F.E.A.R. Extraction Point Hands-On

[TomO]

Pro-G (www.pro-g.co.uk) reports on how the F.E.A.R. expansion, Extraction Point, is shaping up with a hands-on preview.

There's a whole lot in F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (http://www.pro-g.co.uk/pc/fear_extraction_point/preview-232.html) to be excited about. While the expansion doesn't seem to be doing too many things all that differently from the original, there's really no need to mess with the formula. The new enemies, new weapons, and new environments, combined with a rampaging Alma, the brilliant F.E.A.R. AI and combat should make this a must own for F.E.A.R. fans.
F.E.A.R. Extraction Point Preview (http://www.pro-g.co.uk/pc/fear_extraction_point/preview-232.html).

[MSUStud911]

Nice. I'll have to finish FEAR before picking this up though.

Btw, can someone tell me why FEAR only gives me the option to run at 1024x768? I have a GeForce 7800 and an AMD 3400+ with a gig of RAM for God's sake.

[zrikz]

Ah sweet another fear, I loved this game and cant wait for this add on. And to you MSU.. no idea your card can handle way above, thats for sure.. unless you have a very ancient monitor.

[MSUStud911]

I actually found this response in another forum:
1280x1024 isn't a 4:3 ratio resolution, but 5:4, so it's not officially supported, but you can get it by editing your settings.cfg file
Weird, huh? Anyway, I edited the .cfg file, so hopefully that works.

[Wyrm]

Fuck, I didn't know they were making an expansion! That's badass! That's like finding a 50 dollar bill in your house that you didn't know you have, except more scary, and more pants-wet-inducing.

I knew a sequel was in development, but this is just great news. I'll have yet another awesome game to buy come November.

[The Iron Weasel]

I cannot wait for this, lets hope it doesn't follow the trend of non-monolith developed expantions.

[xcalibur]

I am curious to see how this one turns out. I was considering taking a job at TimeGate to work on this, before ultimately opting to work here at Retro on Metroid Prime 3. The TimeGate guys seems like a good bunch. I enjoyed the Kohan series, and even Axis and Allies, even though neither were big commercial successes. Hope this works out well for them.

-X

[zipR]

Why do they waste their time on new environments? The endless offices of the original are what people really loved about the first one.

[Hellstorm]

The endless offices of the original are what people really loved about the first one.

No, that's what brought the game down. Every level felt like you were running through the same level over and over.

Level design was the major weak point in FEAR.

[51|RandoM]

No, that's what brought the game down. Every level felt like you were running through the same level over and over.

Level design was the major weak point in FEAR.

I think he was being sarcastic. :-)

FEAR was one of those titles that was almost great. Excellent atmosphere, fairly good gameplay, but the endless office brawl just got old. Like in doom3, you knew if you picked up that ammo, 3 mobs would spawn behind you in the closet that was empty 30 seconds ago, in fear you knew the area beyond the next door would be offices... and beyond that cubicles... and beyond that concrete tunnels connecting to the next set of offices.

[Stormwatcher]

I like FEAR, what are the new weapons?
I wish you could carry one more gun, though, like in Far Cry.

[GrayFox]

I was very hyped to play FEAR and followed it closely before launching. However when i got to really play it, i was disapointed. The problem is you have a very good beginning section and an awsome ending section, but all the stuff in between is just boring and repetitive.

Nevertheless, i want this expansion!

[Steve_Erhardt]

agreed on FEAR's weak point (mono-environment),but otherwise it was an awesome game. I think hand in hand with the endless offices, though, was the enemy soldiers... once in a while you got a heavy guy or a mini-mech, but otherwise it was same same same. Again, the game is still good solid fun and not to be missed for the story, action, and scares, but hopefully the expansion will shore up those two weak points.

[serion]

I actually found this response in another forum:

Weird, huh? Anyway, I edited the .cfg file, so hopefully that works.

Does it look stretched or squashed at all to you? It seems pretty lame to constrain the game to 4:3, especially with the amount of widescreen monitors and TVs people seem to be gaming on.

[Hellstorm]

I am curious to see how this one turns out. I was considering taking a job at TimeGate to work on this, before ultimately opting to work here at Retro on Metroid Prime 3.

-X
So if Prime 3 sucks, we know who to blame. :)

[xcalibur]

So if Prime 3 sucks, we know who to blame. :)


Yep! And if it rocks, you will know who to praise. :D

Although I have only been here a little under a year, so I can't take ALL the blame, but I will gladly accept all praise. :cool:


-X

[Manzy]

Damnit, they pulled the plug on this. I don't suppose anyone saved the preview or anything?

[nein89]

Level design was a weak point in FEAR. I'd say the major one was the game still not fucking working for a bunch of people. I still haven't finished Interval 05 on account of one of the numerous black screen + hud/gun bugs.

Too bad, 'cause it was pretty fun up to that point.

[Furtive]

Okay.. this article has been pulled from the website and delayed til august. Bummer for me since I pulled it up at work but then got busy with actual work. Now that Im home its gone. :( I dont suppose anyone has a backup link or anything?

[aversion2k]

FEAR blows its load way to fast, leaving nothing new to see after the first few levels.
(ok theres invisible guys, a mech thing and a couple of different guns)
It was just a big long concrete hallway where you do the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.
The story was ok, but fairly predicatble, with a slight twist at the end. And it wasnt scary, I think most people say it was scary because the game tells you its ment to be scary. If this game scares you, you have a problem.

That being said. I'll probebly end up buying this anyway. I suck with money

[Stormwatcher]

I"ll sumarise the artivle for you, Furtive:
FEAR was pretty cool, the expansion will be even cooler.

There are new guns, enemies and environments. Alma is still around, and people shoot at you.

That's it.

[YoungAlCapone]

I was very excited for FEAR, and was left extremely underwhelmed. I felt like they completely dropped the ball on level design. If you played the demo you played half of the environments in the whole game.

I have reinstalled it a couple of times and made it a little further each time. Maybe I will finish it one of these times.