(First Impression) F.E.A.R. Project Origin

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hatter

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Just played ten minutes of demo. Here is the FIRST impression





1- The GFX are good specially HDR and bloom etc.

2- F.E.A.R factor not so much. At least not in demo though there are corridors (see pic) where it's really dark and there is lots of noise. In such situation you really don't know who is lurking in what corners. Though gameplay seems quite easy (may be also because I was playing on easy :P ) and I was able to blast through one such corridor full of strange shadow like creatures with shotgun.

3- Weapons feel alright. Not great but not shabby either. Controls are nice.

5- GFX requirements seem moderate. I played at 1680X1050, Everything Max + 4AA and I had no trouble with HD 4850. Though at times, the game seems to pause to load something and FPS goes to zero. Also the game is capped at 60fps. At least the demo is (or may be on my setup its synchronizing FPS with refresh rate.) I don't know for sure but I could not find any option to enable or disable Vsync in game HUD.

6- Fraps result (three runs)





7- My biggest gripe with Project Origin: the game does not support 16:10. Not at least in Demo. So playing at 1680X1050 resulted in black bars in bottom and top of the screen :no:
 
They used Per-Pixel volumetric lighting which limits the number of like they could incorporate in the scene, seems to do the job though.
 
Completed. :D

The demo was indeed quite short. Around 15 to 20 minutes of gameplay. But it was fun. Yes, mech suit is very powerful. Once you are in it, there is no FEAR. You can just cream everything that runs towards you. And it feels good... the level of power :ohyeah:

I did a bit of googling and found that Monolith too is going after console crowd with F.E.A.R. 2. I always thought monolith to be a solid PC games developer. For example this strange 16:10 res issue is because the game is designed keeping in 16:9 res of console crowd. I am sure there will be some patch to address this issue or most probably it will be sorted out before final release, but still it's a shame. Even more surprising is what Monolith says about recommended graphics:

In order to get the best game play experience, it is not recommended to run F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin at high resolutions. You should avoid resolutions above 1024x768 for 4:3 displays, 1280x768 for 16:10 displays, and 1280x720 for 16:9 displays on any current generation card.
Click to expand...
:bomb:

Field of View too is a lot more consolish. Lots of folks are up in arms at F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Forums - Powered by vBulletin because of the widescreen issue and many have been banned for being too vocal :@

BTW, I found Vsync option. So here are updated FRAPS results:

2009-01-24 05:11:42 - FEAR2SPDemo

Frames: 1769 - Time: 22489ms - Avg: 78.661 - Min: 74 - Max: 82

2009-01-24 05:12:26 - FEAR2SPDemo

Frames: 323 - Time: 4346ms - Avg: 74.321 - Min: 72 - Max: 77

2009-01-24 05:18:17 - FEAR2SPDemo

Frames: 4453 - Time: 60000ms - Avg: 74.217 - Min: 50 - Max: 92
Click to expand...

But there is this nagging dip in FPS sometimes. It was quite an issue in the last five minutes or so. Everybody is getting it. Even folks with consoles. May be a driver optimisations or patches will be on the way by the time the game hits stores on FRIDAY 13 next month :O
 
I just ran through the demo as well. To be honest, I'm blown away. The game looks & feels much better & intense than the original F.E.A.R. The only major gripe I had with the game is the constant stuttering & 2 second lock up issues. It's technical performance is very skippy. I had no issues getting 60+ Fps indoor but it would tank randomly to 25fps during heavy fire fights. Heck it dropped down to 15fps when I got into my robot.

But the game is f*ckin' amazing. I hate the grain filter & like I mentioned earlier the ground textures don't look very sharp. Atleast not like they used to be in the original F.E.A.R. Spookiness is still very much a part of this game. This time it's been juiced up & you'll constantly keep seeing weird images every so often. It will really freak you out when Alam grabs hold of your hand out of nowhere. You just won't see it coming.

The gore level has bee increased. Bodies get decapitated realistically. Ragdoll physics are brilliant. Not to mention bump mapping which still remains intact. A new element has been added to the gameplay. You can flip over the tables & use them as cover during combat. Weapons are awesome. Shotgun, Assault Rifle, Missile Launcher, Sniper Rifle & a new addition of Laser gun.

This game really picks up the pace quickly unlike it's predecessor. If this is the demo then I can't wait to play the full game. If only they would fix the god dam letterboxing & the stuttering issues which really hamper the gameplay.

