F.E.A.R. series

Okay, so first my apologies if this is a duplicate thread; I searched the first four forum pages and did a title search and didn't find anything, so if there ever was a topic on it it's long dead.

I was always intrigued by the premise of the F.E.A.R. games, but never really into them until I happened to watch TobyGames' Let's Play of F.E.A.R. 3. (F.3.A.R., whatever). I also read the PC Gamer review, which claimed that the single player campaign was dull and uninspiring, but it looked interesting enough on You Tube that I am thinking about trying it.

Steam is offering a bundle of the first two games plus expansions for $20. Is that a good way to go? I know the premise of the games and the broad outlines of the plot but a good game should be able to handle that. Also, I'm suffering serious plot-driven FPS withdrawal since the Half Life series has been stalled in Development Hell.

Addendum: I am largely uninterested in multiplayer and have nobody to play co-op with, so those are null factors.

edited 15th Aug '11 8:26:06 AM by Fighteer

Probably a good idea to get the bundle.

I have the first F.E.A.R. myself, but on disk and not Steam.

edited 15th Aug '11 7:18:50 PM by RocketDude

FEAR is a ton of fun if not a bit annoying. The AI is really good but enemies will kick your ass because of AI "cheating", like running for cover while spraying bullets one-handed and hitting.

FEAR 2 handles the scares better then the original. The first game telegraphs them with bursts of radio static, some are quite good, others just don't work.

The bundle is a bit of a mixed bag. The two core games are great. The first expansion was really fun, grim, and brutal. Second expansion was panned as a whole, but I never played it. Unfortunately, both expansions were retconned from the series.

I need to play the original again when I get a chance. It disappointed me for the wrong reason when I played it: the original previews had suggested that the Replica army was one mission of several paranormal commando activities, with Alma's haunting being the story connecting the rest. So I played the game wanting to see what was after the Replica army...and there wasn't anything because they were the full plot.

Also, Alma gets dismissed as being a clone of the girl(s) from The Ring. She's obviously inspired by them but I find she's different enough to stand on her own. Alma is wonderfully tragic and horrible at the same time.

edited 15th Aug '11 8:18:54 PM by Rotpar

Unless you have a friend who will play the campaign with you online, stick to the first two games. FEAR 3 was pretty much designed for multiplayer, and both the story and scares suffer greatly as a result, and although the ending more or less closes the trilogy, it's really unsatisfying.

At the very least, try renting it from someplace like Gamefly or Blockbuster, that way you can get a taste of the campaign, hopefully in co-op.

I bought the full F.E.A.R. series a while back on Steam. Haven't installed any of them yet, partially because of the shocking disk space requirement the first game has.

I also have the Xbox 360 version, but I stopped playing that because it autosaved in the middle of a tough fight which I couldn't survive.

The disc space requirement of the first game on Steam is because it installs both expansions, too.

So I played through F.E.A.R. this week and have just started on Extraction Point. I have to admit that it's a fun game even considering that I had the major plot elements spoiled. I like tactical shooters where you can't just charge out and kill everything in sight.

The biggest problem I have is that the control scheme is very different than I'm used to from Half Life and its ilk, and I keep doing things like hitting E for Use rather than F; Ctrl for crouch rather than slowmo, and Z instead of X for the flashlight because my finger misses the key. I kind of want to remap it to a more familiar layout. It also bugs me that Bullet Time, crouch, and aim are toggles rather than press and hold, but given the sheer quantity of controls you wouldn't have enough fingers to manage them all that way.

