Bjossi on 18/11/2007 at 05:36

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Your video card is the reason for the bad performance, not the engine. Just look at the performance the 8600 GT delivers for it's target games, not too impressive. But EP did have poor optimization, pretty much the same graphics but yet the players (especially ATi users) saw a vast decrease in performance. I noticed some reduction myself.

Malygris on 18/11/2007 at 06:24

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I'm about half-way into my second run-through with it. The problem isn't that it looks bad, because aside from some shitty outdoor bits that really drive home the point that this engine was made for indoor settings, it looks just like FEAR, which even after a few years is pretty solid. And it's not difficult at all, the new heavies are no different from the old heavies except for the fact that they pack a grenade launcher and there are only two or three of them in the entire thing anyway. And it's not that it's a rehash, because of course it's a rehash, and under other circumstances there's nothing wrong with more FEAR.

The trouble is that it's an utterly half-assed effort. It feels like it was cranked out over a weekend to cash in on whatever remains of the original FEAR series before the sequels get too close to ignore. The level design is SHIT, the pacing is SHIT, the new enemies are SHIT (explain to me how aside from a new voice they're any different AT ALL than the Replicas), and the story is SHIT. The only reason this abortion of a game exists in the first place is because some asshole at Sierra said HAY GUYZ I THINK WE CAN SQUEEZE A FEW MORE DROPS OUT OF THIS LEMON, and it shows. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but how anyone who's actually played FEAR can fire this thing up and see it as anything more than the turd it is is really beyond me.

Jason Moyer on 18/11/2007 at 13:22

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You're replaying Primal Hunt? Why on earth?

Bjossi on 18/11/2007 at 15:56

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I'm not seeing too much of a storyline in PM so far. The first mention of Alma that I can remember was when my team mates told me about a "8 year old girl", then they scratched their head why she was gone a second later. It was in the 2nd or 3rd interval.

But I do see events from the last game. Remember the massive explosion at the end of the original?

I'm now in interval 4, by the way. I was playing it last night and I haven't been this scared in a long time. My arsenal wasn't very good for the bastards I was dealing with. . .

And Malygris; there are 3 groups of people in this world: People that haven't played FEAR/don't know it exists, FEAR fans, and huge FEAR fans. Only the 3rd group will like the expansion. I love FEAR's gameplay enough that I don't care if I'm using mostly the same guns against the same enemies; it is just a fucking blast.

Bjossi on 18/11/2007 at 16:30

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I have replayed FEAR 4 times already, and EP twice. There is no doubt I'll be replaying this one as well.

Now that you mention replays; I have yet to do an Extreme no slomo runthrough in EP.