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Denver, 9:41 AM
Mon Nov 30
25 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/28/08
And don't go stomping about that 'great' AI, because it was the layout of the environments that allowed the AI to seem great, when in reality confined spaces greatly limit the need for complexity in the enemy tactics and awareness.
Too bad the aesthetic, be it the enemy or environmental design, managed to be both derivative and redundant. As was the character of Alma (The Ring, etc.), which they did absolutely nothing with storytelling-wise, and the whole bullet-time knockoff, which made the game incredibly easy to power through while making it derivative of even another already heavily borrowed from IP (The Matrix).
As a whole, the original F.E.A.R. came off as a game dreamed up in a marketing meeting, I don't care what they want us to believe...
It was polished, for what it was, I suppose. I just can't bring myself to care about the world or the characters in it, and with the gameplay being so prosaic I have to wonder, why bother with a sequel?
Do they think that piracy is suddenly no longer a problem for the PC market? Or that console gamers are going to forget about the thoroughly mediocre experience they had playing the port of the original less than two years ago? I'm confused.
12/27/08
Endlessly repetitive levels (Warehouse, Office, Warehouse, Office, Warehouse, Office, rinse and repeat) combined with nothing but cheap scares made for a pretty lame experience. The bullet-time effects were well-done but it just felt like such wasted potential. Maybe F.E.A.R 2 will be able to improve, but I'm not awfully optimistic.
12/27/08
12/27/08
This is why I'm excited for F.E.A.R. 2. :)
Also, I agree the Xbox 360 port to F.E.A.R. isn't as good as the PC version. I have both, and it appears to me that either a) the majority of Day 1 was drunk as they were porting the game, or b) the fine people at Day 1 lack the brain capacity the people at Monolith are gifted with. For instance, you can't even walk slowly. You can try, but your character keeps bobbing up and down like a Duracell Rabbit. Really kills the immersion, if you ask me.
12/27/08
Well its just that Xbox ports are never as good as the Original PC. The PC is the best way to play games so it makes sense that the port wasn't as good just because it was it was a port.
12/27/08
12/27/08
12/27/08
The expansions were wretched. Horrible story, horrible additions, it all felt very half ass like Vivendi or whoever owned the licensed was just trying to cash in on the good name of F.E.A.R by suckering people into buying their shitty expansions.
Glad to see Monolith is writing that junk out.
Now put all your games on Steam Monolith! Fear 2 will be on there, so lets see No One Lives Forever and Fear 1 :D
12/27/08
I really enjoyed Extraction Point, but the original was much better. I haven't played Perseus Mandate, but definitely picking up F.E.A.R. 2 when it drops.
12/27/08
12/27/08
FPS console games can never beat a keyboard and mouse setup....unless it's a keyboard and mouse setup on a console.
12/27/08
12/27/08
12/27/08
That aside, the first F.E.A.R. was a solid title. One of the better FPS's available.
12/28/08
F.E.A.R. was a solid game, with some obviously staunch supporters, I personally didn't find anything about it that ground-breaking; it was mediocre.
12/25/08
On Topic: Monolith makes great games. Please buy them so they stop singing!
12/25/08
I have two words for you, Matrix Online
12/05/08
And just to verify, Fahey... the case does indeed contain an envelope and a flashdrive? This wasn't made clear. :p
12/05/08
SPOILERZ FOR TEH WEBSITES!!
This thing is kinda cool, I got into the "Intranet" of Armacham. If you check the emails one of them has a attached vid, another is a pic but it's scrambled, leaving behind a access code you use to get into the "Personal -> My Profile" tab on the intranet. A chat window pops up and someone asks if your free for lunch, I replied with "No" and got a email. I went back to the emails section and got a freaky vid, now I'm kinda stuck lol.
12/05/08
6 5 1 5 1 12 13 1
no idea if its relevent or not, just seemed like it might be a clue
12/05/08
12/05/08
12/05/08
But hey, at least we might get to see Fahey ride the lightning in that devil machine of an electric chair they apparently want to put him in. The most interesting thing I noticed were the rings for suspension cables. Hrmmm...
12/05/08
12/05/08
I am so excited I can't stand it. I can imagine it will sell for the low, low price of $7000+.
12/05/08
I have few memories of being happier.
I was a Nintendo Power subscriber, and I think that the postcard was sent to me either instead of somebody else, or as a huge, strange, generalized marketing effort.
It said, "Dear [redacted], Thanks for your letter! The answers are: The Industrial Revolution, Mij, and Something Beige." Turned out that these were the answers for a quiz in the game that hadn't come out yet. My postcard was cooler than your briefcase...and cheaper!
12/05/08
...and other ridiculous marketing stunts.
At least this is a cool (unpretentious)one:
[www.heartlessdoll.com]