Number 55: F.E.A.R., Monolith 2005
Intro:
Despite cool graphics, lots of loose ends right from the get-go, and plenty of flashy violence, it managed to fail to engage me. It may have been needing to read white text on black, through information that didn't really matter, the lack of editing coherence, how every hallway and location looked pretty much the same, or how I had no investment in any of the characters, but it just failed to grab me. Luckily, I'd played the demo, so I knew what sorts of rewards I could expect from the game.
Getting Going:
The game lets you loose and gradually explains all of the controls as they become necessary. The first level sees nearly no combat, but right from the start of the intro you know something is up. The breifing cutscene only serves to establish the player's fairly vague identity. The events of the first level are spooky and unnerving, between strange illusions of disolving specters and whatnot, and the "forced Focus" moment that ends in meeting a teammate the player lost contact with in a room with a dead body. Very little tensions has been derived from action, but already I was tense and cautious. Then the board came. I loved the game right then and there.
Fun:
This game offers two key features that the player has fun with: the intellegent FPS strategy allowed by tight level design and superior AI, and the spooky survival-horror moments. The level design is tight and superbly paced, and constantly varied. This makes exploration fun, but it's appreciated best against a team of the game's terrifyingly intellegent Replica soldiers. Between their audible communication, and shockingly sensible AI, every element of the level's design becomes cover or eye candy as the teams spread and flow to flank the player. This is further intensified by the gradually growing size of the teams the player must fight in more and more dangerous environments. Survivng a firefight takes intellegence and skill, even when set on Easy difficulty, and is extremely satisfying. Between firefights, the player is unnerved by various spectral happenings, such as visions, assault by a ghost of the creepy Ring-girl Alma and of the psychic commander Fettel, sudden changes in environment from the warehouses to mysterious hallways with cielings made of flowing, reflective blood... this game is paced perfectly.
Visuals:
My only complaint is that despite the flying shreds of carboard, those boxes never lose their shape or matter, when the realism everywhere else suggests they should flatten into swiss cheese. Otherwise, the graphics are shockingly fantastic. Animation is fantastic, shaders are fantastic, the detail in the design is fantastic, meshes are fantastic, enemy design is fantastic (as it needed to be, since you see the same folks again so, so much), special effects are fantastic, and light warping through the glass is a great touch. Not only is it all technically achieved, but it needed to be: a key element to horror films is the lighting (so when that long lighting fixture suddenly breaks, it directs light exactly as it should). Finally, Focus mode "sharpens" the image through increasing the saturation and blurs the edges a little, which looks great.
Intelligence:
Unmatched. I've never been so terrified of an enemy as I have been in this game. The AI communicates to give the player a hint, and those hints are only worth a little: if you don't retreat to unflankable cover and don't kill anyone who moves, they will always flank you. Everything in the environment that isn't bolted down becomes manipulatable cover for them. And take cover. And stay under that cover until you stop shooting at them. I'm so, so happy to see an AI that doesn't think standing out in the open to attack you is a good idea.
Immersion:
Thanks to the camera, and the attention to the player's perspective, this game presents a degree of immersion I hadn't expected. With enemies coming at me from all angles, I became aware of space in a whole different way, where as most FPS games allow you to clean out the level as you move so that's not an issue. The bodies crumple up as I would expect them to (as opposed to like human-shaped bags of sand, which was an issue I had with Havok before). The music and sound are great. I can see my feet, and when I get to a ladder I actually MOUNT the ladder instead of just suddenly being associated with it. The horror elements of the game are also terrifying, as instead of just making things tense by making me wield a flashlight (Boo you, Doom 3!) this game terrifies the player with events that can't be stopped or overcome with any amount of firepower.
Cameras:
The use of special effects and attention to the player's first person perspective was incredible. Every scary moment was tailor made for the point of view, from the graphical orientation of each event to the way sound was used. I don't think I've every seen so much attention paid to focusing the events on the player's point of view, between the pacing and the appearance of events.
Control:
Very standard controls for a First Person Shooter. Special melee attacks are neat and control alright, but I didn't find much use for them out of suprise short-range encounters in multiplayer. It falls into the "new" standard, where the right mouse button is used for a melee strike instead of a secondary fire mode. The change in the norm is interesting to note, and probably reflects from a shift from intense Doom shooters with unrealistic environs and weapons to more realisitic Halo-style shooters.
Ideas:
I love EVERYTHING this game represents, except for Vivendi Univeral. The advances in AI made this game a really great experience, and tailoring a fantastic horror experience for the first person perspective was a great jump in genre-blending, and showed Doom 3 how to do it without monster closets.
Memory:
One of the best shooters I've ever laid my hands on. Though its a very focused and scripted experience, sometimes that's exactly what I want, and this game fits that bill. A must-play in the historical landscape of shooters, as the advance in AI is a sudden leap and the genre defining design is a very satisfying in all kinds of new ways.
