Fear 3

[DoctorNarrative]

Got this today... JDR needs to stay away from it, it's very average, very consoley and worse than FEAR 2.

Anyway, it's... a game. You shoot stuff. It seems almost entirely built to be played in co-op which is about as far opposite of the slow-paced immersive shooter FEAR was as you can get. Playing solo you still get these score elements on your HUD like you're competing with someone and it still ranks you at the end of a level ("you're her favorite brother!"). The core action is fine though... it has a really good always first-person cover system that reminds me of Medal of Honor Airborne of all games.

Graphics are fine. Pretty standard console port look to it. Kind of blurry but that might just be the FXAA effect. MSAA is available but cut my framerates in half (single GTX 480). Distant objects are big jpegs it looks like, straight out of a CoD game. Performance (with FXAA) is excellent though, 60fps locked. Lighting effects can look really good. Like I said, standard console graphics.

HUD, controls... everything is consoley, even worse than FEAR 2. It does have lots of options and settings though and even defaulted stuff to my mouse buttons 4 and 5, which is a first. It's not bad in the PC port arena, just pretty standard. Still kind of sad to see for a series that defined why PC FPS games are better when the original came out, but whatever.

I have a weird stutter issue when strafing, which seems to be common according to the Steam forums. Beware of that. Otherwise if you don't mind console ports (or play on a console) this seems like a perfectly good time for co-op and probably an average time for solo shooter fans.

[Couchpotato]

Thanks its just what I feared when a new studio took over the franchise. I might give it a try when its in the bargain bin in a few months.

[JDR13]

Pretty much what I expected, but thanks for the warning anyways..


Er… what is FXAA?

[DoctorNarrative]

Er… what is FXAA?

It's like MLAA but better. It's a processing filter that removes jaggies with no performance hit and it works with deferred lighting which regular AA does not. MLAA makes games look really blurry but FXAA is much better, the blur is really hard to notice.

At some point nVidia will allow you to force FXAA on anything, supposedly.

[JemyM]

Another shooter? Awesome. I hope it have a coversystem and turretsequences with unlimited ammo.

[DoctorNarrative]

Another shooter? Awesome. I hope it have a coversystem and turretsequences with unlimited ammo.

Another RPG? Awesome. I hope it have a leveling system and warrior/mage/rogue archetypes.

[JDR13]

I think it's safe to say that both of those genres have taken a downturn in recent years. Although shooters have suffered the worse decline, imo.

[txa1265]

Another shooter? Awesome. I hope it have a coversystem and turretsequences with unlimited ammo.

Another RPG? Awesome. I hope it have a leveling system and warrior/mage/rogue archetypes.

Aw man ... which to play first?!?

I know, I'll pick the 2011 shooter with boss battles from 1997, physics puzzles from 2004, jump puzzles from 2002, maturity level from middle school ... but not done as well as any other game that does those things ...

[DoctorNarrative]

I know, I'll pick the 2011 shooter with boss battles from 1997, physics puzzles from 2004, jump puzzles from 2002, maturity level from middle school … but not done as well as any other game that does those things …

Yes, Duke is a very flawed game.

FEAR 3 is more just average. If you really liked FEAR 2 and want more of that you will probably like it. If you didn't, you won't.

[JemyM]

Just to clarify, turret with infinite ammo have been an internal joke in our gaminggroup. When Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was said to have a cannon and ME3 had a railshooter sequence we just laughed and nodded.

The turret represent the trend in which designers ceased to come up with new stuff and instead sacrifice prequels unique gameplay elements and spout elements they copied from the "modern game formula" as new features;
* Cover
* 2p coop
* 3rd person
* Achievements for MMORPG collection quests
* RPG lite upgrade system
* Recharging healthbar
* Stealth sequences
* Vehicles
* Overheating turrets with infinite ammo

What we should expect from this market is less old and nothing new.

[DoctorNarrative]

And I could make a list of RPG genre cliches that long and games people love that have all of them in it. It's kind of like looking at the ingredients of a food to see if you like the taste, it's pretty pointless in the end.

Yes, FEAR 3 is pretty damn cliche in a lot of ways. It also has some interesting ideas like how Paxton Fettel plays and how the competitive co-op is handled. Some will like it, some will not. It's not going to set the world on fire, certainly. That doesn't mean it can't be really enjoyable for the right person.

[JemyM]

And I could make a list of RPG genre cliches that long and games people love that have all of them in it. It's kind of like looking at the ingredients of a food to see if you like the taste, it's pretty pointless in the end.

Yes, FEAR 3 is pretty damn cliche in a lot of ways. It also has some interesting ideas like how Paxton Fettel plays and how the competitive co-op is handled. Some will like it, some will not. It's not going to set the world on fire, certainly. That doesn't mean it can't be really enjoyable for the right person.

