F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Review
By Stephen Heller
In each and every wave of games that come through on the PC platform, there is always that one, must have game that will have people all over the world buying new systems, just to play the game at full spec. Quake 2 did this, Unreal did this and Crysis is still doing this. In 2006 Monolith's horror FPS F.E.A.R was that must have game that had people buying more RAM and more graphics grunt than they could afford just to play the game in its full glory. To say F.E.A.R. 2 had a lot to live up to would be the understatement of the year and I'm happy to report it exceeds expectations.
F.E.A.R. 2 begins 30 minutes before the ending of F.E.A.R., and it sure does start with a bang! You fill the shoes of Special-Forces operative Michael Beckett, who has started to have strange visions of a young girl on a swing. These visions are not just freaky, but they are full of atmosphere and tension, and as they steadily increase throughout the game they really flesh out the story.
Monolith really feel at home with this title and you can tell. The narrative and story-telling elements are vastly improved from the first title (not to say they were at all bad).Project Origin, offers a more complete experience, a fantastic story, backed up with a solid and enjoyable FPS. The combat can get fairly intense as enemies come at you from several directions, surrounding you, flanking you and shooting you like a pinata at a rifle range. Project Origin doesn't try to re-invent the wheel as many of the gameplay mechanics have been brought over from the first game, yet this time they are more refined. The beauty is Project Origin doesn't need to re-invent the wheel because the game is such an engaging experience for the player.
Once again F.E.A.R. shows us some truly amazing AI. One minute you'll be walking in a dark corridor with your flashlight on, and next thing you'll hear screaming alerting nearby soldiers of the light. Before you know it enemies will be surrounding you, flanking you and flipping tables as cover. They AI won't just sit there shooting at you until they need to reload either - if they can't hit you, they'll move to another vantage point where they can. The AI will blow you away, literally, especially on the harder difficulties.
That being said, for veterans of FPS shooters the game might feel a little too easy. While the AI is smart and does offer some kind of variation, a lot of the time you will find yourself outnumbered 10-1 and it will be too easy to blast through. The slow-mo mechanic is back with a vengeance and it looks better than ever. These stylised moments make the game feel like your very own action/horror film.
As a whole, Project Origin just feels like a really easy experience. It might take you a while to get through an area, but that's because enemies keep coming. Enemies feel like cannon fodder because there are health pick-ups all over the place and ammo is incredibly easy to come by. This is unfortunate, because the prospect of fighting genetically manufactured soldiers makes you think you're in for a wild ride, when really, you're in for lengthy battles that almost always end up with you progressing with near-full health.
I'm glad Project Origin didn't adopt the now classic regenerating health mechanic. Here it's good old fashioned stock up on medkits and hope you've got enough to pull through these epic battles. On harder modes this really makes for some intense and memorable gunfights when the smoke clears and you manage to walk out still in once piece.
Difficulty aside, the gameplay is a lot of fun, filled with dark corridors, spooky atmosphere, and some of the goriest visuals that have come to a game in the last few years. The visual presentation is top notch, water beads across the HUD, the sound is just right and there is a descrete film grain effect accross it all that makes it looks fantastic. Project Origin has a rather organic feel to it, and it ranks right up there with one of the better looking games on the PC market today.
Speaking of which, Project Origin is incredibly gory. From the moment the game starts up, you'll see decaying head-less bodies on the floor with blood splattered all over the walls. Throw a grenade into a group of enemies and see them literally explode everywhere. It's incredibly cool.
Monolith have listened to their fans and critics, and it really shows with the improvements in the environments. Instead of long, grey and dark hallways we are presetned with interesting settings, featuring textures and exciting places to explore. One minute you'll be storming a hospital, next you'll be in the spooky halls of a elementary school, and eventually you'll end up at ground zero of a nuclear explosion. Not only is it more interesting, it offers different settings throughout the game to have the wits scared out of you.
Project Origin progresses in chapters rather than levels, so there's a more distinctive narrative feeling about, which really makes it feel like a horror sci-fi movie. It really enhances the experience because it doesn't feel like a basic game with basic levels. It moves from area to area as the story is told. You can see the upcoming area in the distance and once you reach it, the new chapter begins.
Project Origin also offers an extremely solid multiplayer experience. The expected modes are all there, from capture the flag to team deathmatch and deathmatch. Most of the weapons from the single-player experience are included, but they've been balanced out to offer a better multiplayer experience. Don't expect to knock down a human opponent with as few bullets as it takes to kill a grunt in the solo campaign.
But the multiplayer really shines through in Armoured Front, a mode that pits you against other opponents in the armoured mech suits. You basically have to capture five objectives and each time we played this mode, it ended in an all-out brawl in the middle of the map. Try and imagine eight of the armoured mech suits all against each other in an all-out brawl. It's absolutely unreal! Bullets are flying everywhere, explosions are going off all over the place – it's brilliant!
Project Origin probably won't top multiplayer lists, but it's still an experience worth checking out, especially if you've finished the solo campaign a few times and mastered the gameplay.
The Final Verdict
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is the sequel fans have been waiting for. It picks up all the pieces from F.E.A.R and runs with them, improving almost every aspect of the game. Visuals are outstanding, AI is still smarter than most, even if it can be a little easy for some. Backed up with a strong narrative, fantastic atmosphere and a decent multiplayer offering, this is truly the horror FPS many have been waiting for.
Gameplay
8.6/10
What we get is a very solid, straight-up shooter experience. There are plenty of weapons and heaps of enemies to get through, but we've done it all before. Still, it's good enough to experience again and it's really enjoyable.
Graphics
9.5/10
Monolith have moved-on from the office blocks to offer something a little more engaging. The lighting effects are great and the attention to detail is top notch, the motion blur and film grain add to an amazing looking game.
Sound
8.1/10
Great weapon and atmospheric effects. Ultimately, the lame voice-acting brings the audio presentation down a notch.
Value
8.8/10
You'll probably finish the solo campaign in 10-12 hours, but then you might want to play through it again on a higher difficulty and because it's so much fun. You also have multiplayer, which is solid, and the amazing Armoured Front.
Overall
9/10
System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements:
*CPU: P4 2.8GHz (3.2GHz Vista)/Athlon 64 3000+ (3200+ Vista)
*GPU: DX9-capable graphics card with 256MB (SM 2.0b). NVidia 6800 or ATI X700.
*RAM: 1GB (1.5GB Vista)
*Hard Drive: 12GB
*OS: Windows XP SP2/Vista SP1
*DirectX: 9.0c
*Sound: DX9.0c compliant
*Optical drive: DVD (boxed only)
Internet: Broadband
Recommended System Requirements:
*CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz processor family/Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (required for MP host)
*GPU: Fully DX9-compliant graphics card with 512MB (SM 3.0). NVidia 8600 GTS or ATI HD 2900 XT.
*Ram: 1.5GB
*Hard Drive: 12GB
*OS: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1
*DirectX: 9.0c
*Sound: DX9.0c compliant
*Optical drive: DVD (boxed only)
*Internet: Broadband (768kbit/sec upstream required to host 16 players)
Review System
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 6000+
RAM: 4gb
GPU: 2x 8600GT 512mb SLI
Perfromance: Visuals High, Minimal Lag