Thursday, August 25, 2011

F.E.A.R (and FEAR Files) rant

Has Spoilers!
I've been playing F.E.A.R (further typed as FEAR because I can't be bothered with periods) and the FEAR Files. I love FEAR. I had the first one (Gold Edition) for the PC and I really liked it, but my computers have never been able to run it properly. Last summer I played FEAR 2 on the Xbox 360 but damn, the jump from mouse to keyboard was brutal for me. I don't play FPS...ever. Except FEAR. Because FEAR is that cool.

Except when you get stuck on random things. Like the corner of a chair and no amount of jumping or struggling will free you until that demonic chair is ready to release you. Is it normal in FPS to get stuck awkwardly on things?

So I finally got the first FEAR for the Xbox 360 and I played that over and over (on moderate difficulty, don't judge!!). I got FEAR Files as well, and I had only played the first expansion, Extraction Point, on the computer. One thing I noticed about both expansions is that the doors are now springy-that is, I can open them and they will close by themselves. WHY?! Sometimes I need the door to stay open to slink back in and use the door frame for cover. Now I turn back and smash my face into the door. No. This doesn't happen in real life. Unless a ghost, like Alma, is closing the doors, this shouldn't happen. You're ruining my strategies.

Extraction Point was ok, but as it wasn't canon I can't really get into the story. I bet they had fun killing off a bunch of characters though. And why the hell is Norton Mapes in there? Like he just walked away from the events from the first game...Uh...Norton, you got shot. You're not Van Gogh, you just don't pick yourself up and go home. You're not that cool. And even then, why bother with him? He's there for like 30 seconds to unlock a door and he's not seen again. Whatever, he's a ghost that unlocks a door. It makes more sense than he being alive. Other than that, Extraction Point was alright. A little repetitive, but what do people expect? I had a lot of fun doing the final fire fight on the roof of the hospital though.    

I never played the second expansion, Perseus Mandate, until a few days ago. To be honest it was interesting at first. You are the second Point Man (like in the first game) and you are investigating the ATC. You have some comrades, Raynes and Chen who are more than cardboard cutouts, at least. But...why the hell does this guy have SlowMo? Thanks for not explaining. And then BAM! there are enemies that have SlowMo too and I swear the first time I encountered one it wouldn't die, no matter how much I shot it. Arg! Am I the only one who noticed that before you actually get to Armacham  there are just so many health kits and light body armours? If health kits and body armour were cake in this game, this guy would be obese. Seriously. Up until Armacham, there wasn't much reason not to have 100% health and full armour for 90% of the time. And you can't say that I'm just too good for moderate difficulty because I suck pretty badly. Aiming? What the hell is aiming? I try and without SlowMo I would probably die in the first five seconds.

Anyway, have I finished Perseus Mandate? Nope. I have to restart. Once I got into Armacham it all went to hell for me. For awhile I had 25 health, no bullets on any guns, no body armour, and no grenades. Awesome. And now that Replica mech is chasing me through the labs and there are three mini-rocket launchers to get him with. I can make it explode, and a whole bunch of enemies come through the nearest door. And I have nothing but a rocket launcher, and no HP after the mech fight. Basically, the enemies kill me or I accidentally blow myself up. So I'm going to restart and go after some of the easy achievements, like not letting your flashlight die and getting all the upgrades...though I've noticed that they are mostly in the most obvious places.

Some interesting things about Perseus Mandate? Armacham, the evil guys, have Dell computers. This product placement wasn't there in the first game (or at least I never noticed) but it's in this one. I understand product placement and unless it is blatantly obvious and in my face and out of place, I don't really care. I actually liked the EB Games signs in Prototype. But Dell on the Armacham computers? I just find it funny that Armacham  are the ones who started everything and are now trying to kill you. It's not just because I hate my Dell printer. Other things are that Perseus Mandate has no scares. At all. It's a good thing I was intrigued by the story or you know...I wouldn't be playing it. I like survival horror/horror-I LIKE being scared. I'm not interested in playing a FPS. I'll try Perseus Mandate again, but I'm really wanting to play FEAR 2 again, now that I have a much better handle on the controls.
Favourite thing in the expansion? The mini-gun. And the mini-turrets. Yay. The mini-turret is so cute...when I don't accidentally throw it on the floor instead of the wall.

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