Six years ago we saw an extremely talented “single” action movie with a beautiful plot, stunning shootouts and piercing mysticism. The same F.E.A.R. we were served as something delicious, like an elegant mixture of the acclaimed “The Matrix” with the unforgettable “The Ring”. When the subtle aroma of cheap imitation emanated from literally everything around, the freshness of the brainchild Monolith Productions quickly attracted a lot of attention to the project: after the epoch-making Far Cry, Half-Life 2, Doom 3 and a series of sluggish parodies of them, the game was eagerly awaited and received with open arms, tightening diapers and updating the hardware to meet the “nextgen”. They made a lot of noise: for the shortcomings, and for the design of the locations, and for the degree of “scaryness” – bursting into “shit” was a nice thing, and the word “conveyor” was then rarely called even Electronic Arts.
And now it’s the summer of 2011, nanotechnology, vacations and fast Internet. You downloaded a clumsy “repack” a long time ago F.3.A.R., I wrote a review on a blog and tweeted a link to it, and now, without making it through the article to these lines and quickly skipping to the rating, you write a comment about how they slipped you “another slag with an incomprehensible plot”.
Two renegade brothers
The dark era of filth and cruelty has come, when investing in offline is unprofitable. It’s time to forget decent single-player campaigns like a bad dream: the emphasis on multiplayer and cooperative mode is only gaining momentum, and the eternal kingdom of MMOs and F2P is only a few years away. The complex single-player gameplay has finally ceased to be an argument in favor of purchase, so one should hardly be surprised by the transformation of F.E.A.R. to an incendiary “cooperative”. The classic “single” has not yet been pulled out by the roots, but passing without a partner is a form of self-flagellation.
Once again, Paxton Fettel, who has risen from the dead, strongly hints at this already in the introduction, saving his silent brother from the monsters of “Armaham”, who are interrogating with passion. Talking about family and mutual assistance, the ghost insistently makes it clear that we are now in the same harness and, they say, there is no time to fight, otherwise the world around us will burn to the ground. The Point Man maintains a “poker face” in the presence of a translucent maniac, whom he himself put a bullet between the eyes the day before, and without further hesitation begins to assist. From this moment on, the quality of the game directly depends on the conditions, and how it will unfold F.3.A.R. exclusively in the “for two” mode with vigorous negotiations and good “teamplay”.
In the skin of https://nongamstop-casinos.uk/review/palm-casino/ a silent man, everything is the same as before: dashing shooting, assault and slowdown. Systematic shooting of assorted special forces, drug addicts and unknown animals, flavored with special effects and sluggish “pauses for fear”. Nothing noticeably new, except perhaps a very convenient and sometimes even truly life-saving shelter system. Everything is extremely simple and familiar from console action movies, only from the first person: clinging to a conveniently located object, we lean out in every possible way and shoot back with impunity.
In the case of solo overcoming, that’s all the charm F.3.A.R. and will end. There is no trace left of the former atmosphere of gloom and desolation; now there are bright colors, scripted staging and crowds of rivals everywhere. Simple attempts to surprise quickly tire, and the plot is marking time and, in general, boils down to the fact that the belly – according to the results of F.E.A.R. 2 – Alma intends to give birth to universal evil, her contractions are shaking the whole world, and we are the last hope for deliverance. However, the co-op mode literally takes the campaign to a completely different level. Horror stories lose all meaning, the plot fades into the background, and the focus is on the primitive drive with foul language and a friendly dose of shot in the ass.
The mechanoid leaves no chance for opponents, and even allows them not to leave the stolen body without chasing souls.
Vettel, under the strict guidance of the player, behaves extremely defiantly: he pushes, throws curses, lifts spiteful critics into the air and takes over their bodies with a maniacal giggle. In someone else’s slippers, the phantom brother becomes worthy fire support for the main character, uses weapons, waves his arms and dives into cover. Except that time can’t slow down, and apartments in enemy organisms don’t last very long – in order not to lose the carcass, you need to constantly kill all living things around and scrape the souls of the dead into the piggy bank. Along the way, Paxton does not miss the opportunity to talk about the plot, “troll” the silent Point Man and make faces in cut scenes between chapters.
Frankly speaking, the all-powerful ghost with paranormal abilities turned out to be very vulnerable and not to say an incredibly dangerous type. The disembodied Vettel readily reacts to all types of damage and becomes ill, and he is unable to entertain more than one “volunteer” with his tricks, which makes him extremely vulnerable. The trick with a bright psychokinetic tentacle that hugs the enemy and lifts him into the air turned out to be essentially nothing – there is no way to physically influence a weak-willed body, you can’t hit him against the walls or drag him across the floor. Here it’s either to move in or cause damage in ordinary ways, taking advantage of the victim’s confusion. So you will have to get used to the role of a ghost, as well as to the noticeable dominance of the Point Man. Having come to terms with this, you can even sometimes cover it with spells and protect it with magic in the best traditions of MMOs.
They almost never leave us alone, there is always something moving, sounding and humming around us. There’s nowhere to get stuck, and there’s no way to get scared either – just rush straight through defiantly convincing locations and enjoy the spectacular death of your enemies. And when you get tired of it, go online.
Four “brothers” adversaries
Now there are no crowds to roam around here – more than four people are not allowed to attend one party. But in return, a selection of very interesting modes from “Survival” in the style of the latter Call of Duty with zombies to "Fucked, let’s run"!» (F*cking Run!), where you need to quickly break through linear locations through crowds of enemies, fleeing from a deadly wave of fog. There are also modes with the participation of disembodied characters, in which you need to either aggressively compete with each other for the souls of the murdered, or confront enemies made of flesh and blood. In good company, all this will bring a lot of pleasure on a dull evening after a hard day at work, but it is unlikely to be on an ongoing basis.
This is the main problem F.3.A.R. – despite all the cheerfulness of the gaming spirit, there is absolutely no need to linger here, no plot secrets beckon you back, no memories of intricate shootouts make you want to replay the moment again and see what will change if you choose a different tactic. One of the leading advantages of F was ingloriously ruined.E.A.R. – masterful artificial intelligence of well-organized rivals. If in the original the “bots” always found something to surprise, how to regroup and get around from behind, then here nothing changes from time to time – the idiots simply follow a stupid trajectory instilled in them by the hand of the director. No division by seniority, no tactics – just banal pressure, characteristic of literally all ordinary shooters on the market.
IN Day 1 Studios recklessly decided that Vettel’s slo-mo and grin were quite enough to maintain the same mood, which sank the whole idea, although it, of course, expanded the audience. Incendiary fights, rides on mechs, straightforward gameplay with sustained dynamics – what else does an ordinary player need who just passed by a stall with discs and asked for something to shoot for the evening?
Pros: cooperative mode; lively multiplayer; stylish location design.
Cons: plot and presentation; artificial intelligence; this is not F.E.A.R.