The difference is that all genrés are replaced with this universal formula now, even when it do not make sense.

Resident Evil used to be survival horror and it moved in this direction (adding most of the above). Tomb Raider used to be a platform/puzzlegame and moved in this direction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw2_aQ-S1IY). Assassin's Creed is a rennaissance game yet moved in this direction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xm9v7xjTag). Fear was a horror fps and moved in this direction. Red Faction moved in this direction. Bioware used to be about RPG and moved in this direction.

Most of the time the features they added doesn't function near as well as the games who introduced the mechanic and often the games sacrifice rather than expand on the unique gameplay they once had, eventually boiling it all down into a grey coctail with everything tasting like chicken.

[JDR13]

And I could make a list of RPG genre cliches that long and games people love that have all of them in it. It's kind of like looking at the ingredients of a food to see if you like the taste, it's pretty pointless in the end.

I think you missed the point of JemyM's post. It's not a pissing contest between genres, and there's no need to get defensive. He's just talking about his observations regarding shooters, not bashing them.

[DoctorNarrative]

I think you missed the point of JemyM's post. It's not a pissing contest between genres, and there's no need to get defensive. He's just talking about his observations regarding shooters, not bashing them.

I'm not taking it as a pissing contest, I'm just trying to point out that innovation has been sparse in this medium since it started.

[JDR13]

I'm not taking it as a pissing contest, I'm just trying to point out that innovation has been sparse in this medium since it started.

Since it started? I don't think I'd go that far, but I'm not looking to derail this thread any further.

[Couchpotato]

There is that word innovation again. I wonder what it is and why when company's try they fail. There is a lesson to learned on how to innovate and not destroy a game or genre. Feel free to disagree.

[txa1265]

There is that word innovation again. I wonder what it is and why when company's try they fail. There is a lesson to learned on how to innovate and not destroy a game or genre. Feel free to disagree.

Well, technically there is 'invention', which is coming up with something new, and 'innovate' which is to apply existing ideas in a new way or in a new space.

So adding RPG-lite elements to a action game or shooter for the first time would be innovative.

Turning EVERY game in EVERY genre into a 3rd person 'dark & gritty' action-adventure with boss battles, 2/3 cutscenes, jump puzzles, cover mechanics and RPG-lite elements ... not so much.

[Couchpotato]

I know just being sarcastic about the word. Its sad that most games are becoming the same. Its that whole it worked for them why not do it to.

As for adding RPG-lite elements to a action game or shooter the first game that I do agree on. The rest just copied the one who did it also. I dont think the future of rpgs are crossover genre games.

[JemyM]

I have played it the whole day. As far as I concern it's much better than I had anticipated. I found the levelsystem to be fun. There are more choices in how to beat the foes and the levelingsystem rewards you for trying.

[DArtagnan]

I'm not taking it as a pissing contest, I'm just trying to point out that innovation has been sparse in this medium since it started.

Still refusing to accept that game design peaked at some point, and has stagnated to a large degree in terms of the mainstream market?

I find it a really curious position, actually. It's almost as if you WANT the industry to be a static thing that never changed.

All evidence to the contrary is just delusional nostalgia, and modern AAA game design is innovating as much - or as little - as always, right?

Market forces have no influence on designs? They fully expect a game to sell, regardless of what the designer comes up with? It's not like they're spending millions of dollars researching what the audience wants - and financing exactly what they think will generate the largest return?

You don't see how the market has changed, and how the audience is not interested in the same things as when the enthusiasts led the suits around?

Gaming went from nerd/enthusiast territory to mainstream territory. Do you REALLY think that had no effect on the designs behind the games?

[JemyM]

Beaten the game and posted my praise in the Last Game Finished thread.

[DoctorNarrative]

Still refusing to accept that game design peaked at some point, and has stagnated to a large degree in terms of the mainstream market?

No, not at all. I would agree with all that actually. My only point is that ignoring the innovative things this game DOES have and concentrating on the tried and true shooter cliches it also has is pretty disingenuous. Every shooter has some shooter cliches in it, it's almost impossible not to.

[coaster]

I was bored playing through FEAR3 as Point man which was just the same old slomo - but playing as Fettel felt quite different and was a lot of fun (and to my surprise was rather easier). You effectively have two "lives" (one when you are possessing a body, one when you are forced out of that body and running around as a spirit). I didn't get tired of the feeling of power from suspending an enemies body in the air then zipping into it and going on a shooting spree. The only really difficult bits were when fighting lots of creatures you couldn't possess, like the dog-things.

I don't know if any other shooters have done a "possession" mechanic but to me at least it was innovative.