I F.E.A.R. the worst!

[Drazula]

Hi guys! I been taking care of family matters and haven't been around for a while. So I thought I'd reappear with a bang, by taking a more critical look at one of the the best games of the year, F.E.A.R.! Yeah, many have praised it, deservedly so, but let's look at where it could have been improved. Before I go on, I would say this review at Adrenaline Vault (http://www.avault.com/reviews/review_temp.asp?game=fear) most closely sums up my overall love of F.E.A.R.

So let's look at one of our favorites through a sniper scope:

The ridiculous: these should have been changed.

- Floating proximity mine. What is up with this? It should have never gone out the door with this bug. Too many times I threw the mine perfectly, only to see it float in the air and force me to reload. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif

- One save slot, per save type. When will developers learn that this is not a good idea. It forces the player to think about saving at the right time, instead of staying immersed. One bad save moment and you are screw. Yeah, it had multiple "slow saves" but that kind of save ruins immersion too. I would have preferred multiple quick saves and multiple checkpoints.

- Serious armor damage from melee attack! Are you kidding me? This made no sense to me at all. How does someone punching me hurt my armor. Seems like they used a "generic formula" for how damage impacts armor and health. They should have had a seperate one for melee attacks.

- Grenade splash damage/Melee attack damage through walls and doors. I noticed this on several occasions which forced me to reload.


The sublime: these could have been better.

- AI improvements. (Disclaimer: I can't say enough about how good the AI in this game was. At least as good as Far-Cry, with some extra pizzazz thrown in!) Ever notice that they ALWAYS snuck behind you even when they didn't see you. It seemed like they were cheating, and should have been more random. In group attacks, I would have liked to see one or two NPC's pin down the player with suppressing fire while others went around you. As a side note, I noticed that gamers and reviewers give AI more credit when it "talks" than when it doesn't. This could explain why so many thought HL2's AI was good when it wasn't. However, here the praise for the AI is well deserved!

- Too much delineation between "fighting areas" and "puzzle areas". The puzzle areas were too barren. Put some resistance in them!

- Too few variety of enemies/No difference in behavior or attack styles. As a straight up FPS, this need more variety of enemies. And they needed more variety in their methods of attack.

- Should have included prone. I really felt this was missing, especially to steady aiming.

- Level variety. After playing both sp and mp demo, it seemed like I had seen all the levels.

- Better use of physics. Should have made many more objects "physics capable".

- No variety of methods to destroy the enemy. They could have thrown in some collapsing walkways or cool "methods of opportunity".

.

Well, those are my nitpicks. Have you got any?

On comment I have to make on the plus side that seems to have been ignored by most reviews and gamers. Making melee attacks at least as damaging as other attacks was brilliant (although as I stated above, most of the damage should have been to health). It changed the game tactics from any other FPS. It makes me ask the developer community "what took you so long?" I hope it is a feature that appears in other FPS from now on.

Conclusion:

Is it the best FPS since Far-Cry? Arguably yes. I would have to put Quake 4 and Chronicles of Riddick in the same breath, but they are not quite as good as F.E.A.R. If you view F.E.A.R. as a military/tactical shooter, as I do, it is clearly the best one ever made. Congrats to Monolith!

[SyntaxN]

While I can´t agree with your conclusion I´ve to add something:

- Overall leveldesign, by far the, uhm most shity part of the game http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[dark_angel]

Yeah, Technically F.E.A.R. is one of the best shooters released so far.

I would put Quake4 in this league also. they both offer something that every gamer look forward to. F.E.A.R. gave innovative gameplay with slow-mo/firefights and Quake4 re-introduced old-school gameplay wich it was executed to perfection.

[Damien_Azreal]

F.E.A.R. is my game of the year, and is the best FPS Monolith has ever made. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

FEAR had everythign I've wanted in a FPS for a long time. Dark foreboding atmosphere just dripping with gloom and a intense sense of clostraphobia.
The paranormal and supernatural plot and overall feeling just pulled everything together. Usualy I'm one to argue about greativity with enemy design (one of my biggest complaints against HL2) but in FEAR I didn't mide fighting cloned soldiers for the whole game.

It felt right, as if that was the it should be. Everything worked together and pulled the story, action and gameplay together.

And Alma... *shivers* .... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2884/3dr1hl.th.jpg (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3dr1hl.jpg)
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/5513/3dr9we.th.jpg (http://img459.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3dr9we.jpg)

This is the FPS that took Blood's spot as my top FPS ever. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif That should say something right there (for those of you that know me).

Good to see ya back Draz. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[widowmaker]

Drazula said:
Floating proximity mine.



I've playe the game numerous times and I cannot say I have seen a floating proximity mine ever.



One save slot, per save type.




Funny I have ten save slots. Although I would like that to be unlimited, it is after all a PC game.



Serious armor damage from melee attack!




The melee attack is way over powered. I found myself using the pistol to wound the enemy an dthe running up and using the melee to kill them. It saved bullets and was far more effective.


Grenade splash damage/Melee attack damage through walls and doors.



Yeah I had that happen a couple times.



AI improvements.



The AI despite being good still suferes from the usual issues. Like close a door and kill them one at a time as they come through the door. Or watch as they run back and forth seemingly cofused by the door.



Too few variety of enemies/No difference in behavior or attack styles.



It could have used few more enemies with different behaviors.


Should have included prone. I really felt this was missing, especially to steady aiming.


I have to dissaggree. Moving slowly in the game would be a very bad idea. The AI would charge up and beat you to death with melee attacks before you could stand. On that note I found the lean function pointless.


- Level variety. After playing both sp and mp demo, it seemed like I had seen all the levels.



Yes. More of the same through out.


- Better use of physics. Should have made many more objects "physics capable".


I found there to be plenty of physics objects. Most of which just seemed to be there to be kicked around. Maybe physics objects with a purpose would have been better.


No variety of methods to destroy the enemy. They could have thrown in some collapsing walkways or cool "methods of opportunity".


Have you tried shooting fire extinquishers?
But yes more would have been nice. But setting those up often ends up looking contrived in game.


Is it the best FPS since Far-Cry?



Best I have played in a while. Enjoyed it much more than COD2.

[Needle]

Drazula said:
- Too much delineation between "fighting areas" and "puzzle areas". The puzzle areas were too barren. Put some resistance in them!


There were puzzles in FEAR?! I thought there were only square, grey rooms with hundreds and hundreds of the same old generic evil gas mask soldiers we're stuck with since Half Life 1.

[Sir Lemonhead]

Yeah..I felt a bit let down by it too. I don't really have any desire to replay it. The atmosphere just didn't suck me in..I was scared possibly just once during the entire thing http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif

[Denz]

Putting too much things on a FPS make you thinks much more, and in a FPS like F.E.A.R., it's bad. It's action based, and not supertacticalops like Ghost Recon.

I did not mentioned the supraparanormal things.

[Duoae]

The AI was the only real thing tht bugged me. I didn't mind the dullness of the levels or enemy types. But i hated the way that if the AI could do something it would.

Eg, window diving. If you alert an enemy behind a window, chances are they'll dive through it. First mission, where you walk in and there's an enemy outside and inside the office? If you do it right the enemy will just jump through the window multiple times until you kill it.

