Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 77

77: FEAR 2: Project Origin (360/PC/PS3)
Developer: Monolith Productions
Year: 2009

If there is any one thing I like about the “survival horror” genre, its that it can branch out, now, and take the form of other “sub-genres” in gaming – action, adventure, and FPS. While there have been a ton of horror shooters in the recent decade, many of them suck (S.T.A.L.K.E.R., for example), and the rest are mostly ho-hum (with the exception of Doom3 which, by this list-maker’s ruling, was freaking great). But the original F.E.A.R. game brought something new to the table… by stealing something old from standard Japanese horror films; a creepy ghost girl that torments everyone. While the first game was fun, it was flawed in almost every regard (Story, gameplay, weapon choices, mission variety, difficulty curve, etc.), but FEAR 2 corrected everything.

Taking place after the events of its predecessor, FEAR 2 is set in the aftermath of the nuke, depicting a city in ruins, rampant with dead bodies and fallen buildings. You play part of a team sent in to finish the job, so to speak, and to find Alma, the creepy ghost girl I mentioned before. You uncover more of the government conspiracy stuff, more about the lab and the testing on Alma in the past, and more about Point Man from the first game. You also learn that Alma wants a friggin’ baby, which is scary in and of itself. Of course, people will try to stop you from doing the “right” thing, and you have to battle wave after wave of them just to get ahead. Its a standard, John Carpenter-like narrative. Good thing for gamers, then, that Carpenter is directing the next game.

The gameplay is more of the same, but better developed. In relation to the story, more of it is told through the same emails, phone messages, and voice logs that litter video games, now, as a means of keeping gamers immersed in their surroundings and not cutting to in-game scenes to get points across. This time, though, its not as tedious and there are far less seemingly-unimportant things to listen to. The shooting is better, too, as the gun selection has been amped up to provide better range of weaponry and a better cover system during shoot-outs. Knocking over a vending machine, ducking behind it, and tossing grenades is pretty standard fare in FPS’s these days, but the utilization of “quality slow motion” (and I use quotes because some people will never tolerate a gimmick, even a gimmick done well) makes it all the better. The game also introduces some battles with ghouls and ghosts, this time around, and – while those odds are more in the enemies favor than before – its never too taxing, something that the first game struggled with.

Visually the game is a major upgrade, too. Gone are simple hallways and corridors of bases and corporate buildings. Underground labs, deserted city streets, and epic daylight scenarios populate the game, creating a diverse assortment of levels to play through. While the first game was mostly dark, the AM content in the game is a step in the right direction, showing that scares can be just as effective in broad daylight as they are in shadow. The models, effects, blood, and and vehicles all look top-notch, too, which isn’t really a huge improvement, considering how old the first FEAR game is, now (Yes, I’ve stopped using periods in the name. It got too tiresome).

All in all, FEAR 2 is a move in the proper direction, and one of the few sequels that steps above what the previous game had to offer, without moving away from that content entirely. With more focus placed on storytelling and less on wave-after-wave-after-wave-after-shit-ton of enemies to slo-mo your way through, the sequel is fun, fast, and addictive. A third, “final” game is on the horizon in which the effects of this game’s finale are brought to the forefront and I for one can not wait. The series may be fairly simple and the concept may be pretty narrow, but – when done right – when is that ever a negative?

Classic Moment:
Easily the game’s closing battle; after strapping in to a device that lets you traverse Alma’s mind in an effort to “shut her off”, you do battle with the constantly-crumpling body of your one-time friend and squadmate in an ethereal world outside of reality. All the while, Alma – who exists now in both planes – finds you right where she wants you: trapped and strapped and in plain sight. The ending seconds of the gun battle are then interspersed with split-second shots of Alma, erm, sexually assaulting you until you finally defeat your “enemy” and awake to find you are staring at a now very pregnant Alma, and you’re the father. Shocking ending, to be sure.

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Added September 30, 2016
This is a good series and, should they re-release it in an HD remastered trilogy pack, I’d probably get it and play them again. The second one is absolutely the best of the bunch, without question. And I hate how they brought the second game’s protagonist’s story to an abrupt-as-hell end in 3. Oh well.