F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Review - PS3

7

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 7
Audio: 8
Multiplayer: 6
Innovation: 3

Introduction

First of all, Monolith Productions, you could have dispensed with the full stops this time around. It was stupid to begin with – First Encounter Assault Recon? – but you had the opportunity to go with just FEAR and you didn't take it. Anyway, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin overlaps with the end of the first game, which means that you’re playing as a different character with a different squad. Your team follows a trail of suspicious characters and secret scientific experiments while the city crumbles around you.

Gameplay

F.E.A.R 2, henceforth Project Origin, is a first-person shooter first and a horror game second, in that it is a horror game at first and becomes more of a shooter as the game goes on. The game is broken up into fourteen chapters, and within these chapters are seven ‘intervals’ (think Heroes – defined seasons, but with story arc ‘volumes’). You get a smattering of story through the voiceovers of your teammates – enough to get you moving from A to B – but if you want to know more about what has actually been going on, you ought to keep an eye out for the pieces of intel littered through the environment. That being said, the story, which centres on the ghostly Alma, is actually quite compelling. I was unexpectedly moved at the end of the game when I found myself walking through a familiar room – an almost throwaway inclusion.

The game plays in a linear fashion, with you moving through the world in a fairly two-dimensional fashion. While an environment may on occasion appear to open up, you can be assured that all of the potential paths will converge at the same point soon enough. It’s definitely not an open world, despite the rather Fallout-esque forays through destroyed city streets.

That being said, the game rewards you for thoroughly exploring the environments. Typically, when the game seems to be pointing you in one direction, if you take a second to head the other way, you’ll encounter a dead end with a few clips of ammo, some health kits, or even the coveted yellow ‘Reflex Injector’ that increases the time you can spend in the slow motion ‘Reflex’ mode. Of course, there are trophies for collecting all of the injectors (which you’d want to do anyway) and the intel, so it’s worth taking the time to sweep the rooms before moving on.

The problem with the game is that the first few levels are terribly uninteresting. You play through four or so stages set in the same dark corridors of a ruined hospital, fighting off mutant creatures and getting accustomed to Project Origin’s tropes. When you finally break through to the surface for the first time, it is a breath of fresh air. The game actually improves steadily from then on as they vary the formula: new guns and more sci-fi weapons make fights interesting again. There are sections where other squad members do the brunt of the fighting while you cover them, and more ...