F.E.A.R.

[LGM]

Has anyone heard of the new game, F.E.A.R.?

It's a new FPS from Sierra and Monolith.

Here's what it says from their site:

You aren't a soldier. You are a weapon.

F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) is an intense combat experience with rich atmosphere and a deeply intense paranormal storyline presented entirely in first person. Be the hero in your own spine-tingling epic of action, tension, and terror... and discover the true meaning of fear.

Hyper-stylized combat for breathtaking cinematic quality action
Gripping supernatural storyline for spine-tingling intensity of play
Multi-player action with multiple gameplay modes and all single player capabilities

Advanced graphics and physics for visceral movie-like experience
Enemies with special abilities and A.I. so intuitive it's like battling living, breathing players

"This game looks frighteningly good."

The trailer looks amazing and the demo is available here: http://www.whatisfear.com/us/demo.html

[Ghormak]

Mindnumbingly boring, slow, ugly and generic!

[AGA]

Leave LGM alone!

[MrColossal]

I'm downloading it now but I trust Ghormak's judgement to the ends of the earth, he's never steered me wrong in the past...

Except when he said Carnivores: Ice Age was "Actually kind of neat."

[Ponch]

I'll grab it when it comes out. I've liked almost everything Monolith has released -- with the notable exception of Blood 2 (though that was redeemed with the add-on pack).

The game was well received at E3 and the trailers have really looked interesting to me. I haven't really liked many shooters since Half-Life or AvP2 so I have high hopes for this one.

- Ponch

[BerserkerTails]

It's a new FPS from Sierra and Monolith.

Sierra's dead. They've been dead for years. It annoys me so much when the name is used to sell games.

[Helm]

when was the name not used to sell games?

[TheYak]

When my great-grandfather crossed the Sierra Nevadas by pack-mule.  Everytime since then, only games.

I'm looking forward to the game if only for some WTF moments and hopefully a bit of genuine creepiness here or there.  Since things have dried up so much on the adventure front (aside from half-assed Myst clones) it's left me with little interactive multimedia to enjoy. 

I'd prefer something a touch deeper than an FPS but the last time I got my hopes up, it was for Deus Ex: Invisible War...  'nuf said.

[BerserkerTails]

when was the name not used to sell games?

THe name's always been used to sell games. But back in the 80s and early 90s, the games were actually made by people who worked for a company named Sierra. So they were called Sierra games. Now games are produced by smaller companies, then published by Vivendi Universal who bought out Sierra, and every so-often they'll slap the "Sierra" name on it. The game has nothing to do with the old company, but people will recognize the name, and buy the game.

So the name is being used to sell the game, and for nothing else. The game isn't affiliated with "Sierra" in anyway, and therefore shouldn't be called a Sierra game.

[Helm]

The game has nothing to do with the old company, but people will recognize the name, and buy the game.

Are you serious? People who were into sierra's adventure game period got wiser after the last King's Quest game or something. Nobody will guy a game because it will have the sierra name on it thinking it will be an adventure game, or even good for that matter.

[BerserkerTails]

Are you serious? People who were into sierra's adventure game period got wiser after the last King's Quest game or something. Nobody will guy a game because it will have the sierra name on it thinking it will be an adventure game, or even good for that matter.

One of the last games Ken Williams was interested in when he was CEO of Sierra was an unknown game by a small company called Valve. The game was called Half-Life. Last I checked, it had the Sierra name on it. And I think the sequel did too.

"So, there's a new First Person Shooter coming out, and it has the name Sierra on it! Didn't Half-Life 2 have that name on it? Man, this is probably just like Half-Life 2!"

Sierra name being used to sell the game.

[hedgefield]

Got the demo yesterday and I must say they are doing a good job on it. There were some OH SHIT WTF WAS THAT moments that really set the mood. You have to get used to it in the beginning, but it looks pretty promising.

[InCreator]

It's so... Far Cry in Doom 3

Pointless detail and hardcore CPU/Video load where it's not needed (human faces, sick lightning) and no light and detail where it IS actually needed (The map)... I felt sorry for my machine.