[Twin]

SyntaxN said:
While I can´t agree with your conclusion I´ve to add something:

- Overall leveldesign, by far the, uhm most shity part of the game http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



in a way i agree that seeing the same scenery got kind of boring....but i've never actually played a game before where i've been in a building and actually felt like i'm in a HUGE skyscraper like the one you're stuck in in F.E.A.R...

you know, i thought it was pretty cool how you got to explore the WHOLE building and not just one floor...it really felt as though i was really stuck in that place and not just forced to go to certain rooms (even though i was)

overall though i don't think monolith could've pulled it off if they had different sections and stuff becaue the whole point of the game was that you were going into that building to explore the paranormal activity in that place...it would've been kind of stupid if you had to go into the jungle and then you saw the little girl there aswell cuz then it'd be like 'hey you're supposed to be haunting that building not this place'....you know?

but yeah even though it got repetitive looking at chairs and tables the whole way through i still felt immersed and trapped when i plyed F.E.A.R...

but my personal opinion....Half-Life 2 is still the best first person shooter ever (my opinion folks...that's all) with F.E.A.R coming a very close second http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[seregrail7]

I agree with everything. Only thing to add is the sound. Radio messages were way too low. Also, the overall level design was terrible, really lazy.

[Gatinater]

FEAR is ok. It didn't Wow me. Especially when it seems to have performance issues that are caused by the engine. Not the hardware. There's quit a few areas in the game that are sticky. Like they didn't fully optimize the performance. There's hicups and slow downs that always come at certain points and they're not high end rendering feature induced. More like just for the hell of it.

It has the hicup problems that Half Life 2 now suffers from because of all of the updating.

It's a shooter. It has some cool rendering features, but it's just a shooter.

[NetNessie]

When I played the demo the controls drove me insane, they seemed so unresponsive. Maybe I'll give it another go later down the track when I feel more tolerant.

[Travis]

NetNessie said:
When I played the demo the controls drove me insane, they seemed so unresponsive. Maybe I'll give it another go later down the track when I feel more tolerant.



Really?
My friend was constantly complaining that the mouse sensitivity was way too high.

[avatar_58]

Gatinater said:
FEAR is ok. It didn't Wow me. Especially when it seems to have performance issues that are caused by the engine. Not the hardware. There's quit a few areas in the game that are sticky. Like they didn't fully optimize the performance. There's hicups and slow downs that always come at certain points and they're not high end rendering feature induced. More like just for the hell of it.



I didn't notice any of that, did you try lowering settings? I run everything on high save for AA/AF and the game runs smooth as silk. Try lowering the volumetric lighting, as it really hits the FPS hard.

[Lethe]

Drazula said:

- Floating proximity mine. What is up with this? It should have never gone out the door with this bug. Too many times I threw the mine perfectly, only to see it float in the air and force me to reload. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif




I never saw that bug...

[Travis]

I never noticed the floating mine or the grenade splash through wall and door bugs.

[Soothsayer]

Good:
1. The fact that you can see your own body and shadow- a trend I hope all FPS will take
2. The particle effects, bullet time and effects eye candy http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif
3. Best weapon sounds for a game
4. Decent story with a great ending and awesome intro

Bad:
1. Repetitive and poorly conceived level design. For example the President of Armachem's office looks just like any other office. Nothing to show her stature.
2. To get the most out of the graphics, you need a beast of a machine...though that's really my own issue.
3. Limited (slow) save spots, and the fact that it doesn't autosave the start of each level.

[Cerberus_e]

Soothsayer said:
3. Limited (slow) save spots, and the fact that it doesn't autosave the start of each level.



it doesn't? damn, I thought I saw a save slot for start of level autosaves?

[Soothsayer]

Cerberus_e said:

Soothsayer said:
3. Limited (slow) save spots, and the fact that it doesn't autosave the start of each level.



it doesn't? damn, I thought I saw a save slot for start of level autosaves?



Well it does when you start a level, but it over-writes that save when you move onto the next level. So basically you can't go back and play previous levels.

[Cerberus_e]

oh that's what you mean.
it's certainly not fun, but it's a relief it at least saves, I misread your comment and thought it wouldn't even save at the beginning of some levels http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Gatinater]

avatar_58 said:

Gatinater said:
FEAR is ok. It didn't Wow me. Especially when it seems to have performance issues that are caused by the engine. Not the hardware. There's quit a few areas in the game that are sticky. Like they didn't fully optimize the performance. There's hicups and slow downs that always come at certain points and they're not high end rendering feature induced. More like just for the hell of it.



I didn't notice any of that, did you try lowering settings? I run everything on high save for AA/AF and the game runs smooth as silk. Try lowering the volumetric lighting, as it really hits the FPS hard.



I tried setting everything to lowest and I still have the same issues as when everything is set to Maximum. AUTO DETECT sets everything to maximum.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I notice things that no one else does. Maybe My performance expectations are elite. The Split second stutters that seem to go unoticed by other players, bug the hell out of me.

It's the programing. If there's glitches in the program it doesn't matter how high end the hardwar is. It will always have those stutters, because the program is tripping itself.

[ZuljinRaynor]

Might be the amount of RAM you got and CPU.

[Damien_Azreal]

Remember Gatinater, FEAR is the first game made on this engine.
So there are going to be a few little issues.

[Drazula]

Hey Gatty,

The patch improved F.E.A.R. playability on my PC considerably. Give it a try!

[toadsponge]

Did anyone else play through this game (twice, in fact) without using any melee/hand-to-hand moves at all?

[ZuljinRaynor]

Wait there is melee besides fists? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif
Darn the demo not explaining this.

[Cerberus_e]

there is a jumpkick if you press "melee" while jumping and moving forwards, and slide when looking down while walking forwards.

you can also jump and press "melee" in mid-air while NOT moving in any of the directions for a kick around http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Travis]

ZuljinRaynor said:
Wait there is melee besides fists? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif
Darn the demo not explaining this.



Yeah, lots of gun bashing, pistol whipping and leg kicking.

[ZuljinRaynor]

Well, lucky me; a friend is gonna get me F.E.A.R. and Quake 4. \o/

[Orochi Avlis]

toadsponge said:
Did anyone else play through this game (twice, in fact) without using any melee/hand-to-hand moves at all?


I'm using it more in now on the hardest difficulty setting.

It's great for those critical moments.

[Damien_Azreal]

I use melee a lot.

I try to be stealthy and sneak around, using slowmo and melee to silenty take out the baddies.

[Phait]

Damien_Azreal said:
I use melee a lot.

I try to be stealthy and sneak around, using slowmo and melee to silenty take out the baddies.



I'm imagining a real cop saying just that. It's ROFLlific.

[avatar_58]

Damien_Azreal said:
I use melee a lot.

I try to be stealthy and sneak around, using slowmo and melee to silenty take out the baddies.



Same here, occasionally I slown down time....run full speed ahead and kick one of them..then duck for cover to take out the rest. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif It never gets old either.

