticed, that without lean and a simplified control scheme, it seriously felt like a console port. This feeling of sometimes just going out there and run and gun pissed me off. The tactical feel wasn't fully there, especially without the lean. Sometimes the coverage was of little use to me, at others, very useful. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that it wasn't made for the PC.

I blame the console generation for this. I also blame consoles for the stupid QTEs. Sure, they are ok at first but it became a chore for me. I just didn't like the button mashing sequences, it just wasn't needed on the PC.

Another monster that truly pissed me off was those puppet controlling dudes. At first I thought they were invincible but I realized during the Nurse Office mission that you have to unload all you magazine of you submachine gun or rifle to kill them. They would resurrect dead troops and they would aimlessly shoot you, which I thought was pretty cool.

Now with the troops, I was playing the entire game on Hard mode with no cheats or trainers of any kind. The AI was just too easy. I mean, I could stand infront of them, jump around, and still kill them with a pistol. They did use coverage and group tactics, but that wasn't enough for me. It wasn't challenging enough for me. And the item drops also made it possible for you not to die at all.

The mechanized bit was very fun. I enjoyed fully, watching replica forces explode as you plow them with 50.cal bullets. I did feel unstoppable until I had to get out again.

There was one nitpicking thing that bothered me during firefights, no bloody lean. I had to expose me whole body just to kill some dudes. Sure, it would mean a challenge but it also means FEAR2 loses its tactical feel somewhat. I surprised to see that the replicas were also leaning but I could not. The melee attacks were still all their but I rarely used them.

The environments were varied, which I liked. as I said before, the game experience did get me swearing really loud and the environment added to my startles. Broken old buildings, bodies gutted out with their intestines in a whirl, bodies on the streets that looked like victims of the Pompeii blast, and as well some screwed up school. I have to give credit for them from moving away from office spaces to more open space.

Many people said the graphics look like crap. I have to disagree. They are a huge improvement over FEAR 1. More colours, more interesting textures. Don't expect Crysis awesomesauce but it is good looking. But expect minor graphical glitching, especially with some of the water effects.

Audio wise was also great. With Dolby Pro Logic IIx enabled on my Xonar, the sound felt more real and crisp, especially with headphones on. The audio environment in the game was well suited to the various levels, kept me interested and alert as well. Soundtracks were also well done and chosen. Very eerie, ambient, as well as tingly.

The story . . . when it comes to franchises like these, you can't screw up. This was where I was a little robbed, the story. You had to pick up intelligence items to read what was going on, bits of info on the characters, projects, and other stuff. I wanted to see more cinematics but there wasn't any really.

Point Man did not even make a cameo. I was surprised because he is the son of Alma and pivotal for the FEAR story as a whole.

I wanted better story telling, but I didn't get it. But, since it was FEAR2, I was still engaged of what was going on with Becket and Alma.

At the end of the game, it sets for another FEAR game. I'll spill the beans here.

Alma goes ahead and does some funky mind rape. Once you were strapped into the chair, she proceeds to rape you so she can get pregnant. I wasn't expecting that twist but it wasn't amazing either. After the raping, she is shown to have a bigger belly and you hear a female voice "Mommy". And that was that.

I was wanting more, but there is this feeling that looms that I felt robbed. I mean, it is a fun game. Lots of weapons, good scares initially, great environment. It was just the story that let me down a bit.

Oh, and a tidbit of Alma (older version). Her body get more skin and flesh as she absorbs people. So, you may see some titty action going on LOL. There was some other posts I found on the net where some people agreed that the older version of Alma near the end of the game is attractive . . . I would tend to agree with that assessment (NOTE: Older version). xD

After the game however, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I mean, her babies were taken away while 14/15 years of age. I guess this is retribution. Strangely, I also feel happy I guess that she has a baby to hold in her arms. I just wonder what Becket is gonna do now.

So was it worth my time and money? Yes, it was. Is this game for everyone? No. Even for some FEAR fans like myself, you may not like it.

I just hope Monolith pays attention to many of the forums out there that are discussing his game now, especially on the official project origin forums so they can bake up a better, sweeter batch of FEAR3. FEAR 2 was a bit doughy, not that sweet, but still very edible. And I ate it all.

Game itself: 8.5/10

Feeling after game: 8/10

If I my previous post somehow pops up, I apologize for the double post.

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However, although I liked most of the gameplay (well, except the QTEs), I felt somewhat robbed story wise. I wasn't pissed off about the ending, rather, it left a somewhat strange taste in my mouth. But it does setup another and hopefully last entry from Monolith into the FEAR franchise.

But yeah, it was fun. And about Alma's age, the child version is just one of her apparitions, but she is actually in her mid 20's.

Hmm mind rape . . . God, reminds of that shitty Star Trek movie, Nemesis. Oops, I think that is a swear word among the Trek community. Excuse my dirty mouth.

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