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

Posted by Todd Vote on 01.27.2009

Hands-On: I go hands on with the Xbox Live demo. Come in to see my thoughts.


You probably don't wanna trust her...

The demo opens with a brief explanation of some girl named Alma, and how she was just eight years old the last time she saw the sun. Apparently Alma has known nothing but pain. I'm assuming this girl is in some way connected to the big baddy of the game, or she may even be the big baddy. It's hard to tell from the opening video

From here we get a text on screen telling us this is Interval 01: Premonition. This opening level is very reminiscent of the film Constantine when he is in Hell, lots of reds and burning cars. As you start moving through the demo the first thing that really stands out is the atmosphere created in this game, every thing is very eerie. You get a few flashes of Alma, and it looks as if she grows up right before your eyes. She leads you to a hole that you jump into.

When you wake up, things look a bit more normal, as you lie next to a crashed helicopter. Your objective is to rendezvous with your squad mates. But of course you will encounter plenty of enemies along the way. The AI appears to be fairly intelligent in this game as I seen them tipping over everything from tables to vending machines to take cover and try to bring you down.

As you make your way inside a school strange things start to happen again, and I am suddenly being reminded of The Suffering, which is not necessarily a bad thing at all. Locker doors fly open, and some electrical dude keeps trying to kick your ass as you progress through the demo. Not sure if this is meant to lead you in the right direction, or what exactly the intent is here, but it sure is creepy.

Beware of snipers! Death number one in the demo came when I saw a simple red laser light, and before I could get behind cover, a sniper shot me square in the chest, putting me down. luckily upon respawning, I found that I also have access to a sniper rifle, that I use to clear the area before moving on. Only to find out that the snipers aren't near the hassle that this jerk with the laser gun offers to me. Good news though is that after taking him down you get the giant laser gun.

In the final act of the demo the player gets the opportunity to climb into some Power Armor. The Power Armor is similar to the robots you could climb into in Capcom's Lost Planet, with a main gun as well as some cluster rockets. But alas, just as I was starting to enjoy this portion of the game, the demo comes to an end.

With impressive visuals, and a creepy soundtrack, the atmosphere of this demo was spectacular, I am not afraid to admit that the game did manage to offer me a jump out of my seat moment, but I won't spoil that for anyone here. Graphically the game looks great.

The AI seems fairly intelligent in the aspect that they will not just stand still and let you shoot them. They will actively seek cover, and they will try to bring you down. Add in the creepy haunted aspect that is never really explored in the demo, and I'm sure there are plenty of baddies to offer up a fair challenge to most gamers.

The controls seem fairly basic for a FPS title, however I would like to see them tightened up a bit before the game is released. I had a bit of trouble getting my cursor to stop on an enemy. I adjusted the sensitivity several times, but could not find one that would work for me. Often times this lead to doing a lot of spraying and praying to get the job done.

The game offers a standard melee, as well as some special melees that you can use when running or jumping towards opponents. This seems nice in passing, but since the game stays in First person mode during these melee attacks, there is nothing to differentiate the standard melee from the special melee attacks.

All in all, the demo was enough to pique my curiosity, and I look forward to a bit more time with this title.

Screenshots
All 13 F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Screenshots