[Cerberus_e]

I don't use melee unless I REALLY have to.
simply because it's too dangerous

[Travis]

Cerberus_e said:
I don't use melee unless I REALLY have to.
simply because it's too dangerous



It seems dangerous, but it isn't really, especially since you can kill them with one hit in the right place.

[Cerberus_e]

yes, I'm happy they're dead in one kick or else it wouldn't be balanced right http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
but with dangerous I mean it's dangerous when you're fighting against a team, not one person.
if you are fighting a team you'd rather want to quickly take cover when you need to, instead of going straight to the bad guys

[colmtourque]

Thanks, the demo was cool, but really did not seem cool enough to warrant the purchase, all the talk on the forum here has convinced me, gonna be a game I'll have to get.

[Malgon]

Nice post Draz. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I would have to agree on the save system, it didn't allow me freedom to save at all my favourite moments in the game. There were a fair few cool action sequences, but I wanted to save them all and couldn't.
Apart from that the only things I could complain about, were the lack of environments (which is understandable) but a bit of variety wouldn't have hurt.
Also lack of enemy variety too. There just could have been more types.

All in all, I got more sucked in, as the game went on, partially due to the fact, that I read very little about the game, and also I wasn't even excited until I actually started playing it! So little hype, can make the game feel even more fresh, and much more surprising. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Drazula]

I just found another significant bug. On Interval 6 - Interception - Unauthorized Personnel

[Minor Spoiler]

In the first encounter with EVE... I got on the elevator without firing a shot or taking damage. On the top floor, I encounter a second EVE, near the elevator that is on the lower floor. I go around the pillars of the elevator so that the EVE on my floor is guarding the ladder (which I need to get to). When the EVE on the lower floor gets directly under the EVE on the top floor, the top floor EVE disappears. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif Apparently, the engine doesn't expect two active EVEs (or NPCs in general) in the same X,Y location.

I should be a beta tester! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ZuljinRaynor]

Drazula said:
I should be a beta tester! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


I dunno, Cerb is good at finding broken maps.

[0marTheZealot]

My only real gripe with FEAR is that it's looks belies its performance.

It really doesn't look all that great compared to most shooters right now or even a year ago, but it runs like absolute crap.

FYI, I had most everything on high, except for volumetric shadows. The game simply doesn't look that great to be running this slow. Other than that, I found FEAR to be as enjoyable as HL and HL2.

Oh, and a question.

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> WTF happened to Janikowski? His signal went out in like interval 6 or 7 and he was never mentioned again. </td></tr></table>

[Travis]

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Hmm. No idea. Apparently he was going to be found nailed to a cross on a wall, but they decided against it.</td></tr></table>

[Orochi Avlis]

0marTheZealot said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> WTF happened to Janikowski? His signal went out in like interval 6 or 7 and he was never mentioned again. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">He still appears in the game. But this time he is a ghost of sorts. He pops up once in a whlie talking about Alma. And if you manage to get close to him, you can see that he has no eyes.</td></tr></table>

[Jokke_r]

orochi please edit your post and remove the spoiler tag or do it properly, you're fecking up the layout

[Orochi Avlis]

Looks fine to me. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[Jokke_r]

the post was reported so a mod probably came around and fixed it.

[0marTheZealot]

Orochi Avlis said:

0marTheZealot said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> WTF happened to Janikowski? His signal went out in like interval 6 or 7 and he was never mentioned again. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">He still appears in the game. But this time he is a ghost of sorts. He pops up once in a whlie talking about Alma. And if you manage to get close to him, you can see that he has no eyes.</td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> oh, I thought it was Paxton Fettel all those sightings. </td></tr></table>

[Damien_Azreal]

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> No, Paxton only appears a few times like that. And when he does it's very clear that it's him.
But anytime you see somebody leaning around a corner, it's Jankowsky.

He gave me a few chills the first time through. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif </td></tr></table>

[ColdCat]

Based upon playing to the beginning of "Interval 8":

+ enemy ai surprised me (better than far-cry)
+ a few scary/surprising scenes / visions
+ good graphics, especially in slow-mo, grenades, explosions, particles, some nice models/ level structures
+ good atmospheric sound

- boring levels (low location variety)
- boring textures (not bad but always the same, resulting from boring levels)
- no enemy variety
- I am now at "Interval 8" and wanted the game to come to an end at half of the garage part!!! Somehow this game doesn't rock.

[Damien_Azreal]

0marTheZealot said:
My only real gripe with FEAR is that it's looks belies its performance.

It really doesn't look all that great compared to most shooters right now or even a year ago, but it runs like absolute crap.

FYI, I had most everything on high, except for volumetric shadows. The game simply doesn't look that great to be running this slow. Other than that, I found FEAR to be as enjoyable as HL and HL2.

Oh, and a question.

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> WTF happened to Janikowski? His signal went out in like interval 6 or 7 and he was never mentioned again. </td></tr></table>



Do ya really want to know... <table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> I got a good screen of him after he's dead. </td></tr></table> Just PM me or something if you want to see it.

[Drazula]

I noticed another little bug... did anyone else notice when you pickup a weapon in certain places, the weapon you exchange it with drops into the floor and disappears?

And hey, that fat, aggravating bastard that looks like Gabe Newell (fitting), the last I saw him, he was getting stuck in an air vent, do I get pop a cap in his ass or what?

[Damien_Azreal]

Drazula said:
I noticed another little bug... did anyone else notice when you pickup a weapon in certain places, the weapon you exchange it with drops into the floor and disappears?

And hey, that fat, aggravating bastard that looks like Gabe Newell (fitting), the last I saw him, he was getting stuck in an air vent, do I get pop a cap in his ass or what?



Yeah, I've dropped weapons into the floor before... pissed me off once. I accidentaly dropped the missle launcher and it got stuck in a wall. I couldn't pick it back up. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Draz, just wait... Mapes serves a purpose. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif If you really wanna know what happens to him, PM me.

[ZuljinRaynor]

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Does he die? Cause if he does, I'm happy. </td></tr></table>

[Damien_Azreal]

ZuljinRaynor said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Does he die? Cause if he does, I'm happy. </td></tr></table>



Do you really want to know? Cause if I tell you it could spoil some stuff about other characters.

[ZuljinRaynor]

Just answer the question with a simple "yes" or "no" and I'll be happy. I'll be looking forward the moment if the answer is "yes." http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Damien_Azreal]

ZuljinRaynor said:
Just answer the question with a simple "yes" or "no" and I'll be happy. I'll be looking forward the moment if the answer is "yes." http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Yes. </td></tr></table>

[ZuljinRaynor]

Drazula said:
I noticed another little bug... did anyone else notice when you pickup a weapon in certain places, the weapon you exchange it with drops into the floor and disappears?



Oh hell yeah, I switched my 10mm Penetrator for the Assualt Rifle by accident and I couldn't pick it up. Luckily there was a crap load of shotgun ammo in the offices. I finally could blow people's heads off. I thought Max phyisics did that but I guess not. Must be corpse detail though.

And Damien, now I can't wait. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Damien_Azreal]

Yeah, to take heads off... you just need to aim for their necks. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif You can do that with any body part, even plow them in half at their waist.

