pdenton on 20/6/2011 at 16:59

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No reviews yet...anywhere. Is this a bad sign? With movies it always is...I'm buying regardless because I'm a fan of the series and need some coop in my life right now but still...

june gloom on 20/6/2011 at 17:24

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It's not a major release like, uh, DNF or DX HR or whatever, and it's not out yet.

pdenton on 21/6/2011 at 07:08

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I'm on my phone so I won't link to reviews directly but so far FEAR is getting 8's across the board. Campaign is regarded as solid and more diverse than past games in the series but criticized for being too short. No surprise to me, but it sounds like Paxton is infinitely more fun to play as. Co-op is widely praised for being unique, customizable, and featuring stat tracking across all modes.

I wish more praise was thrown at the story and writing but I guess ill see soon enough in a few hours once I get off set!

Koki on 21/6/2011 at 13:51

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Is it anamorphic?

[Edit]



I checked out an LP and there are achievement popups(quite fucking frequent too). But the guy was playing it on a console, so it might be possible to turn off.

Also, health regen and cover system.

Despite all that, I kind of liked the premise.

pdenton on 22/6/2011 at 00:38

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Regarding the "points" question...like Gears of War, or Orange Box, if you perform a certain number of actions (25 melee kills, 60 kills with SMG, etc) you get points. These points allow you "rank up" in the singleplayer and co-op and give you longer bullettime, run faster, etc. I love that the points carry over from mode to mode. And, for me, it's not done in an intrusive way. There's a box in the bottom left hand corner of the HUD that briefly shows up to display your progress in a task. If you rank up a brief text box will show up on your HUD a la Battlefield or Call of Duty. There's no points falling off enemies like Borderlands or anything like that.

I've now played two of the co-op modes with a friend and I'm on the third "Interval". I'll give you the rundown:

The campaign (so far): Story is focused and has a clear theme about family. Gameplay is fast and fluid. The neon highlights that were present in FEAR 2's bullettime are (thankfully) gone. Grenades aren't nearly as hard to use as some critics have made it seem. Weapons so far are unique looking variations on the FPS staples (shotgun, SMG, pistol). The visuals are strong in the lighting department. There's a lot of attention to detail in the environments but textures and models can look a little dated. The enemies so far have only been commandos but they're smart like in past FEAR games. They flank, use context specific communication, and take cover. Speaking of which, I love the cover system. On consoles, it's a breeze to hop from cover to cover, lean, and bound over obstacles. It's not as sophisticated as Mirror's Edge or Brink, but it adds a level of strategy to the shoot outs. Playing it by myself, the game is certainly more atmospheric, but has yet to "scare" me once (one brief jump aside). But there's time and I respect that the game is slowly ramping up the stakes and situations. I will say this though: playing as Fettel is infinitely more fun than playing as Point Man. It's not that PM isn't fun, it's that Fettel's powers let him do so much more than PM's standard gun and slow motion fare. Combining their powers in co-op is an awesome treat, especially using the "hold" power and allowing Point Man to shoot commandos midair. As critics have pointed out, the game isn't scary with a friend, but it definitely is more fun.

Co-op (that I've tried so far...):

Fucking Run: this is easily my favorite mode. It is absolutely terrifying to look behind you and see that mammoth wall of death charging towards you. My friend and I beat every map after a few repeated attempts on the middle difficulty, but every victory felt like it was narrowly won. It's tense, it's unique, and forces you to work together.

Contractions: as a fan of Nazi Zombies, I have to say I prefer this mode more. There's no points to accumulate (or spend) and you can WIN giving the gameplay more purpose than just survival. You need to scavenge for weapons and ammo on the battlefield. Alma wanders the map, like a Left 4 Dead witch, and can blind or transport players if they look at her. Additionally, each wave of enemies is diverse. You'll see commandos, zombies, mechs, and dog-like creatures, to just name a few. The maps are considerably smaller than Nazi Zombies, but it feels more focused and frantic. There's no power ups to give you more ammo so if you're running low, things get stressful as you and your team weigh going out into the unknown to look for more ammo or new weapons.

Overall, especially if you have a console, I'd highly recommend FEAR 3 so far. Being able to play so much content, in a multitude of modes, with a friend split screen or online is awesome. :thumb: