Sat 27 Aug 2011
Playstation
F.E.A.R Review
For a game/movie to scare a hardcore horror fan like myself takes a lot this game did just that. F.E.A.R was accompanied by a lot of hype not surprisingly and I have to say whatever expectations I had going into this game were complete dissipated the moment the game began. The atmosphere and environments are so wonderfully creepy and lavishly detailed, it looks more and feels more real that real life. This game is succeeds at being scary largely because its timing, it really catches you off guard when you least expect it, it’s a psychological thrill ride that doesn’t loosen its grip. The games atmosphere is appropriately dark, in fact this is one of darkest FPS games out there maybe next only to Doom 3 which contributes to the aura of obscurity that seems to encompass this title.
However despite F.E.A.R.S sophisticated and sleek appearance, it is unfortunately not without its shortcomings, most immediately noticed will be its atrocious framerate. When I say atrocious, I’m not saying that it falls short of the ideal 60FPS mark, I mean to say this game barely moves at 30 FPS, the stuttering framerate is truly perceivable and is a detriment to the overall impact of this game. Framerate is such an important factor with any game, but this is especially true when it concerns FPS games. F.E.A.R after all is a port designed for the XBOX 360 which is a significantly more powerful system than the PS3. On the PC and the XBOX 360 the game runs optimally, unfortunately with the PS3 it just doesn’t cut it.
The PS3 port version of F.E.A.R is just not playable, I mean there’s a consistent and perceivable lag between the time you fire your weapon and the time your bullets leave the gun. Regardless of how great the game F.E.A.R is on the much more powerful PC and XBOX360, on the PS3 the game is simply not worth playing, the repeated drops in framerate become a source consistent irritability and frustration throughout the game and really tarnishes your overall experience. To make matters worse the game also seems to have a consistent audio glitch that makes it difficult to figure out which direction enemy shots are being fired from, not only does this take away from the realism and believability of the game, it also hinders your ability to play the game well because you can’t figure out where your enemies are. A little more ironic and somewhat funny is the online play. I began navigating through the pretty impressive selection of levels and game modes, just about to give it a thumbs up, I enter the game and.......there’s no way of communicating with the other players in the game, not even your teammates! No way whatsoever, if you can’t communicate with other players, what the hell is the point of multiplayer? You might as well be playing with bots.
This game is just another example of how a few minor, overlooked flaws in development can ruin what would otherwise be an extremely well put together game. The story, the environments, the graphics are all very well done. For the most part the sound and level design are spot on, most of the mechanics are very well implemented. The game is sincerely scary, without a doubt one of the scariest games out there (when I say one of I mean within the top 5). The enemy AI is eerily realistic. I mean these guys almost have human like qualities to them, they seek cover when cover is needed and work together with their teammates. They even fall back when they don’t think they can win a battle. I was really left with the feeling that these were people who actually didn’t want to die.
Unfortunately despite all this game has to offer, you simply cannot play this game comfortably on the PS3, the framerate is a constant source of frustration and irritability. If you must play F.E.A.R because aside from these crippling flaws it is truly an outstanding game, get a copy for the XBOX360 for which it was designed for or better yet if you have a solid PC pick up the PC port, but skip the PS3 version it doesn’t do it justice.
Review – 80% - Get it for the XBOX 360 or PC to get the real F.E.A.R experience
Pros:
The game is one of the scariest games out there
Excellent graphics, realistic dark atmosphere
Human like AI, some of the most realistic and diverse AI out there
Cons
Frequent drops in framerate make the game somewhat irritable and frustrating to play
You cannot communicate at all in Multi-player rendering it a pointless waste of time.
However despite F.E.A.R.S sophisticated and sleek appearance, it is unfortunately not without its shortcomings, most immediately noticed will be its atrocious framerate. When I say atrocious, I’m not saying that it falls short of the ideal 60FPS mark, I mean to say this game barely moves at 30 FPS, the stuttering framerate is truly perceivable and is a detriment to the overall impact of this game. Framerate is such an important factor with any game, but this is especially true when it concerns FPS games. F.E.A.R after all is a port designed for the XBOX 360 which is a significantly more powerful system than the PS3. On the PC and the XBOX 360 the game runs optimally, unfortunately with the PS3 it just doesn’t cut it.
The PS3 port version of F.E.A.R is just not playable, I mean there’s a consistent and perceivable lag between the time you fire your weapon and the time your bullets leave the gun. Regardless of how great the game F.E.A.R is on the much more powerful PC and XBOX360, on the PS3 the game is simply not worth playing, the repeated drops in framerate become a source consistent irritability and frustration throughout the game and really tarnishes your overall experience. To make matters worse the game also seems to have a consistent audio glitch that makes it difficult to figure out which direction enemy shots are being fired from, not only does this take away from the realism and believability of the game, it also hinders your ability to play the game well because you can’t figure out where your enemies are. A little more ironic and somewhat funny is the online play. I began navigating through the pretty impressive selection of levels and game modes, just about to give it a thumbs up, I enter the game and.......there’s no way of communicating with the other players in the game, not even your teammates! No way whatsoever, if you can’t communicate with other players, what the hell is the point of multiplayer? You might as well be playing with bots.
This game is just another example of how a few minor, overlooked flaws in development can ruin what would otherwise be an extremely well put together game. The story, the environments, the graphics are all very well done. For the most part the sound and level design are spot on, most of the mechanics are very well implemented. The game is sincerely scary, without a doubt one of the scariest games out there (when I say one of I mean within the top 5). The enemy AI is eerily realistic. I mean these guys almost have human like qualities to them, they seek cover when cover is needed and work together with their teammates. They even fall back when they don’t think they can win a battle. I was really left with the feeling that these were people who actually didn’t want to die.
Unfortunately despite all this game has to offer, you simply cannot play this game comfortably on the PS3, the framerate is a constant source of frustration and irritability. If you must play F.E.A.R because aside from these crippling flaws it is truly an outstanding game, get a copy for the XBOX360 for which it was designed for or better yet if you have a solid PC pick up the PC port, but skip the PS3 version it doesn’t do it justice.
Review – 80% - Get it for the XBOX 360 or PC to get the real F.E.A.R experience
Pros:
The game is one of the scariest games out there
Excellent graphics, realistic dark atmosphere
Human like AI, some of the most realistic and diverse AI out there
Cons
Frequent drops in framerate make the game somewhat irritable and frustrating to play
You cannot communicate at all in Multi-player rendering it a pointless waste of time.