Just try and aim as best you can at their legs or arms.

[ZuljinRaynor]

I noticed a couple of times that their arms flew off and once some guys head. Although when stuff is near the wall its too hard for me to slide kick it.

I like slide kicking corpses. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Drazula]

Damien_Azreal said:
Draz, just wait... Mapes serves a purpose. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif If you really wanna know what happens to him, PM me.


Nah, I want to finish (I'm on Interval 8). As long as I know I'll be seeing him again.

[ZuljinRaynor]

Damn, Draz is beating me. Grrr.

[Cerberus_e]

that ZuljinRaynor is making me want to play FEAR.

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
I'll play it after cod2
</td></tr></table>

I didn't want to spoil what I play next for the fervent "what did you play most recently" fans http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[ZuljinRaynor]

Damn, Cerb, you haven't beaten it yet?

[Damien_Azreal]

ZuljinRaynor said:
Damn, Cerb, you haven't beaten it yet?



Well, hell he's playing CoD 2, FEAR, Serious Sam 2 and a few other's at the same time.

Plus he stopped playing all those games to play PoP: TTT. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ZuljinRaynor]

Well sure, but its not my fault I got CoD2 before FEAR. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Travis]

I suck at finishing games. The only recent one I finished was FEAR.

I reeeaally should finish PoP Sands Of Time, Serious Sam 2, Quake 4 and Doom 3(!). I got Doom 3 in the week of freaking release, August 2004, and I still haven't finished it.

Which means FEAR is a much better game, it made me finish it much quicker then other games.

[Cerberus_e]

No, it means Doom 3 wasn't enjoyable on your geforce 4 MX http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Orochi Avlis]

Drazula said:
I noticed another little bug... did anyone else notice when you pickup a weapon in certain places, the weapon you exchange it with drops into the floor and disappears?



Odd, I never had that problem.

[Drazula]

Orochi Avlis said:
Odd, I never had that problem.


Agreed... you're odd. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Well, I caught up with Mapes on level 9... don't want to spoil it, but I was smiling like this http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Drazula]

Okay, I finished. A few things:

If the entire game was as scary as the last two intervals, it would be the scariest game ever.

The ending: <table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">WTF? I didn't get it. And where is the big final battle? </td></tr></table>

[Orochi Avlis]

Drazula said:
Okay, I finished. A few things:

If the entire game was as scary as the last two intervals, it would be the scariest game ever.

The ending: <table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">WTF? I didn't get it. And where is the big final battle? </td></tr></table>


You know this statement irks me.
People want innovation and to stray away from conventional cookie cutter designs, but when somebody does, people bitch about it.

There's no understanding people.

[Needle]

Orochi Avlis said:

Drazula said:
Okay, I finished. A few things:

If the entire game was as scary as the last two intervals, it would be the scariest game ever.

The ending: <table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">WTF? I didn't get it. And where is the big final battle? </td></tr></table>


You know this statement irks me.
People want innovation and to stray away from conventional cookie cutter designs, but when somebody does, people bitch about it.

There's no understanding people.


I wouldn't call that "innovative". More like "unsatisfying" or maybe "badly done".
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">It looked like we were supposed to feel like hell broke loose when spooky girl got released. But I for one didn't. Paxton Fettel just stood there and waited for a bullet. Those ghosts posed no thread whatsoever (what were they supposed to be, anyway?). And scarry girl didn't do anything, either. Ah well, I guess she was bussy running upstairs and clinging to the helicopter.</td></tr></table>
Not spooky, not exciting, not surprising, not impressive. Nothing. Whatever it was supposed to be, it just didn't work for me. Almost as bad as HL2's ending.

[Travis]

It's easy to know what the ending is on about if you think about it.

[Drazula]

Travis said:
It's easy to know what the ending is on about if you think about it.



I really didn't get it...

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- Did I really kill Paxton Fettell in that dream sequence? He's an all powerful psychic psychopath and he gets killed so easily???
- If I did kill him, who was talking to me during that entire "I was there when you were born?"
- Who was the girl?</td></tr></table>


Orochi Avlis said:

Drazula said:
Okay, I finished. A few things:

If the entire game was as scary as the last two intervals, it would be the scariest game ever.

The ending: <table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">WTF? I didn't get it. And where is the big final battle? </td></tr></table>


You know this statement irks me.
People want innovation and to stray away from conventional cookie cutter designs, but when somebody does, people bitch about it.

There's no understanding people.


First, there are two things here. I didn't understand the ending of the STORY. That's fine, it happens. I was focused on surviving FEAR and may have missed some points. Not the fault of the game.

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">The only flaw I felt storywise, I didn't feel like I had "grown" in psychic abilities to take on Fettel (as say, the growth you have in Jedi abilities in Jedi Knight II).</td></tr></table>

But the GAME ending was no good at all. That was an MoH:AA/Max Payne style ending which I am not fond of.

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">The entire game, I am hunting a psychopath and I don't get a satisfying final battle with him?? NOT FAIR!</td></tr></table>


Needle said:
I wouldn't call that "innovative". More like "unsatisfying" or maybe "badly done".


I agree with unsatifying.

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">The blast was very cool. But that really should have been part of the epilogue, which was also good.</td></tr></table>


Not spooky, not exciting, not surprising, not impressive. Nothing. Whatever it was supposed to be, it just didn't work for me.


Up until the moment I realized it was over, I was enjoying it. The final two levels felt quite spooky. "Unsatifying" really sums up the ending for me.


Almost as bad as HL2's ending.


Not that bad. HL2 pretended to be a final battle. A battle that a granddad that never played a video game could beat. FEAR made no pretentions. I prefer to not be treated like an idiot.

[Orochi Avlis]

Where you paying attention at all?


Drazula said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- Did I really kill Paxton Fettell in that dream sequence? He's an all powerful psychic psychopath and he gets killed so easily???
- If I did kill him, who was talking to me during that entire "I was there when you were born?"
- Who was the girl?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Assuming you talking about the ghost girl, Alma.
That girl was the main character's mother. Hence her saying "My baby!". Fettel is your brother.
Alma influenced the whole scene about you killing Fettel.


Fettel isn't a true psychic like Alma, he was created only to control those soldiers. But he also had the ability to gain info by literally eating his victims.
Alma's powers where enhanced by her father's experiments (Wade).
</td></tr></table>



Drazula said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">The only flaw I felt storywise, I didn't feel like I had "grown" in psychic abilities to take on Fettel (as say, the growth you have in Jedi abilities in Jedi Knight II).</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Those aren't true psychic abilities. They only enhance your relfexs.
Although you do see some of psychic flashes, but those could be influenced by Alma and/or Fettel.</td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">The entire game, I am hunting a psychopath and I don't get a satisfying final battle with him?? NOT FAIR!</td></tr></table>


Don't tell me your jaw hit the floor when you saw that.
This is a heavy story driven game, it's suppose to suprise you.



Almost as bad as HL2's ending.


Not that bad. HL2 pretended to be a final battle. A battle that a granddad that never played a video game could beat. FEAR made no pretentions. I prefer to not be treated like an idiot.

[/QUOTE]
Very presumptuous of you.

