March 01, 2009
Fear 2
I know that some of our readers aren't necessarily into the game culture. You should all read Abraxas anyway. Most game reviewers just review the game. Today, Abraxas reviews the game, horror films, and gives you useful tips on making your gaming experience better. The game may not be great, but Abraxas is ichiban!
FEAR 2 is the 4th game in the Fear series. FEAR 2 was made by the original developer, Monolith, and not the studios the other sequels were farmed out to; clearly making this fourth game in the series a sequel to the first game.
I have been struggling to find a way to accurately describe this game to others, and I think I've got it now: if you locked a group of designers in a house for a month, and only allowed them to watch Japanese horror movies, the first Matrix movie, and play a Rainbow 6 tactical shooter- this is the game they would design. Now to give a clearer picture of that game, think of a movie like the Grudge. Instead of Sara Michelle Geller mangling the Japanese language, you're a super-soldier mangling the enemy troops. And the creepy black-hair-in-her-face little girl wants to have your babies.
With or without your consent.Oh, and she gruesomely murders your friends in front of you just to show you how much she cares. Sounds fun, right?
Actually, there is an intriguing dichotomy- yes, dichotomy, I like the word, and it's a good word so I don't want any more email comments about it, alright? Where was I? Oh, yeah, dichotomy. On one hand, the game is a competent FPS, where the AI lays down covering fire, uses cover, runs away from grenades, and tries to flank your position. It also doesn't cheat by allowing the AI to know where you are at all times. That part is good.
The graphics are a little sub-par, but as I have said before I will take dumbed down graphics for smarter AI. On the other hand, at its finest moment FEAR 2 is a mediocre horror story that has some clever elements to it. I say mediocre even though for an interactive genre we are not allowed to interact with the horror elements at all. Well, other than to mash one button to get a monster off your face. And, there isn't a connection of the super soldier to the horror part of the story. Well, I say isn't a connection but they do try to connect it by saying the soldier had been experimented on and then activated so he could use his super-soldiery power of slow-mo time.
This seems to me, to borrow a term from the comics industry, a bit of a retcon. Why does our faceless and voiceless shooter hero have the super slow-mo action ability found in all the other current FPS's? Well, he has been a lab rat for the same people that made the spooky little girl!
Really? He's in a horror story, and he gets super slow-mo powers? Really?!?
'Cause that shows up so often in the horror genre, super reflexes does. I mean, in that last Nightmare on Elm Street movie, when they used their super reflexes to- yeah, no. It didn't happen, because it's not appropriate to a horror story.
Let me give you an example of thematically appropriate: Dead Space. Isaac has super tech to slow things down. They explained where it came from- super tech, and it made sense in the world- the far future. This is not the case in FEAR 2. He has slow-mo because he's a super soldier and the only reason he's a super soldier is so he can have the slow mo gimmick. And, here we are at pointless gimmick one more time.
Frankly, in my Un-Humble Opinion© corporate super soldiers do not belong in horror stories because horror is about being powerless, i.e. the victimization of the hero and his buddies. You are afraid because there is nothing you can do to stop what is about to happen, and when the emotional surrogate does find a way to triumph over the antagonist you have a cathartic release of emotion. Super soldiers are by their very nature neither powerless nor victims.
Unless super soldiers are there to die and prove that the situation is really dangerous thus raises the level of tension for the normal person that survived the attack. You know, kind of like those guys in the red shirts in the original Star Trek show. For the most part, the horror story is conveyed to us via npc rambling monologues right before they are brutally killed. Or in dark hallways where you have to press B to get the little girl off your junk. As if you needed anything more than the thought of a creepy super-psychic 12 year old out for your mommy/daddy button to be scared.
Not even in Japan is the age of consent 12.
Now, there is something that I think takes this game out of the crapper and into mediocre- some of the dialog elements. There is one specific set early on that got some respect from me. One of your soldier buddies asks another character for their name, and the voice responds "you can call me Snake-fist" both I and the other npc said at the same time, "What the fuck kind of name is that?" Seriously, word for word. When you can anticipate what your player is thinking or wants to say, you are on to something- that is good.
It's quippy writing too. Genre-referencing nerd satire is always good times. But that's it. And that really disappoints me, because somebody at Monolith has a great sense of humor and could probably pen a decent story for us. It's too bad they didn't write more of this one.
However, there is one thing about the game that bugs me to this day. On one of the early maps you are supposed to be escaping from a hospital via the roof. Once on the roof, standing next to a sky light, you discover that this hospital building has been built in a giant underground cavern. Now, I want to be clear here- this is not a series of floors carved into the rock. No. This is a building you could encounter in the "normal" world out on the street that has been built in the closed confines of a cavern. So, why would you build something underground with a skylight in it?
No, seriously. Why would you build a skylight into a building you knew would never have a need for it? WTF?!?
As it stands now, FEAR 2 is a competent, but not great FPS with a rather weak horror story plastered onto it. While it does use lighting and anticipation to good effect, those uses are best in the combat portions and horribly telegraph the horror portions. Additionally, the horror elements are almost all cut scenes and npc monologs so it is more that we are told this is a horror rather than being shown.
If you're thinking about buying FEAR 2 let me save you a bit of trouble, give you the same visual effects and introduce you to some genuine terror. You will need:
1. 1 pair of yellow lens safety glasses.
2. A small jar of Vaseline.
3. 3 bottles of cheap red wine.
4. Several candles and a lighter.
5. A plate.
Now, go over to your mother's house when she's not there one night and into the room with the new white carpet and white couch. Liberally smear the glasses with the Vaseline, set them aside as they will be needed later. Next, dump one bottle of the red wine on the carpet. Be sure to spread it around and work it into the fabric. Empty the contents of the second bottle on portions of the couch and across the walls. Be sure to leave one clean area on the couch, as you will be occupying it in a few moments. Light the candles, place them on the plate for mood lighting, but make sure to put the plate discretely out of the way of foot traffic.
Lastly, open the last of the bottles, put on the goobed-up glasses, and have a seat on the one clean spot on the couch. Drink wine until mom returns. Your subsequent murder and dismemberment at the hands of your own mother will be far more terrifying and action packed than anything FEAR 2 can produce. If you have any comments, feedback, or just want to tell me how awesome I am hit me up at abraxas@cybermonkeydeathsquad.com
If you have a particular game you want me to review send it to do.it.yourself@youremail.com.