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FEAR 2: Project Origin on Game and Player

FEAR 2: Project Origin

Curtis Mettler  //  February 23, 2009


Delivery stole thunder from a mind-rending concept and plot.

T

he trouble with inspiration is interpreting it for distribution to a larger audience. No matter how great the original concept, the way it's packaged and presented makes or breaks the idea. In the case of FEAR 2: Project Origin, from Warner Brothers Games, the concept is solid. No one can argue that doing battle with a terrifyingly powerful unseen force, manifesting in the form of an emaciated young woman and playing merry hobb with the very fabric of reality holds a very dramatic appeal. The story of one Alma Wade, incredibly gifted yet tragically parented, who is treated, tested, and ultimately discarded like a leprous lab rat by her own father in the interest of military science, is instantly and morbidly fascinating.



If you like that sort of thing:
playing merry hobb with reality.
Halfway through the second interval of the game, I took a break and began digging through the interwebs for the story I had missed by not playing the original game. Unfortunately for me, I dug too greedily and too deep, and managed to spoil the ending of Project Origin for myself before I had really gotten started — but such is the impact of Alma's actions in the shockingly twisted ending that knowing did not ruin the experience as much as I had feared. With a core as strong as this, FEAR 2 had the potential energy of a hydrogen bomb. Unfortunately, the delivery stole much of the thunder from what could have been a mind-rending explosion.

When I was first placed in the steel-toed combat boots of Sgt. Michael Becket, my immediate impression was that the world around me felt clean. Certainly there were piles of rubble, bloodstains and puddles, and headless bodies strewn about from the very beginning, but they all felt more deliberate than not, as if the result of a carefully constructed Halloween experience.

This is not to say they it didn't all look terrific. Monolith has the Havok engine tightly tuned in Project Origin, with everything flowing together seamlessly and lighting and water effects crisp and clear in their presentation. I never found any clipping issues or random artifacts in even the most cluttered areas of the game. The unfortunate effect of the clarity here was that every individual object tended to stand apart from the rest, making each area feel like a cluster of obstacles instead of a unified scene. Ultimately the environment betrayed its crafted nature, and although all the best small details were attended to, including terrific artwork and inspirational posters in the elementary school, it couldn't quite envelop me completely.



The effect of clarity is that
individual objects stand apart
from one another.
The handling and controls contributed a bit to this disconnected sense, in their sensitivity and behavior. When everything responds so quickly to your touch, it only underlines the fact that you're directing a digital avatar instead of living the experience. None of these things are bad by any means, but they do all come together to chip away at a game that depends heavily on being able to set a mood and guide the experience. In the end, this clean feeling haunted the game almost as much as Alma did.

Gameplay itself had many fine points, including a good balance between the player's abilities and those of the enemy AI. All of the weapons packed decent punch, though very little variety, with some of the more unusual weapons being of a more novel than practical nature. Because Monolith opted to, authentically, provide few ammo caches aside from what you scrounge from fallen enemies, the only practical weapon options you will have are usually based on what is being used against you. To that end, flame cannons, energy weapons and even the marvelously splatter-capable sniper rifle see little action.

Enemy AI is quite aggressive, effectively using cover, superior numbers, and available grenades to flank you, flush you out, and press their advantage as much as possible. In a bid for flexibility in the battleground, most environmental objects can be turned into cover with a single button press.

I found this feature to be all but unnecessary because Monolith also included the ever-popular trump card: bullet-time. A byproduct of Sgt. Becket's high level of intellect and uncanny reflexes is the ability to react five times faster than the average man, allowing the player to turn even the hairiest of situations into a slow-motion shooting gallery where bullets leave shockwave trails and grenades bloom into concussive bubbles of destruction. Because this card can be played right from the start, and increases in effect as you uncover collectables, it alone can carry the player through nearly every encounter in the game. Because of this, difficulty goes largely out the window and the game flows by at an even pace.

Other highlights include occasional sessions piloting both powered mech and a fixed-point gun turret against a flood of soft, weak, little targets with no hope for resistance. Both cases do a terrific job of keeping things diverse and interesting.

The finest aspect of Project Origin was certainly the plot and character development. Monolith opted for the now standard learn-as-you-go format of storytelling, advancing my understanding through tidbits of info scattered through out the wreckage.

Differing perspectives
keep things interesting.
Voice-acting is excellent throughout the game — with the exception of the token Hispanic squadmate, whose verbal banter in the final turret sequence almost made me check my friendly-fire options.

The major character of interest, of course, is Alma herself, and Monolith's treatment of her is commendable. While her presence in the game isn't nearly as prolific as I expected, what is seen of her is provocative to say the least. Alma stalks the player through out the game, growing closer in proximity as the player grows to understand her past and her pain. These two paths converge in a highly charged instant as a helpless Sgt. Becket comes face-to-face with the tantric force that's been tearing his world apart. In this moment, as Becket and Alma mutely regard each other, Monolith uses body language and subtle changes in Alma's manifestation to terrific effect. The player knows that something has changed, but the shocking nature of that change's true potential cannot be felt until the very end of the game.

At the end of the journey, FEAR 2 offers a gripping story that goes a little lightly on the game portion. While it would make for a terrific, and dare-I-say inevitable, movie adaptation, the game itself comprises a definite rental; but perhaps not the best purchase. Still, if plot is your priority, give Project Origin a shot. It spins a good, creepy yarn when all the lights are turned low.





FEAR 2: Project Origin

System


Developer

Monolith Products


Publisher

Warner Bros.


NA Release

February 10, 2009


Genre

Play Mode


ESRB Rating


In Favor

  • Powerful story
  • Crisp graphics

Against

  • Somewhat weak gameplay

G&P Rating

G&P Latest

July 1, 2011



June 28, 2011




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