[Cerberus_e]

Question: does installing the 1.02 patch ***** up the savegames from version 1.0?

[FireFly]

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">What exactly is the 8 year old Alma? I mean in the water treatment level she seemingly slaughters all your teamates, so she has to be a physical entity in the environment. Yet, the older Alma remains imprisoned in the vault, so are there two spirits? </td></tr></table>


Cerberus_e said:
Question: does installing the 1.02 patch ***** up the savegames from version 1.0?


No, but you may need to download the Securom hotfix to get the game to load while connected to the net.

[Hudson]

Needle said:
I wouldn't call that "innovative". More like "unsatisfying" or maybe "badly done".

Not spooky, not exciting, not surprising, not impressive. Nothing. Whatever it was supposed to be, it just didn't work for me. Almost as bad as HL2's ending.



Using your logic, what tops it in these areas of which you think so poorly of?

[Orochi Avlis]

FireFly said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">What exactly is the 8 year old Alma? I mean in the water treatment level she seemingly slaughters all your teamates, so she has to be a physical entity in the environment. Yet, the older Alma remains imprisoned in the vault, so are there two spirits? </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">She can kill people but she can't interact with the environment. If you look closely, she does not interact at all with the environment through out the game. She couldn't free her body, that's why she got Fettel to look for her body. </td></tr></table>




Cerberus_e said:
Question: does installing the 1.02 patch ***** up the savegames from version 1.0?


No, but you may need to download the Securom hotfix to get the game to load while connected to the net.


I had problems with both versions, patched and unpatched, with Securom.

[Cerberus_e]

My computer rebooted while I was playing! No freeze or anything, it just immediately rebooted.
I had to stare at a black screen for five minutes before windows started, because it had to repair. When windows started I got that error report thing saying windows repaired from a fatal error. The microsoft website that launched in a new browser window said it was a driver conflict.

My brother (on the same PC) also gets reboots sometimes while playing Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2.
The difference with my reboot is that his reboot was just a straight reboot, without repairing (blacks creen before windows starts) and error report involved.
He gets it in call of duty, call of duty: united offensive, and call of duty 2.
Yes, they're all call of duty games, but I think it's just coincidence instead of a CoD related problem because:
- he only plays call of duty, so it can't occur in other games (and I have only been playing call of duty 2 and FEAR lately, altough I didn't get any reboots during call of duty 2 and I finished the game, while my brother has got 3-4 of them and he is only halfway the game)
He got already 10 reboots in the original call of duty and its expansion... all TODAY!
- call of duty 2 has a different engine than call of duty (which uses quake 3). and in call of duty the reboot is in the middle of playing, while in call of duty 2 it's between 2 levels during the loadings
- I just got a reboot in FEAR, altough the reboot is different (there is rapairing involved in my bug like I said)
- I already got problems back on my FX5200, some games like Q3, MOHAA, NOLF2 and RTCW froze for 20 seconds, then either continued or rebooted. Remember the "what is it with 2001-2002 games constantly freezing" thread?
it's not quake 3 engine related because NOLF2 runs on lithtech.
So maybe the bug I am encountering now in FEAR (and my brother in Cod1&2) is a leftover from the problems on my FX5200? only without the 20-seconds freeze of the game (straight to the reboot instead)

I'm currently reinstalling various drivers for various devices (soundcard etc). Nothing helps so far but I keep trying.
If it's not fixed tomorrow I'll make a thread about it in the software forum.

[Orochi Avlis]

Have you tired Driver Cleaner Pro?

[Cerberus_e]

No, but thanks for the hint.
I'll download it now and use it tomorrow. (don't laugh, I'm over my monthly download limit so now it takes hours to download something http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif)

I really want to fix the problem, I won't be immersed in FEAR if I have to keep worrying about "hopefully it won't reboot"

[Orochi Avlis]

Uninstall all Nvidia drivers first, then run it.

[Drazula]

Orochi Avlis said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">That girl was the main character's mother. Hence her saying "My baby!". Fettel is your brother.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">I got that Fettel and I were related, and I got that the woman screaming "my baby!" was my mother. But I never made the connection that the girl and her were the same person.

Here is what threw me into confusion. I killed Fettel. But later I hear his voice say "I was there when you were born!" What is going on there? Did I kill him or didn't I? Whose voice is that?</td></tr></table>

And even if that is explained, it doesn't tell me the biggest question "What was the point of the game?". Did I win, did I lose, or did I just survive another day?


Orochi Avlis said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Those aren't true psychic abilities. They only enhance your relfexs.
Although you do see some of psychic flashes, but those could be influenced by Alma and/or Fettel.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">I never said the "boosters" enhanced my psychic abilities. I said that I didn't seem to grow psychically (through game experience) in any way to be able to face Fettel in battle. Obviously Fettel had the ability to control soldiers/others, yet I defeated him so easily.</td></tr></table>

[Hudson]

Drazula said:
And even if that is explained, it doesn't tell me the biggest question "What was the point of the game?". Did I win, did I lose, or did I just survive another day?



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Watch the credits and listen to the part at the very end. Also, there's an expansion pack coming 2006 </td></tr></table>

[Edit]: Also:

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> While playing the game, make sure to get as many emails/voicemails as possible. They start off fairly simple and mundane however as the game progresses you get some really interesting info about what exactly you're involved in http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif </td></tr></table>

[Needle]

Hudson said:

Needle said:
I wouldn't call that "innovative". More like "unsatisfying" or maybe "badly done".

Not spooky, not exciting, not surprising, not impressive. Nothing. Whatever it was supposed to be, it just didn't work for me. Almost as bad as HL2's ending.



Using your logic, what tops it in these areas of which you think so poorly of?


Every game whose final challange does not consist of pressing a bunch of buttons, followed by an unsatisfying cliffhanger. But this seems to be a common problem with recent A-list shooters. They tend to end abruptly with a "Well done. Now wait for the extension" message. If DNF does this, I gonna be sad.
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
Thinking about, my major gripe with the ending of FEAR was the easiness. When Wrinkle-Alma escaped, I was expecting something really intense. Like her going after me while ripping appart the complex with her psychic rage. Instead, I got a nice little walk through another bunch of grey, square corridors while being attacked by the easiest enemies in the whole game. Wow. The only cool thing was the final reactor explosion. But of course it didn't pose a threat either. From the moment you entered the vault, everything could just as well have been a prologue cinematic.
</td></tr></table>

[FireFly]

Drazula said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">I got that Fettel and I were related, and I got that the woman screaming "my baby!" was my mother. But I never made the connection that the girl and her were the same person. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">In the introductory sequence you see the 8 year old Alma enter Fettel's mind and initiate the invasion. Throughout the game Fettel makes it clear he's looking for her, and we learn that the situation occurred after the vault was reopened. Well, what's stored in the vault?

Anyway Fettel does locate the vault, and following in his footsteps we learn that Alma was a psychic implanted with the two prototypes. Fettel tells you were the first. Now it should be pretty obvious at this point why you're having the visions, and that the 8 year old Alma is your mother - how else would she be able to psychically communicate with you? But Fettel even spells it out - he tells you that you've been seeing into her mind.

