F.E.A.R. 2, Episode 2: Attack of the Clones!
Developer: Monolith
Demo/Buy: Xbox Live Marketplace/PSN/PC
Paxton’s back!
No, this isn’t a spoiler. It should be, but Monolith have clearly forgotten the basics of what makes a good plot twist. Discovering that Paxton Fettel (the psychopathic psychic from the original F.E.A.R.) is making a Take That-worthy comeback would’ve been absolutely mindblowing… if Monolith hadn’t stuck it in the DLC advertising. And the demo. And the intro movie. And named an achievement after it. Slightly spoiled the suprise there, guys!
Anyway, F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn is a downloadable mini-campaign that acts as the overture to P-Filly’s eventual rebirth (again, not a spoiler… since it’s the name of the DLC!). The first thing that you need to know is that ten dollars (800 MSP) only nets you a meagre 2 hours of new gameplay, spread over 4 chapters. This is seemingly terrible value compared to similarly-priced downloadable games and will be enough to deter most gamers straight away.
Which is a damn shame, because Reborn delivers an truly excepional FPS experience while it lasts.
Prepare to be Owned by the Cloned...
Our new protagonist is Foxtrot 813: a badass elite clone soldier who’s deployed from space… in a massive robot… to kick ass and take names. This was already enough to convince me that F813 is the best F.E.A.R. character since the Point Man himself, but his cloned heritage actually gives him a good reason to say very little and follow orders without question (as opposed to the mysteriously silent/totally gormless Beckett). More to the point, his fellow Replicas are all clones as well, so there’s none of the cringeworthy squad banter that plagued the Dark Signal team. After a high-octane opening level that involves laying waste to an entire army with aforementioned space robot, F813 meets up with his squad… and then (to coin a phrase) shit gets very, very real. The next hour and a half is spent in a series of well-paced encounters and set pieces that mix enormous, spacious shootouts with tense claustrophobic corridor stalking.
Just to reiterate: Foxtrot 813 was deployed from space in an enormous robot. To shit up an army. In an enormous robot. From space. I've actually got a boner just thinking about it.
Because Monolith only has two hours to tell a full story, there’s absolutely no fat or wasted moments to speak of. Reborn has been stripped down to its engine and chassis like a pedigree sports car- and like a track special, it handles far better after losing some weight. Every second is packed with tense firefights, mindfucks or brisk yet comprehensive exposition- there’s none of the boring ‘walking slowly down a corridor for ages as the screen goes a bit red and blurry’ situations that were all too common in F.E.A.R. 2. In fact, the horror element takes a back seat to the gunslinging (which is great news, since Monolith seem to have lost their subtle genius displayed to devastating effect in the sublime Condemned: Criminal Origins). To emphasise this point, Alma makes her contractual appearance… without any of her usual creepy, scary acoutrements. After all, our boy F813 is a clone soldier that literally can’t feel fear- so why bother trying to scare him rather than kill him outright? The net result is that F.E.A.R 2’s excellent gunplay gets to strut its stuff without getting bogged down: quite simply, it’s good, plain fun.
The cruellest shot of all...
Right: It’s time to talk set pieces. Reborn doesn’t just offer more memorable ‘Oh my God, do you remember when…‘ moments than the entire original campaign… it also provides more thrills than most full-price titles. The set pieces are truly excellent and are worlds away from F.E.A.R’s traditional corridor-crawling comfort zone. For example, an enormous gutted onramp provides a tense arena that forces you to think in three dimensions as snipers appear at windows, troops hop over walls and heavy troopers rush you from all angles. Destroyable vehicles, plentiful cover and an optional turret provide a large number of tactical options (that’ll descend into desperate slow-motion melee combat on harder difficulties). Other highlights include a vertigo-inducing descent through a collapsed building, facing off against an insane mix of enemy mechs and stealth assassins in a hotel lobby and running through a cubicle maze as Big Daddy wannabes smash through the fucking walls. Seriously folks, Reborn packs a lot into its four missions. Shooter fans will not be disappointed.
This enormous gutted freeway provides one of the most satisfying encounter in the franchise. Expect snipers at any window, troops vaulting over walls and heavies bearing down on you from all angles. Samey corridor crawling THIS AIN'T.
To round off the package, the achievements are very unusual. In a good way. Instead of awarding gamerpoints for level completion or killing a certain number of enemies, Reborn hands out achievements for playing through levels in a different style. For example, it bets you 20G that you can’t complete the opening level without your chaingun-toting battlesuit, or sprint through the cubicle maze without killing a single heavy trooper on the way. You’ll need at least two playthroughs to see everything that Reborn has to offer.
Let’s wrap this up. F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn delivers a small dose of premium content at a truly premium price. F.E.A.R. fans, shooter connoisseurs and achievement hunters will discover a finely-honed, rewarding little diversion that’s well worth the money- but unfortunately, a little diversion is all it will ever be. For the majority of gamers, two hours of gameplay is simply not long enough to warrant its price tag. Pity.
CGI rating:
(A price cut might well bump this rating up…watch this space!)
WTF even is fear?