What single player FPS campaign are you playing?

[DocHauser]

I just beat the Clive Barker game, Clive Barker's Jericho, from Clive Barker. Very linear, not much of a story, some good gameplay ideas, plus some very bad QTEs. Not great, but just about worth the couple of quid I paid for it. I haven't played Undying, but I've been told it's better than Jericho.

[Ack]

I just beat the Clive Barker game, Clive Barker's Jericho, from Clive Barker.

Huh. Wasn't that game made by Wes Craven?

[DocHauser]

Heh. Well, despite having Barker's name plastered all over it, the story didn't really remind me of any of his novels (and I've read my fair share). It seems that the game designers took some of the imagery (like the grotesque and/or sadistic creatures) and plonked it into a fairly silly action plot with horror elements.

[J T]

Jericho is kinda dumb, but kinda awesome.

[Pulsar_t]

Couldn't bring myself to finishing Jericho.

Anyway, I'm contemplating playing The Darkness II. After trying the demo last year it's definitely designed with the 360 gamepad in mind; not a problem as I have the BT receiver, but is the game worth it?

[xan_racketBOY_fan]

I think they're great with some top notch combat and AI, best use of slow-mo I've seen in an FPS as well. They're dirt cheap so I'd say check them out.

Just finished F.E.A.R. a couple of nights ago - man, you're right about it being great. The combat is extremely solid and holds up well even today. Currently playing Project Origin and it's amazing to see the leap in graphics!

[Xeogred]

Glad you liked it!

Too bad I hate FEAR 3 with a passion. Different devs and it just totally sucked. Bad graphics, bad AI, bad everything.

[dsheinem]

Glad you liked it!

Too bad I hate FEAR 3 with a passion. Different devs and it just totally sucked. Bad graphics, bad AI, bad everything.

While it might be the worst of the three, FEAR 3 isn't that bad. I was actually thinking of revisiting it this year around October if I can find someone to do co-op with. What did you hate about it so much?

[Xeogred]

Glad you liked it!

Too bad I hate FEAR 3 with a passion. Different devs and it just totally sucked. Bad graphics, bad AI, bad everything.

While it might be the worst of the three, FEAR 3 isn't that bad. I was actually thinking of revisiting it this year around October if I can find someone to do co-op with. What did you hate about it so much?

The atmosphere/pacing just wasn't as good as the first two to me and probably what ruined it the most for me. I liked downtime in the first two games, being able to just take things in and catch a break, this also making the enemy encounters more exciting when they pop up. But from what I remember of 3 it was just nonstop wave after wave of enemies and the level design at some points was pretty terrible, the part where you're on the rooftops in that villa... can't even explain it but I remember a few parts where there was no way you could get around having your back completely exposed to snipers who were above you at points. This is fine if you're trying to run or get away, but you weren't... you had to go forward, get shot at and then turn around to work your way up to the higher roof levels. It was just awful. And a bright day villa for a FEAR level? Grocery store? I just looked it up and the game uses a different engine than FEAR 2 (and again, somehow looks worse), the feel of the combat doesn't feel like the first two at all. The constant guard voice overs were incredibly annoying. The point system was really forced and distracting, along with the obvious nudges to co-op elements. Music was non-existent. And well the plot was never anything I cared too much about, but it was definitely full on bologna in 3.

Basically everything. I just think it's straight up one of most mediocre FPS's I've played this gen, next to Time Shift, King Kong, and crap. I'd be completely okay never touching it again. Think if I need a slow-mo fix I'll hit up Singularity again instead!

So yeah, I just think the first two games are really top notch with great pacing, combat, and AI. They're some of the only games out there I feel are somewhat comparable to Half-Life 2 in a way, if you took out the vehicle segments and more open environments, corridor shooters at their best.

Having just played through Dead Space 2 again earlier this year, I'd say the school level in FEAR 2 was even better than Dead Space's. But I loved both and I'd guess Dead Space probably pulled some influences even from FEAR.

I love offices but there's no denying the first FEAR has some repetitive environments, 60% of that game feels like it's the office levels. Still loved it, but on the other hand I think FEAR 2 was really impressive with how organic the levels felt, especially after the early bombing... really felt like you were walking through a wrecked city.

Maybe Doom 3 is a better comparison? That was really fun revisiting the BFG edition, although I have no problem arguing the combat in Doom 3 is kind of boring. Just something about the hit detection... and lack of AI, lol. I'll have to try Nightmare sometime.

[MrPopo]

I love offices but there's no denying the first FEAR has some repetitive environments, 60% of that game feels like it's the office levels.

I'm fairly certain 60% of the original FEAR was office levels. You do the intro level, warehouses, office building, and then the vault, if I recall the progression correctly.