Finally, the reason for Alma's apparition being 8 years old is explained by Wade - Alma was imprisoned in the Vault at the age of 8, and kept in some sort of coma, so her only complete childhood memories occurred before she was imprisoned. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Here is what threw me into confusion. I killed Fettel. But later I hear his voice say "I was there when you were born!" What is going on there? Did I kill him or didn't I? Whose voice is that?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Well you obviously killed him because the clones deactivated. It's important to remember that Fettel doesn't ever communicate with you directly; only through Alma (this is stated by Fettel in the end sequence) so you're probably just seeing into Alma's mind. Also note that Fettel couldn't have been there at the birth because he wasn't even born yet! He was the second prototype to be born. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">And even if that is explained, it doesn't tell me the biggest question "What was the point of the game?". Did I win, did I lose, or did I just survive another day? </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Alma wanted to be released, which was the entire reason for the invasion, and she was. So in a sense she won. However if you listen to to end of credits dialog you'll know that perhaps the whole situation was partly set up to test you. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">I never said the "boosters" enhanced my psychic abilities. I said that I didn't seem to grow psychically (through game experience) in any way to be able to face Fettel in battle. Obviously Fettel had the ability to control soldiers/others, yet I defeated him so easily.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">You didn't really fight Fettel, so it's not clear he wanted or needed to survive - after all his aim was to free Alma, and that was accomplished (albeit after his death). Anyway it wasn't stated that he could physically influence anyone other than the clone soldiers (who were designed to be responsive to him.)</td></tr></table>

[Cerberus_e]

Hehehehe seems like I've got a lot of spoilers to read when I finish this game http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The game is very great, as you can see in my second screenshot.

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/251/screenshot0463ux.th.jpg (http://img356.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot0463ux.jpg) http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/4974/screenshot0488sy.th.jpg (http://img390.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshot0488sy.jpg)

I'm at Interval 03 - Esclation now. We'll see if I still get the reboot or not after a while... (reinstalled some intel drivers that tell AGP how to configure or something like that, installed latest sound drivers, and installed latest video drivers using Orochi's hint with driver cleaner pro).

I have a question, what is the difference between SFOD-D (sp?) and F.E.A.R.?
I know I'm in F.E.A.R. but what is that other thing?
Also, what is "Hannibal-3" because it seems to be on my side as well, I know it's a sattelite that tracks that cannibal Fettel, but is Hannibal just the name of a sattelite or also another different organisation like F.E.A.R.?

[Drazula]

Thanks guys for clearing that up.

That's what I get for focusing on getting through a game without taking damage. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif In the psychic sequences, the "ghosts" (or whatever the heck they are) were so damaging, that I was more concerned about surviving than listening to Fettell.

I guess I am going to have to replay FEAR. No problem there, I enjoyed it immensely. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ZuljinRaynor]

Special Force Operational Detachment - Delta
Off the top of my head, not sure how close it really is.

[FireFly]

Cerberus_e said:
Also, what is "Hannibal-3" because it seems to be on my side as well, I know it's a sattelite that tracks that cannibal Fettel, but is Hannibal just the name of a sattelite or also another different organisation like F.E.A.R.?


Just the name of the satellite, I believe.


ZuljinRaynor said:
Special Force Operational Detachment - Delta
Off the top of my head, not sure how close it really is.


Yup, Delta Force. They're there to assist the F.E.A.R team (perform recon, etc). Holiday (the black guy) is also a member, although in an earlier build of the game he was part of the F.E.A.R team itself.

[Cerberus_e]

I'm now in Interval 04 - Infiltration.
It's cool to do the rooftop landing from E3 2004 myself http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif And it's cooler than I imagined, immediately in the heat of combat http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
especially because of the end of Interval 03 is very heavy as well http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif - all those soldiers including panzered soldiers before you get in the helicopter.

I've never played such an heavy, intense game.
This is the first game where I use leaning http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And it's quite hard on moderate difficulty (I play without quicksaving) altough I don't die much.
One of the good points of this game is that they hide medkits, health boosters and reflex boosters in corners, behind pipes, behind crates, in ventilation shafts, ...
That's one of the reasons why I love Doom 3 so much, and F.E.A.R. does it too http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif

However, sometimes it's frustrating there are 3 ways where I can go, and I don't want to miss anything so it's sometimes a bit bothering that I don't know what way the correct way is (I have to backtrack sometimes because I realize I am following the correct way etc...)
Or when both ways are long then I'm hesitating even more and backtracking more than once in the same corridor http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Another difficult thing is that you need tons of keys binded, and access quickly in combat: medkits, melee, aim down the sight, lean left, lean right, grenade, slowmotion, ...
Sometimes I die because I didn't access a feature quickly enough.

[Cerberus_e]

Do you know what I think is the most scary aspect of the game?

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
Those flashing phone messages http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
When you see that red light flashing in the dark there it's creepy, and when you approach it and press use key it says, you have 1 new message.
First message from ............. (pause) ............. (and then the name of the person).
raaaaaaaaghhhh that slight pause is so scary, you keep thinking "who is it going to be? who is it going to be? who who who?".
I'm predicting that all of a sudden it'll go like this:
First message from .................................. ALMAAA
"I'm standing right behind you"

Especially when the fire alarm went off, mysteriously. and you had to go to those offices to investigate.
You ended up in a room with such a phone with a flashing red light.
I really thought "now it's the moment they are going to do it!".
The scary slight pause passed, and then the suspension broke because it was a normal person.
They keep delaying it, and each time I see that phone, and especially at that slight pause, I freak out http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dopefish.gif
I think they are going to do something similar to this (I figured: why else would they do that "first message from..........." thing?).
Maybe Fettel or Alma is going to call me or so http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif and like I said, maybe even saying they're standing right behind me http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
If Monolith doesn't do this, they missed a GREAT opportunity.
</td></tr></table>

don't spoil anything, don't say if it happens or not http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Don't even say anything of which I can derive if it happens or not http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I have a question.
I'm extremely impressed with the AI, they're good at hiding http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dopefish.gif
Especially at big open places outside with lots of walkways in the air and pipes and stuff http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
The combat is far from dull.
But it's until you find out the trick: they STILL come after you when you're standing behind corners.
After all these years of FPS http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
But I figured: I'm only on medium difficulty, maybe they don't do that on higher difficulty levels?
Just like in Half-Life 2.
They come after you on medium difficulty, but they don't come after you when you're standing behind corners on hard difficulty http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I hate it when games only give you the best AI on the hardest difficulty setting. I think the damage I have to give, and take is good on medium, but I hate that "coming after me" when I'm standing behind corners.
And when I play on a higher difficulty, if the AI scales as well, they won't do it anymore, but the damage will be more extreme as well http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
that's why I hate it.

[Cerberus_e]

I've got a weird graphical glitch with water, see the official FEAR discussion thread

[Cerberus_e]

Man the story doesn't make sense AT ALL to me, and I listened to all messages on the phone, uploaded all data, ...
And after reading all the spoilers here it makes even less sense!
I have a lot of questions, and if you answer one, also answer where in the game that's told http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
- What is the difference between the goals of the ATC team and the Replica forces? why do both teams fight against each other? and why am I, as F.E.A.R. man, hated by both?

