F.E.A.R. (pc)

[TommyG]

I was just gutted that you couldn't

->Open Spoiler<-

kick that crap out of the ED-209 lookalike at the end!

[anephric]

Had the latest **** for Doom and still suffered those problems. Hopefully a new version installed tonight will resolve these issues cause it is the only thing letting the game down at the moment.

Have you tried the latest Omega ATI drivers? I've got pretty much the same setup as you (overclocked and 1gig RAM tho) and don't get flickering textures (iirc).

[Corrupt Rose]

The one when you walk down the ladder and just see her walking towards you, then you get tot he bottom, turn round and the guy is like right in front of you!!

Cue 10 seconds of manic shooting in all directions!

What? That illicited an "Oh" from me, and then on with the level. I mean, the thing he says is the absolute hight of cheese. I feel embarrased about writing that sort of thing in my GCSE literature classes when I wrote horror stories, let alone it making it into a game with such obviously high production values.

There was not a single scare in that demo. Maybe I've got a bit of a resistance considering all the horror I read, watch and write, but considering there are still things that scare the **** out of me even after repeated viewings or readings, I'm more swinging toward the opinion that horror in the game is really substandard "shock" horror than anything else.

Maybe the horror is also lessened by the fact that I'm a genetically engineered super-solder who can drop into bullet-time at will while firing off my arsenal of deadly weapons, and that I don't feel nearly as vunerable as I should do.

[marcus]

Its a weird thing horror, I too dont find the game scary whatsoever, yet others here clearly do. Its something that effects people on so many different levels. I think over the years Ive become desensatized by what Ive seen in various mediums, as I recall being scared out of my wits playing Aliens on my Speccy with a 14" screen late at night.

[Mardigan8]

Aliens V Predator acared the **** out of me playing it... its the fear of the unknown that FEAR and other such games try to instill in the player... What is round that corner, why is the music changing, what was that noise. If you let all the tricks the game throws at you suck you in you will jump, you will feel nervous walking around in the game. It is all relative to the player and there perception of the game and its atmosphere... for each person it is different.

AvP was the first game that truly scared me while playing it... not knowing whenthe next face ****er was gonna jump had me on tender hooks FEAR does the same but does it better, making the source of the FEAR not physical but supernatural. THAt for me makes it even better!!

The fact that you control a time slowing super soldier has no bearing for me on the feeling of fear in the game. The things that scare you aint physical so your powers would be helpless. I guess it is easier for some to immerse themselves in a games atmosphere and let it take hold.

Corrupt - it prob is the multitude of horror which has numbed you to this very simple, "unexpected things appearing" formula in FEAR. For me, its is going to be a nerve shredding, action fest and I cant wait for the full title!!

[Uli]

what about a next gen console port then? any word of it so far?

[Mardigan8]

Have you tried the latest Omega ATI drivers? I've got pretty much the same setup as you (overclocked and 1gig RAM tho) and don't get flickering textures (iirc).

Been using the Catlyst drivers last I checked. Where best place to get Omega drivers?? It has to be a graphical issue rather than memory, etc. Such a little thing but really bringing down the overall quality of the game!!

[Kotatsu Neko]

what about a next gen console port then? any word of it so far?

Monolith games have been ported in the past. No-One Lives Forever went to PS2, and TRON 2.0 went to Xbox. Monolith have an Xbox 360 game in development called Condemned (which will be published by SEGA), but so far haven't mentioned anything about porting F.E.A.R..

[Mardigan8]

What I have seen of Codemned so far looks very tasty. If they pull it off as well as FEAR looks to be heading the 360 will have a great Monolith title on its roster!!

[anephric]

Been using the Catlyst drivers last I checked. Where best place to get Omega drivers?? It has to be a graphical issue rather than memory, etc. Such a little thing but really bringing down the overall quality of the game!!

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

[Rossco]

Aliens V Predator acared the **** out of me playing it... its the fear of the unknown that FEAR and other such games try to instill in the player... What is round that corner, why is the music changing, what was that noise. If you let all the tricks the game throws at you suck you in you will jump, you will feel nervous walking around in the game. It is all relative to the player and there perception of the game and its atmosphere... for each person it is different.

AvP was the first game that truly scared me while playing it... not knowing whenthe next face ****er was gonna jump had me on tender hooks FEAR does the same but does it better, making the source of the FEAR not physical but supernatural. THAt for me makes it even better!!

The fact that you control a time slowing super soldier has no bearing for me on the feeling of fear in the game. The things that scare you aint physical so your powers would be helpless. I guess it is easier for some to immerse themselves in a games atmosphere and let it take hold.