Some story comments about the first game:

• I was expecting Bag of Spilling to be in effect but it didn't happen in the places I thought it would, like the helicopter crashes. Instead, it happened in the final psychic sequences, where I got all my fancy guns replaced with the pistol for no adequately explained reason.
• Alma's creepy... and although her naked form is clearly supposed to be Fan Disservice... okay, I won't go there. But how exactly do I make a ghost girl and her psychic visions go away by shooting them? I died a dozen times in the hallway sequence where she instagibs you until I managed to pump enough rounds into her, which makes absolutely no sense. Oh, well.
• This game hates helicopters. Seriously, whoever wrote the script must subscribe to the, "If God wanted man to fly, He'd have given him wings," philosophy, because all they seem to be is an excuse to trap you in an scripted crash cutscene. It's to the point where I know I'm screwed whenever I get in a vehicle.
• The game telegraphs its set pieces. It's refreshing to have to think tactically and guard multiple approaches, but as soon as I walk into an area that fits that mold I immediately know a fight is coming, even before the music and Enemy Chatter. Probably that's because I'm Genre Savvy about it by now.
• Combat Shotgun at close range = Ludicrous Gibs. Seriously, that is hilarious.

I've read that the Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate expansions are non-canon, but I'm going to play them anyway. I spent $20 on the package; I might as well get my money's worth out of it.

edited 1st Sep '11 8:34:45 AM by Fighteer

Heh. Just wait till you play FEAR 2 then...

Huh, had the wrong trope there. Fetish Retardant is accidental. Fan Disservice is the deliberate version.

I haven't played any games from the F.E.A.R. series, but I have heard about it, read up on it, and seen some You Tube clips on it.

I have to say this about the series though...I give two middle fingers to Genevieve Aristide, the Wicked Witch of FEAR! Yes, Alma is a saint compared to her! I thought it would be so great to see her finally get struck by karma in FEAR 3. Unfortunately, she does not even appear in that game. It is left ambiguous as to whether she is alive or dead by that point.

Also, am I the only one to find Point Man's face a little weird? I mean, the first game went through a lot of trouble to keep his face hidden, and the people making the games suddenly decide to show his full face in third game. What's up with that?

edited 3rd Sep '11 10:35:07 AM by TiggersAreGreat

I thought we were supposed to get from all this that Harlan Wade was the Big Bad. Maybe I lack the perspective of having played the whole series.

But FEAR 3 wasnt made by Monolith, it's more or less worse than the expansions, and is basically just a trumped up call of duty with slo mo and a psychic ghost. I.E. I disregard it as canon. I also don't like Becket suddenly growing a personality in it, which was one drawback of Fear2, that he never answered questions or anything (understandable, so anyone playing him could really be him, but it is a drawback). Ove3rall though, best fps is a toss up between Bioshock and fear2 for me.

FEAR 3 is really meant to be played with a friend, not alone. Otherwise it's just another short FPS with a slow-mo mechanic that's not even slightly scary.

Yeah, that's true.

I finished Extraction Point. Man, what is up with this series and helicopters? Again, you'd think that the protagonist would go catatonic when offered a ride in one. "OH MY GOD NO IT'S GONNA BLOW UP GET IT AWAY!"

Funny, Perseus Mandate actually doesn't blow up your escape craft. Defied expectations!

I started FEAR 2 this weekend and the first thing I noted is that the control scheme is more standardized — no more lean, use is 'E', and flashlight is 'F'. Thank goodness. Second thing I noted is no quicksave — FAIL. Third thing is the "video grain" toning and soft focus. That is just really weird — it makes my eyes water to have the game "adjust" for the focus from my character's POV. Seriously, what the hell?

edited 12th Sep '11 9:04:04 AM by Fighteer

I finished the second game tonight, and I realized that I was under a misapprehension about Alma. She was fifteen when Point Man was born, and presumably sixteen when Fettel was born. Then she spent several more years in suspension until they decided to terminate her, when Fettel was five or six and showing signs of her domination. So her "mature" form is actually more like 21 years old, which makes having her running around naked slightly less squicky. Slightly.

And I just remembered the technical name for the way the game focuses at what you're looking towards when you sight: Depth of Field.

edited 18th Sep '11 9:31:04 PM by Fighteer