- What are Alice Wade's goals? Her father's goals are bad, but Alice keeps going after her father.
And whe is she also an enemy of Replica forces? (= the soldiers under control by Fettel)

- If I'm the son of Alma, which was made clear at the end, why does she want to kill me then? she tried to kill me in both the end of Interval 02 where Alma is in a corridor and it explodes and you jump out of the window, and also at the end she runs after me and I have to shot her, because when she reaches me I'm dead. FireFly also mentioned the 8 year old Alma has no power on the environment... but what are those explosions then? and the moving lamps? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Also, if the 8 year old Alma was locked up, how come there is an older version then?

- What are those guys in the dream sequences that want to kill me, and why do they want me dead?

- Someone (I think FireFly) said me and Fettel are two "prototypes" (altough I heard in the game it's Alma who is a prototype)... well what do they want to do? who is behind this and what is their goal?

- At the end I look down and see Alice Wade on a book... what is this suposed to reveal? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
</td></tr></table>

I probably have more questions but that's what I can think of now (because I wonder the most about them)
I like F.E.A.R.'s storytelling a lot more than HL2's because at least the answers can be found in the game http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I don't want mysteries.

I also knew what would happen at the very and because I saw it in one of Damien_Azreal's screenshots http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hhg.gif

[ZuljinRaynor]

Cerb, you need to get "ZuljinRaynor's Story Deciferer Tool" cause it easily makes stories make sense.

[Cerberus_e]

You also beat the game already?
with how much max health did you end?
I ended with 185 I think, so I missed 3.

[ZuljinRaynor]

I didn't beat it yet but from what I've played I have a good understanding of what happened and Damien had once aknowledged what I understood. Still, you should download it from ZULJINRAYNOR\PROGRAM FILES\STORY_UNDERSTANDERER
http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Orochi Avlis]

Cerberus_e said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
- What is the difference between the goals of the ATC team and the Replica forces? why do both teams fight against each other? and why am I, as F.E.A.R. man, hated by both?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Because ATC is trying to silence those who could leak this incident.
To them (Replica soldiers), your just somebody who is in the way of Fettel finding Alma's body.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- What are Alice Wade's goals? Her father's goals are bad, but Alice keeps going after her father.
And whe is she also an enemy of Replica forces? (= the soldiers under control by Fettel)</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">ATC and the Replica Forces are not on the same side.
As for Alice, she is caught in the middle by chance. She just wants to make sure her father is ok. Fettel planed to use her to try and find her father or draw him out.</td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- If I'm the son of Alma, which was made clear at the end, why does she want to kill me then? she tried to kill me in both the end of Interval 02 where Alma is in a corridor and it explodes and you jump out of the window, and also at the end she runs after me and I have to shot her, because when she reaches me I'm dead. FireFly also mentioned the 8 year old Alma has no power on the environment... but what are those explosions then? and the moving lamps? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Who says she provoked that? There Replica soldiers were in the area, they could have set mines.
And in the dream sequence, it doesn't mean your dead, just heavily influenced like Fettel.
The moving lamps are result of the energy coming off of her rather than manipulation.
</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Also, if the 8 year old Alma was locked up, how come there is an older version then?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">She wasn't locked up when she was 8, more like 15 to 18. The experiments started when she was 8. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- What are those guys in the dream sequences that want to kill me, and why do they want me dead?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Perhaps your own personal demons.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- Someone (I think FireFly) said me and Fettel are two "prototypes" (altough I heard in the game it's Alma who is a prototype)... well what do they want to do? who is behind this and what is their goal?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">ATC developed this weapons systems to contract this out to military. There was a synchronus event, where Fettel raised up with the clones. After that incident, ATC locked up the lab to avoid getting the word out to the public.</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">- At the end I look down and see Alice Wade on a book... what is this suposed to reveal? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Maybe Alma is a clone herself? Or maybe Alice is the clone? Or perhaps he remarried and had another daughter and named her after Alma's original name.
The expansion pack could explain this.....</td></tr></table>



I don't want mysteries.



Revealing mysteries kind of ruins the whole horror experience.

[Cerberus_e]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Orochi, I appreciate it http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


Orochi Avlis said:

I don't want mysteries.



Revealing mysteries kind of ruins the whole horror experience.



Of course the mysteries only have to be revealed in the last chapter. during the game I like how nothing made sense http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
I know Fettel eats people because he gets their memories then, what was he looking for in the wastewater?
</td></tr></table>

[Orochi Avlis]

Cerberus_e said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
I know Fettel eats people because he gets their memories then, what was he looking for in the wastewater?
</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">He wasn't looking for anything in the waste water per se.
What happened was, after the first incident in Alburn, things started to go to sh*t in the surrounding area. Maybe due to Alma's negative emotions or something similiar to that. Anyways, something got into the water and that's why they started the investigation. It's not really important to the main story, just a side story.</td></tr></table>

[Damien_Azreal]

Cerberus_e said:

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
- What is the difference between the goals of the ATC team and the Replica forces? why do both teams fight against each other? and why am I, as F.E.A.R. man, hated by both? </td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> The Replica forces are following Paxton's goals in seraching for Alma, were as the ATC are trying to keep the incident silent.
Which means getting rid of the Replica forces and you. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> - What are Alice Wade's goals? Her father's goals are bad, but Alice keeps going after her father.
And whe is she also an enemy of Replica forces? (= the soldiers under control by Fettel) </td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Alice Wade's only goals are finding out if her father is okay or not. And pretty much anybody involved with ATC is an enemy of Fettel.
Plus, like Orochi said, she could lead Fettel to her father. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> - If I'm the son of Alma, which was made clear at the end, why does she want to kill me then? she tried to kill me in both the end of Interval 02 where Alma is in a corridor and it explodes and you jump out of the window, and also at the end she runs after me and I have to shot her, because when she reaches me I'm dead. FireFly also mentioned the 8 year old Alma has no power on the environment... but what are those explosions then? and the moving lamps? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Also, if the 8 year old Alma was locked up, how come there is an older version then? </td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> She's not trying to kill you in the beginning of the game, just stop you from progressing. She doesn't want you to find out what you are.
Plus int eh Developer's commentary on the DVD it says they originaly had that scene as Fettel setting mines in that hallway. But later changed it to Alma.
At the end it's more so that she doesn't want to lose you again. She keeps screaming in the dream "Give me back my baby!" You are her baby, I always took it as she wants you back.
And like Orochi said, she isn't manipulating the environment it's simply reacting to her presence. And the experiment started when she was 8, but she later died in the Vault when she was 16. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> - What are those guys in the dream sequences that want to kill me, and why do they want me dead? </td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Those guys are called "Nightmares", I always took them as tormented dreams and nightmares of Alma's. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> - Someone (I think FireFly) said me and Fettel are two "prototypes" (altough I heard in the game it's Alma who is a prototype)... well what do they want to do? who is behind this and what is their goal? </td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> Yes, Fettel and you are the first two prototypes. Alma isn't a prototype, but the host from which the dna for the prototypes came from. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> - At the end I look down and see Alice Wade on a book... what is this suposed to reveal? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
</td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> That Alma was Harland Wade's daughter. That he performed this experiment on his own child. </td></tr></table>


I also knew what would happen at the very and because I saw it in one of Damien_Azreal's screenshots http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hhg.gif



I posted the screan as a spoiler, it's your own fault for not listening to me. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Cerberus_e]

Thanks for clearing it even more up http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And maybe you marked it as a spoiler, but you can already see it right there in the thumbnail http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hhg.gif

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
You say she wants her baby back... but in the last dream sequence she comes and if she hits you it's GAME OVER.
so it's like Orochi says... she enters your mind too then?
</td></tr></table>

[Damien_Azreal]

Cerberus_e said:
Thanks for clearing it even more up http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And maybe you marked it as a spoiler, but you can already see it right there in the thumbnail http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hhg.gif



Which screen are you talking about? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif I thought I marked the ones that were spoilers.

