F.E.A.R. PM rocks! - Far better than COD4, January 31, 2008
The 2 FPS games I have played recently are COD4 and this one (FEAR PM).
After the huge disappointment and subsequent un-installation of COD4 (and most likely the last COD game I ever play) I was so glad that FEAR Perseus Mandate came along and I have been enjoying it far far more.
The single player is only a weekend's worth of fun, maybe 3-4 days for less serious gamers. This game took about the same time for me to complete as it did to finish COD4. As to be expected FEAR PM was more of the same (but a good same) with a few new weapons, some different locations, and more supernatural stuff going on.
The game play was really great, unlike COD4 where after killing an enemy and another one would magically appear to replace it etc (see my COD4 review if you really want to know), there was none of that nonsense here in PM. The new weapons were cool, except for the lightening gun which does...not very much (in multiplayer all it really seems to do is give you a bit of a tickle and blur your vision).
Again the supernatural stuff genuinely gave me a fright at times, especially these creatures that live under the floor and grab hold of you an pull you down, also these other ones with read eyes which are mostly transparent and run up to you and start beating you around the head also get to me, but the awesome mini gun soon takes care of them. Whoever thinks up this stuff has a really wonderful imagination - Excellent game design.
The game flows nicely and was genuinely fun to play, and there were some hard bits that took a few goes to complete (but no where near the "die and retry" feeling of COD4), in one bit you are in this yard with 2 of those rocket shooting Mechs and there are other encounters that really test your skills. Also there are the normal enemy guys too, nothing beats activating the slow mo and clearing a room full of them in a deadly but graceful dance. I also love it how they swear / curse when you throw grenades etc in to a room of them, how they taunt you, and talk amongst themselves - stuff too strong to include in this review unfortunately.
After the wonderful single player, I have been really getting in to the multi player, doing well, and enjoying it heaps. Again, in my opinion, the multi player is far better than COD4 for a number of reasons...
The first is that there is NO ranking system and no unlocking of better weapons and abilities for those who have more time to play the game. I reckon I'm pretty good at FPSs and did really well in COD2, but when it got to COD4 I did not do very well at all and really hated getting absolutely thrashed by a server full of people with more powerful guns and perks but not necessarily the same or better ability, because they simply have had more time to play the game.
In contrast in FEAR PM, because there is none of that nonsense, all the players on the server have the same weapons (with special ones at certain locations on the maps), armour, and health as everyone else meaning that how well you do is based on your skill, experience, and cunning. So I am doing really well and enjoying it, which is what a game is supposed to be for.
Secondly, there is no calling in of air strikes, helicopters etc. One thing I found when playing COD4 is that often one team would forever be air striking the other and if you were on the team getting striked it was a real bummer because you had to stay in doors otherwise you tended to die a lot.
Thirdly, because FEAR is set in the future the weapons are far cooler than in a war game, like COD4, set in present times. In FEAR as well as the standard pistols, sub-machine gun, assault rifles, shotgun, and ASP rifle (my favourite standard weapon), etc there are all the awesome weapons like the mini gun, laser carbine, reaping canon, particle weapon, etc. Also there is the explosive stuff such as the grenades, proximity mines, and the always-fun sticky remote bombs ("tag em and bag em").
As well as the standard multiplayer game types of DM, TDM, CTF etc there are variations of this. I like most of the maps in the game, many are well designed, balanced and are fun to play. Things in the maps like explosive barrels, fire extinguishers, electrical panels that you can shoot and cause to blow up, along with anyone standing near them, are also really fun. Also like how the FEAR multi player involves a lot of outsmarting / out-thinking your opponents; placing mines in good locations, booby trapping the flag in CTF games (some of my greatest rotfls ever), sneaking up on people and such like.
I suppose by now you are wondering if I love this game so much then why have I not given it 5 stars? Well, that's because I don't give out 5 stars very easily, and there are a couple of things about the game that could be better. These are: that the grenades don't throw the same as in other FPS (I'm thinking COD mainly), they are lighter and don't go as far and blow up a bit sooner so there are some things you can't do so well with them. The other thing that I think is dumb is how easy you can die from getting melee attacked, but many other games have this issue too due to game balancing.
All in all a really great game, far far better than COD4 in every aspect in my opinion; not only was it cheaper, the single and multi player are better, and I have had infinitely more fun playing it.
If you enjoyed FEAR then I strongly recommend this game to you. Even if you have never played FEAR before, but like the aspects of the game I have detailed, I recommend this to you - because this is a standalone expansion there is no reason why you cannot give it a go.
Hope to kick your arse online sometime soon,
Cheers
Z
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