F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (Xbox 360)

Animation

The game features a full body immersion for the main character, you're never taken out of the action to view a third person cut-scene and very much like in F.E.A.R and Condemned 1, 2 you view everything from your character's perspective. Which means you can look down and see the characters feet. The main character is well animated in this respect and when you interact with various objects, vaulting through broken windows, pushing aside large objects to get through certain doors, he reacts and feels in a realistic manner.

The animation for the enemies is top-notch. They also interact with the environment and can kick over cover, vault walls and keep out of the line of fire. They react well to hits and you can knock them down with well placed limb shots before you finish them off. No two enemies die in the same way either since some of them have their fingers on the trigger when they go down; it's wise to keep your distance.

AI

The humanoid enemies of Project Origin are given the same options as the player; they can navigate the environment and will use cover and tactics. They don't rush in blindly and expect to be shot to pieces in the first few seconds of an engagement. They will play to their strengths and often exploit a player's weakness by luring the more gung-ho into a tactical ambush. They will use grenades to flush you out.

Physics

Monolith's engine has the usual bells and whistles we've come to expect from a modern FPS. There's nothing really innovative here, the whole experience is satisfying and the enemies flying through the air when hit by a grenade in slow motion reflex time is one of my favourite things to see. It's nice to see they upped the level of structural damage so that intense fire fights take their toll on your surroundings.

Sound

The sound design to Project Origin is excellent, the weapons are all well implemented aurally and they have a feeling of weight behind them. The thud of bullets slamming into your enemies, the screams as they are in pain and the very crisp 'spooky' audio as you encounter something strange are all excellently done. This combined with the spot effects and the overall polished sound-effects deliver an audio package that is highly atmospheric.

Music

Project Origin's musical score is a solid contender, it evokes the tension of a fight perfectly and the way it has been married to the on screen action/horror moments is nigh-on perfect. There's not much more that can be said regarding this area.

Dialogue/Voice

When you're dealing with a game that has full body immersion, you can have the best graphics, the best story and the best special effects in the business. However it can all be let down if your voice actors deliver their dialogue in a lack-lustre and flat manner. The voice performances in F.E.A.R 2 are top quality and I'm sure I could detect a few famous VA talents snuck into the game. One of the characters sounds suspiciously like the dulcet tones of Phil LaMarr, a little bit of research later and I discover that it is indeed Phil, veteran of countless cartoons and games.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer component of the game is what seriously lets it down for me; then again, I really don't care for multiplayer adversarial in a game these days after playing things like Left 4 Dead and the Splinter Cell multiplayer where the experience was so much more about true cooperation and teamwork. Perhaps I'm getting jaded and old in that respect but I'd have rather seen more single player game than something that felt oddly tacked on just because the hardcore multiplayer crowd might whine about it. After playing the excellent sp experience here I just couldn't quite gel with the multiplayer at all.

There are several modes on offer with the best being Control which is similar to the standard fare of the Battlefield series and Armoured Front which is like Control only involves giant walking battle robots. There are 5 capture points and two large robots, each time has one robot and anyone can pilot it to support their side. It will probably appeal to the serious deathmatch crowd looking for a bit of old school action however and it isn't all that bad. There's no noticeable lag and the whole experience is robust, even though it feels bland.

The FEAR!

All in all, FEAR 2 is an excellent sequel to the first game and if you play them back to back you'll be rewarded with a fairly cohesive story that answers just as many questions as it asks whilst leaving room for more conjecture and debate for fans. F.E.A.R 2 is a good example of a game that succeeds on so many levels because the developers/publisher worked with real writers.