Bullet time? Seen it in Max Payne
Ragdoll physics? Seen it in Hitman and HL2
Bump/etc wonder mapping? *sigh*
Poinlessly megadetailed characters with 30000 vertices or something thus slowing CPU to ice age? Seen it in Far Cry, hated it

It seems like lots of tech wonders just thrown into a blender and added a bit of C code. AI didn't impress much neither... and my sound card produced painful noise all the time, though it's a good card and up to today's standards...

Also, what's this fever to throw video effects into games nowadays? All this noise and blur crap... my eyes hurt.

No, thanks.

[skw]

I like the site (especially this trailer and music) but probably will never be able to play the game personally. Simply, I have an old and crappy Athlon 1GHz with GeForce 2 64MB card and 256MB of RAM abroad.

Althrough to me it seems that "F.E.A.R." will be just a copy of the excelent Doom3 with some new but sparse elements. Anyway, looking on screenshots of that vibe I'm thinking rather favourably:

[Chicky]

I was really impressed, pushed all other generic fps out of the window, with a really nice animation ... and then it ran round the corner to meet you without you having a chance to think.

The AI was most impressive, and i loved the bumpmapped bullet holes.

[Ponch]

Played it and it did not disappoint. The AI was particularly impressive to me. The bad guys react to me differently every time I play it. The effects are nicely done and the mood is really creepy. I love the hell out of the slide kick/smg combo.

It's probably the most promising demo I've played since I played Half Life: Uplink way back when. I absolutely will buy this thing when in comes out in October.

As for what others have posted here:

I think it's more than a Doom 3 wannabe. Doom 3 was a Doom 1 wannabe. FEAR (I hope) will be what I wanted Doom 3 to be!

As for containing elements also seen in other games -- well, isn't that always the way? It's not like there's an unwritten rule that if somebody uses ragdoll then no-one else may ever use them again. Or that dynamic lighting is only up for grabs to the first person who uses it but then never again.  Everything builds on whatever came before it. Innovation is using something you've seen before but using it at least as well as before and preferably better!

Honestly, after The Matrix, look how everybody started working "bullet time" into everything - even potato chip commercials! The trick is using it well! Atari's own Enter the Matrix game is a perfect example of how having a wicked set of tools at your disposal can still result in a crap game if you just throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks.

Half Life was a great game and really set the standard for a while there but (let's be honest), it wasn't very original. But by mixing together story elements of Stephen King, The Outer Limits, and The X-Files into the old-fashioned Doom experience and layering in some scripted sequences that were far above anything anyone else had done to that point, Valve took all the best bits of their predecessors efforts and produced something that was really interesting and forced everyone to play catch-up for the next few years. Now Half Life 2? That's a different story...

As for Sierra, that name should have been retired when the company ceased to exist (for all practical purposes). Using it now just seems like a cheap marketing tool. "Ooh, Sierra! They made Half Life! They're the roxXors!"

Of course, I think the LucasArts name should be retired too, so what do I know?

All in all, I'd recommend the FEAR demo to anybody who likes atmosphere, scares and gunfire. I hope the full game lives up to the promise.

- Ponch

[GarageGothic]

Re: F.E.A.R. - If it's only brighter than Doom 3 it's infinitely better.

Re: Sierra - Well it's probably difficult to sell a company if you tell the buyers that they can't use the old name.

[LGM]

I too have played the demo now. I am impressed. The combat is slick and the bullet time is very fun. Sure, it's a "rehash" of what's come but I personally think that F.E.A.R is building on the success of Far Cry, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, not leeching off them.

I can't wait for the release of this game. I'm sure it will be mega-awesome. (But a 700MB download for the demo was quite annoying.. I barely got to play anything.

[BerserkerTails]

700 Mbs for a TINY bit of gameplay? Oh great... 5-8 CD game, here we come!!

*SIGH*, DVDs were invented for a reason...

[LGM]

Who said the game wasn't coming out on DVD?

Why are you so die-hard against this game? Did Monolith ill your aunt or something?