F.E.A.R. 2 is obviously part of the horror genre, so I'm wondering how you go about creating tension in first person action game? What's your philosophy behind that?
Well a lot of it's sort of case by case… but as a general principle you want to set up an expectation for the audience. You create tension by making a player think something's going to happen and then building up to that and either paying it off or not paying it off. It's all about playing with a player's expectations.
In this game there are those power armor sequence's that seem to work directly in contrast to the horror genre because you're basically invincible for a short period. Can you talk about why those sequences were added to Project Origin?
Well just like in tragedy you need comic relief and I think in horror you need tension release. For one thing, I think F.E.A.R. is fundamentally and action franchise with horror elements, as opposed to being a hardcore horror game. So there's that. But the aspect of it is that if you're going to be tense all the time, it's going to lose that effect after awhile. So you need to get those moments where you can punish the enemies that you've been struggling against.
Inspired by the J-Horror craze going on at the time, Monolith’s F.E.A.R. was a solid action fest of a shooter that entertained as much as it terrified. Bloody Disgusting goes back to see Alma ten years on from the launch of the sequel.
This game honestly killed all my interest in the franchise, I loved 1 and its expansions (even though they're technically non-canon now) but the sequel was such a let down.
First-Person Shooters are a dime a dozen nowadays and it’s a struggle to really find one that stands out and separates itself from the genre. This can be a double-edged sword, as a FPS that brings something new to the table can often unintentionally have that new thing staying at the table forever. But what if that game managed to capture a concept so well that not even its successors could manage to tap into its perfect blend of creative design? Let’s say they decided to mix genres: ones that had been mixed before, but managed to do something that hadn’t been done before. Could it be possible that a studio managed to make a sort of lightning in a bottle for FPS’s, something so good that there may not be anything quite like it for over a decade after it came out? Well, that DID happen, and that game’s name was F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon.
its been almost exactly 4 years since F.3.A.R. its a great series that needs a comeback.
The first one still holds up well to this day. Hope to see another one on current gen ;)
Hardcore Gamer: GOG has made its name as the place to go for DRM-free gaming. Now, the company has added a number of games from the Warner Bros. Interactive library to its lineup of available games.
