F.E.A.R. SP Demo Impressions
I first downloaded this demo, and forgot about it entirely. It is an extremely large download for a demo of a game at around 650MB.
However, I stumbled across it when saving another download and decided to fire it up.
I'm VERY glad I did so.
Quite simply, if this demo is anything like the final gameplay, this game will far surpass anything ever released. It is the blend of graphics, atmosphere, story, weapons, physics, AI, "Bullet Time" type function, and overall immersion that so many current games have been aiming for but have missed for one reason or another.
A large helping of praise should also go to the user interface. It is logically layed out, simple to navigate and easy to use. It also includes the feature I feel should be standard on all games: when attempting to change the binding on certain keys, it prompts you if that key is already bound to something else and it actually tells you what it's bound to. Click 'yes' and it changes, click 'no' and it lets you chose something else. No more accidentally remapping an important key, or trying to figure out what obscure function you already have one bound to.
First off - atmosphere:
This game has atomosphere like virtually nothing before. It is what Doom 3 wanted to be, and Resident Evil nearly pulled off. With a combination of subtle musical score, world detail, story line elements and graphics F.E.A.R. puts the elements in place to allow a serious immersion into the gameplay. Monolith Productions has managed to create a game that finally gives us a dark, scary game world without the 'too dark to actually SEE anything' problems that have plagued many other games aiming for the same goal. Hallways that require the use of a flashlight still allow you to vaguely make out things outside the field of your flashlight while starkly illuminating areas within the beam. No more fumbling around in the dark simply because the lights suddenly dropped. You can at least see enough to figure out what is going on, but will see more much information when you actually use the light.
Graphics:
The graphics are top-notch. While there are certainly games out there that have higher resolutions, or where everything is normal-mapped or bump-mapped, F.E.A.R. combines all the elements nicely into one package. With the dark, creepy setting having virtually everything at the cutting edge of resolution would be unneeded and serve only to push the game farther out of the reach of anyone without a leading-edge gaming system. The production team has placed in just enough high end work to make the game look outstanding where it serves the purpose. When it would not serve the purpose, the game still looks and feels like a very modern game.
Story:
The story is creepy. While much of the story could really only be reviewed after playing the final game, it appears that Monolith has set things up where the player will only have basic information at the outset of the game, and it will be left to the player to make their own conclusions as to what is going on. This serves the game style well, as left to our own imagination things can grow much larger than they would be. It is like having a tree branch scraping a window on a dark stormy night. When you just hear the screeching, it can seem terrifying. Once you know it is only a tree branch, it loses much of its ability to scare. And there is something about that little girl...
Weapons:
The weapons are inventive and interesting. Each weapon seems to have real strengths and weaknesses. Many are stock first person shooter type weapons. You start off with a pistol and collect more along the way. There are the basic assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers etc. F.E.A.R. follows many of the current games in that you are only allowed to carry a set number of weapons - in this case 3. The weapons have fun and unique animation/sound effect both for firing and results. Some of the more interesting choices here are a particle rifle that can disintegrate enemies and a nail fun for spiking your foes in place. The game also employs an interesting array of grenades. Fragmentation, remote and proximity grenades all find very distinct uses.
Physics:
In many ways, the physics are nothing really new. F.E.A.R. uses todays standard issue rag doll effects for creatures, but it does manage to employ an engine that does not go overboard. In this case it serves primarily to help increase the sense of immersion. The standout in this game is the fact that the world is very highly destructible and interactive. Not only to boxes and items on shelves get destroyed when a grenade goes off, but the shelving units themselves may get knocked down, or sent crashing against a nearby wall. There are pillars to hide behind and use as cover, walls to throw grenades over and doors to shoot through. The use of a "Bullet Time" style feature is used very well here. The animations are oustanding, and the physics employed during the use of it are first rate. The ability to throw a grenade, toggle the bullet-time feature and then shoot the grenade in mid-air changes many of the strategies employed up until now.
AI:
Hands down some of the most impressive enemy AI I have seen to date. The enemies you face talk to each other, react to both you and the environment, and will find a way to kill you. F.E.A.R. actually manages to have your enemies not simply trying to stay alive, but actually taking the offensive against you - and they will work together to do so. Instead of simply retreating to an alcove and getting pinned down, to avoid gunfire an enemy may crawl under a knocked over desk to get to a place where it can begin firing back at you. When throwing a grenade through a doorway, enemies will jump through windows into a hallway. In some cases, groups of enemies will work together to come back at you - one may begin suppresive fire with an assault rifle while another throws a grenade in an attempt to push you over to the shotgun wielding soldier sneaking in from the hallway. This is all fluid and unscripted. When encountering the same area again, the enemies may be in different positions, or may try different tactics. It is not a game that is easily beaten.
Immersion:
All of these combine to make F.E.A.R. a genuinely immersive game. This is not a game to play at 2am in the dark.
Areas for Improvement:
I would prefer to see the key bindings a little bit more logically layed out when first setup. Having the arrow keys defaulted to perform the same functions as the mouse seems awfully strange. Functions are spread out all over the entire keyboard, essentially requiring the user to remap many functions before even being able to play. This can be especially difficult since without extensive playing many of the functions would be difficult to understand.
I would like to see the weapons here having an alternate firing mode. Many of these weapons are unique, and it would increase the fun when going back and replaying the game again.
The main character takes a lot of damage, even on the lower difficulty settings. Armor and health seem to be fairly scarce and I found myself constantly replaying many of the same battles over and over simply because one stray gunshot took out all my armor and 2/3 of my health. This was on the second-lowest difficulty.
All said and done, F.E.A.R. promises to be an outstanding game that will set the standard for any game of this genre for quite a while. Monolith managed to pull the best elements from many of the top games out there and combined them together in a package that will make many people start playing with the lights on, even in broad daylight.