Corrupt - it prob is the multitude of horror which has numbed you to this very simple, "unexpected things appearing" formula in FEAR. For me, its is going to be a nerve shredding, action fest and I cant wait for the full title!!

Yeah I agree completely, I'm always very jumpy and love scary movies , games etc because I am always scared of them, no matter what it is, I'm always nervous of whats around the corner etc, I don't know why I'm like that, just a big pansy I guess!!


But F.E.A.R. looks so much fun to play, can't wait to get the full game.

On another note though, how do you do the flying kick thingy? I don't remember seeing it in the controls and completely forgot you could do it!!

[Mardigan8]

There are a couple of moves that I worked out how to do last night (one by accident and the other by trying various things after seeing it in a demo)...

The flying kick is carried out by pressing melee attack while jumping. Looks so good in slo mo when you connect with a boys face, hehehe.

The sliding kick is quite tricky... for this press crouch and melee attack as you are landing from a jump (I think) something like this pulls it off. Aint managed to land this one anyone just now but fully intend to break it open tonight.

Really hope the full game incorporates more melee moves into the game. They add a nice twist to the combat, especially with the bullet time action going at the same time!!

[Corrupt Rose]

I found AvP to be nerve inducing and intimidating on a level that FEAR doesn't even approch, because the sense of oppression and fear was ever present, and you were fighting monsters that could kill you in a headbeat if you didn't stay on a razors edge the whole time.

It's a well known fact that trying to stay alert the whole time in a stressful environment causes even more stress, and AvP thrived on that, with blips at the edge of your motion scanner perpetually reminding you that there was danger ahead, and that you had to stay frosty.

If you were didn't, you were dead. ****ing scary, and tiring.

FEAR has none of that. You have your typical 'spooky' bit and then you're back to fighting blokes who are just flesh and blood, with your superhuman reactions and heavy weapons. Maybe the whole game is better, but in the demo, there's no way to be damaged by the supernatural elements, so they don't induce stress.

Without the stress there no anticipatory tension or fear, and it completely falls flat. The arguement that fear is based on the unknown is a valid one, and indeed humans arn't scared of the dark, but what the dark conceals... but the demo was so packed full of generica and cheesy omens of doom, as well as cack lines from disintergrating ghosts, I feel as though I know what's coming up.

Basically, the problem with fear is that I don't feel the slightest bit vunerable like I do in AvP, or in games like Silent Hill/Project Zero. That's the point of horror more than the fear of the unknown... vunerability.

[marcus]

I hear what you are saying, but, as Im sure you already know, its way too early to judge whether or not the game is likely to actually be scary in any way or not based on a very short demo. I expect it to be very atmospheric, rather than actually scary, kinda like how Doom 3 was, although that had numerous moments that made me jump.

The most scary games do pit you against seemingly impossible odds and make the most of your vunerability I agree, AVP was great for that, and you did get the feeling of living on a knife-edge throughout, at least when you played as the marine anyways.

Its also another reason why the first Fatal Frame (seeing as you mention it) was far more scary than Fatal Frame 2, not only was you vunerable and fighting great odds, it was also much harder than the sequel, and you had therefore more to lose by dying. Which is another reason why I think PC games struggle to be scary, as a quick save removes any of the tenseness that would of been created through the feeling of loss and deflation that being killed would usually bring.

[Mardigan8]

I was swaying between angling it from the Fear of death rather than the unknown but as you have just pointed out Corrupt F.E.A.R does not thrive on this kind of fear as they things there to scare you are harmless.

It is the atmosphere created in the game and the presence of things you cant explain that are the driving force behind the game. For a lot of people it is the fear of death in a game that causes them to behave nervously and afraid, but this is common feeling to have in any game. FEAR is different in the sense that you cant be killed (yet) by the things there to scare you... for me, that makes there presence more potent.

In Doom and in a sense AvP, most firefights started with you being scared ****less making them frenzied affairs... this was a fear of death.

In FEAR, the scary moments are abstract from the action itself making them more potent... they are not bolted onto the action but instead are the key to discovering the games story.

It is a totally unknown entity you are facing in FEAR and that for me makes it more terrifying than any physical being that can cause me harm. If its physical I can fight it, so after the inital shock if it jumping out its just another enemy but if it appears out of nothing, laughs in the shadows and is impossible to hit then you really have to start thinking, WTF is this and how the **** am I going to kill it??? THAT is what makes this game scary, you have no control over this enemy, it cant be killed and it is toying with you, haunting you as you move... that, for me, is more terrifying than any physical enemy that can attack me!!

Mind you we have only played 30 minutes of the game. Prob best to get the full version before we put forward our cases, hehehe.