[Cerberus_e]

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
explosion, viewed from the helicopter in the epilogue

I'm 100% sure you used a thumbnail of that one so everyone could see the grey mushroom shape http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
</td></tr></table>

[Damien_Azreal]

Cerberus_e said:
<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
explosion, viewed from the helicopter in the epilogue

I'm 100% sure you used a thumbnail of that one so everyone could see the grey mushroom shape http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
</td></tr></table>



Cerb, I wasn't the one who posted that shot. I don't remember who it was, but by the time I reached that thread I had to ask who posted it.

http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Damien_Azreal]

It was Airtraffic who posted it.

In this thread (http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=othergames&Number=997087&Searchpage=1&Main=996423&Words=FEAR&topic=&Search=true#Post997087)

Stop trying to blame stuff on me Cerb! http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Cerberus_e]

I knew about airtraffic, and managed to avoid his thumbnail.
But you also posted it in what did you play most recently http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I'm going to show you next year, when I have my fast connection back http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif only a few days

[Damien_Azreal]

Cerb, I've never taken that screen.

[Cerberus_e]

I still have one question

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
Who did Alma? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
</td></tr></table>

[Damien_Azreal]

Cerberus_e said:
I still have one question

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
Who did Alma? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
</td></tr></table>



<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler"> I think it was more of a Artificial Incimination type of thign. Like a test tube baby. </td></tr></table>

[Cerberus_e]

Damien_Azreal said:
Cerb, I've never taken that screen.



You're right, I just went to what did you play most recently and you never posted that screenshot.
That is crazy! I'm still remembering how I saw a thumbnail of "what you see at the end". Apparently it's not by you, but it's also not Airtraffic's.
Anyway it doesn't matter much, but it's still a mystery.
Maybe Alma is in my head http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
But I was wrong about how you posted about a "spoiler about some of the characters" and I thought it was that they turned against you http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
</td></tr></table>

Now we can go to the next subject:

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
The last level was very easy, but it was creepy in the beginning http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif But I got used to those little demons REALLY fast
</td></tr></table>

I also have a lot of favourite levels, because half of the levels have something REALLY COOL. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

It was a very good game. One of the best I've ever played, and like I said, I had never been that scared again since Doom 3.

So, what open questions do we have left? Questions we have to await the expansion for, to get an answer http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Damien_Azreal]

Did you watch all the credits? If not you should. There's something you should listen to at the very end of the credits. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I can't wait til 06 when the expansion comes out.

[IgWannA]

ok, even though i got this game over a week ago (well my gf got me it for xmas) i've not yet posted anything about it, so i guess it's about time!

i'll cut to the chase, the single player is simply awesome. not the most complicated game in the sense of puzzles (um, i think i came across 2 so far and they were incredibly easy) but the actual act of gun fighting is sheer perfection - and that's what FPS's are all about isn't it? shooting people in the face.

then just not a half hour ago i tried the multiplayer for the first time. weird eh? that i'd play the game for a week and not try the multiplayer. well anyway i tried it and instantly i was addicted. this is simply put the best mutliplayer game of its type i have ever played. obviously it's a LOT more fast paced than the likes of day of defeat (which was probably my other favourite online FPS) but it's just pure action and fun the whole time. and what makes it even better is i was completely OWNING! i had never played it online before, didn't know the maps, and yet i was fragging dude upon dude with my mad skillz. i love this game http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif

observe!

[Orochi Avlis]

The melee and slow-mo just add to the MP portion.

[Cerberus_e]

Damien_Azreal said:
Did you watch all the credits? If not you should. There's something you should listen to at the very end of the credits. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif



I did, but I only understand it now because I didn't know

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
I was the first prototype
</td></tr></table>

after playing the game, until I read FireFly's posts.

[Drazula]

Even the credits had clues?!! GADS! I missed so much of the story while I was playing. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I was having too much fun messing with the AI. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've gotta play it again!

[Cerberus_e]

Drazula said:
Even the credits had clues?!! GADS! I missed so much of the story while I was playing. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I was having too much fun messing with the AI. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've gotta play it again!



not during the credits, but AFTER the credits.
you never watch the credits? I aways do.
and considering this is Monolith you know you should be careful about not skipping credits, remember contract JACK? http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

here is what happens at the end of the credits:

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">
A voice says to some kind of authority while the screen is all black:
"The first prototype was a success!"
</td></tr></table>

[Drazula]

Thanks Cerb.

Is there a way to go back and play only specific levels, or do I need to play the whole game?

[Cerberus_e]

Drazula said:
Is there a way to go back and play only specific levels, or do I need to play the whole game?



Press the chat key (the key you use to chat in multiplayer, default T)
type "maphole".
it will send you to the next level.
So you can keep using that cheat until you're in the correct level http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You only have to do it once because you can just make a savegame for yourself each time you're in a new level http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You will probably have only once pistol if you use that cheat starting from the first level.
In that case you can use the gimmegun cheat (eg: gimmegun shotgun, gimmegun assault rifle, ...)

what levels are you interested in?

[Drazula]

The ones where I missed part of the story.... http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif ... so quite a few.

[FireFly]

Orochi Avlis said:

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Also, if the 8 year old Alma was locked up, how come there is an older version then?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">She wasn't locked up when she was 8, more like 15 to 18. The experiments started when she was 8. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">But Wade said that they put her in there when she was 8 (or two days before her 8th birthday).

She was kept alive, in a comatose state, but was awakened to give birth to you and Fettel. At some point after they cut off the support systems and left her to die. </td></tr></table>

[Orochi Avlis]

FireFly said:

Orochi Avlis said:

<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">Also, if the 8 year old Alma was locked up, how come there is an older version then?</td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">She wasn't locked up when she was 8, more like 15 to 18. The experiments started when she was 8. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">But Wade said that they put her in there when she was 8 (or two days before her 8th birthday).

She was kept alive, in a comatose state, but was awakened to give birth to you and Fettel. At some point after they cut off the support systems and left her to die. </td></tr></table>


<table><tr><th><font size="-1">Spoiler below:</font></th></tr><tr><td class="spoiler">She died when she was 15 or something.
I think it was because her condition was starting to get really bad, and they gave up on her all together.</td></tr></table>