Despite cool graphics, lots of loose ends right from the get-go, and plenty of flashy violence, it managed to fail to engage me. It may have been needing to read white text on black, through information that didn't really matter, the lack of editing coherence, how every hallway and location looked pretty much the same, or how I had no investment in any of the characters, but it just failed to grab me. Luckily, I'd played the demo, so I knew what sorts of rewards I could expect from the game.
Getting Going:
The game lets you loose and gradually explains all of the controls as they become necessary. The first level sees nearly no combat, but right from the start of the intro you know something is up. The breifing cutscene only serves to establish the player's fairly vague identity. The events of the first level are spooky and unnerving, between strange illusions of disolving specters and whatnot, and the "forced Focus" moment that ends in meeting a teammate the player lost contact with in a room with a dead body. Very little tensions has been derived from action, but already I was tense and cautious. Then the board came. I loved the game right then and there.
Fun:
This game offers two key features that the player has fun with: the intellegent FPS strategy allowed by tight level design and superior AI, and the spooky survival-horror moments. The level design is tight and superbly paced, and constantly varied. This makes exploration fun, but it's appreciated best against a team of the game's terrifyingly intellegent Replica soldiers. Between their audible communication, and shockingly sensible AI, every element of the level's design becomes cover or eye candy as the teams spread and flow to flank the player. This is further intensified by the gradually growing size of the teams the player must fight in more and more dangerous environments. Survivng a firefight takes intellegence and skill, even when set on Easy difficulty, and is extremely satisfying. Between firefights, the player is unnerved by various spectral happenings, such as visions, assault by a ghost of the creepy Ring-girl Alma and of the psychic commander Fettel, sudden changes in environment from the warehouses to mysterious hallways with cielings made of flowing, reflective blood... this game is paced perfectly.
Visuals:
My only complaint is that despite the flying shreds of carboard, those boxes never lose their shape or matter, when the realism everywhere else suggests they should flatten into swiss cheese. Otherwise, the graphics are shockingly fantastic. Animation is fantastic, shaders are fantastic, the detail in the design is fantastic, meshes are fantastic, enemy design is fantastic (as it needed to be, since you see the same folks again so, so much), special effects are fantastic, and light warping through the glass is a great touch. Not only is it all technically achieved, but it needed to be: a key element to horror films is the lighting (so when that long lighting fixture suddenly breaks, it directs light exactly as it should). Finally, Focus mode "sharpens" the image through increasing the saturation and blurs the edges a little, which looks great.
Intelligence:
Unmatched. I've never been so terrified of an enemy as I have been in this game. The AI communicates to give the player a hint, and those hints are only worth a little: if you don't retreat to unflankable cover and don't kill anyone who moves, they will always flank you. Everything in the environment that isn't bolted down becomes manipulatable cover for them. And take cover. And stay under that cover until you stop shooting at them. I'm so, so happy to see an AI that doesn't think standing out in the open to attack you is a good idea.
Immersion:
Thanks to the camera, and the attention to the player's perspective, this game presents a degree of immersion I hadn't expected. With enemies coming at me from all angles, I became aware of space in a whole different way, where as most FPS games allow you to clean out the level as you move so that's not an issue. The bodies crumple up as I would expect them to (as opposed to like human-shaped bags of sand, which was an issue I had with Havok before). The music and sound are great. I can see my feet, and when I get to a ladder I actually MOUNT the ladder instead of just suddenly being associated with it. The horror elements of the game are also terrifying, as instead of just making things tense by making me wield a flashlight (Boo you, Doom 3!) this game terrifies the player with events that can't be stopped or overcome with any amount of firepower.
Cameras:
The use of special effects and attention to the player's first person perspective was incredible. Every scary moment was tailor made for the point of view, from the graphical orientation of each event to the way sound was used. I don't think I've every seen so much attention paid to focusing the events on the player's point of view, between the pacing and the appearance of events.
Control:
Very standard controls for a First Person Shooter. Special melee attacks are neat and control alright, but I didn't find much use for them out of suprise short-range encounters in multiplayer. It falls into the "new" standard, where the right mouse button is used for a melee strike instead of a secondary fire mode. The change in the norm is interesting to note, and probably reflects from a shift from intense Doom shooters with unrealistic environs and weapons to more realisitic Halo-style shooters.
Ideas:
I love EVERYTHING this game represents, except for Vivendi Univeral. The advances in AI made this game a really great experience, and tailoring a fantastic horror experience for the first person perspective was a great jump in genre-blending, and showed Doom 3 how to do it without monster closets.
Memory:
One of the best shooters I've ever laid my hands on. Though its a very focused and scripted experience, sometimes that's exactly what I want, and this game fits that bill. A must-play in the historical landscape of shooters, as the advance in AI is a sudden leap and the genre defining design is a very satisfying in all kinds of new ways.