Here are a few screenshot @1280x1024 with 4X AA & 16X AF with rest at Maximum detail:





















 
^^Parallax mapping ;)

Textures not being sharp enough is partially due to the fact that it is on consoles. So don't expect too much there.
 
^Apologies. Yes it's Parallax mapping indeed. :)

I thought it was supposed to be multi-platform. So the development should have been for the PC from ground up. It's a sad thing they carried over a lot of console elements on the PC as well. The letterboxing being extremely annoying. Also is it just me or every ATI users are having the 2 second lock up & minor stuttering? :@
 
Ethan_Hunt said:
Not to mention bump mapping which still remains intact.
Click to expand...
Why is this surprising? To my knowledge, most games have been using bump mapping since more than a decade :S

Here are a few screenshot @1280x1024 with 4X AA & 16X AF with rest at Maximum detail:
Click to expand...

Nice screens :)
 
techster said:
Why is this surprising? To my knowledge, most games have been using bump mapping since more than a decade :S
Click to expand...

It isn't really surprising but F.E.A.R's bump mapping or rather Parallax mapping has been a notch above the others.

@Rite: No. My CPU is at stock and it will stay that way.
 
Not really. I went through the Project Origin board as well. People with high end quad core rigs too face this issue. Some people attribute it to level loading & others to auto-saving. So it isn't just isolated to me alone.
 
the lockup issue happens everytime the game autosaves. since there is no manual saving, this usually means before every firefight. at least, that's what most people think.

the stutter seems like mostly an ati issue but there are some reports of nvidia users also getting it.

otherwise generally the performance is great. the game isn't locked to any fps so the person above who had problems, it was probably vsync.
 
Stuttering isn't restricted to ATI alone. It's been plaguing the whole engine all along. Right from it's first instalment. Back then I had an Nvidia card & the game (F.E.A.R) used to experience minor stuttering on that as well. It's very random issue though. Some experience it, while others don't. Hope the full version addresses these issues.

The performance otherwise seems great. Since most action was indoors I didn't have troubles securing 67-80fps.
 
As the dust clears... there are more and more signs that F.E.A.R 2 is very different from the original fear. Original was a solid PC game but this one is looking like a bad port from consoles and that means dumbing down:

1- Weak AI. I have not played F.E.A.R. but i did play its demo. Your enemies are aggressive and move fast. They are foes to fear. In Project Origin demo, I found them slow and not so smart. Clearly designed to keep console market happy. Easy come, easy go :)

2- Lack of recoil. Weapons aim amazingly easy. Made for controllers?

3- Texture. Graphics are good but texture is not really great.

4- I don't have a gaming mouse, but those who have it say that they can't bind extra buttons on them to game functions :bleh:

5- Lack of screen support other than 10:9

6- Did anyone notice that in slow motion, enemies start to glow. Hey kiddie, aim here... here ;)
* As for the slowdowns, it's not an ATI or Nvidia issue. Everybody is having them. Even people on consoles.

* People wondering how it will fare on their gfx cards worry not. It's a PORT so even 9500GT will max it out. And as we all know, monolith wants PC gamers to play this game at 1024x768 for 4:3 displays, 1280x768 :rofl:
After seeing the F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, I am suddenly having a surge of support and admiration for makers of Crysis and Valve.

Fine, Crysis was a flawed game in many aspects but at least it pushed the envelope. It explored the possibilities and created an engine that can render some beautiful scenes without caring two hoot about what people on consoles are going to think about it. Valve on the other hand is a legend, churning out quality in times of mediocrity.
 
Something I picked up from the ReadMe file:

In order to get the best game play experience, it is not recommended to run F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin at high resolutions. You should avoid resolutions above 1024x768 for 4:3 displays, 1280x768 for 16:10 displays, and 1280x720 for 16:9 displays on any current generation card.
Click to expand...

:rofl: :rofl:
 
morgoth said:
People wondering how it will fare on their gfx cards worry not. It's a PORT so even 9500GT will max it out. And as we all know, monolith wants PC gamers to play this game at 1024x768 for 4:3 displays, 1280x768 :rofl:
Click to expand...
ROFL>...... :lol: :rofl: :rofl:
 
On the second thought, I don't think it's funny.
Here, the PC gamers stand with a quad core overclocked to 4Ghz and a gfx card that can process 1Gflops dreaming of the next big title that will make their 22" monitors come alive and what we get? A crappy port that can't even support 16:10, let alone 4:3, with the developer's recommendation that on PC don't run it at a resolution of more than 1024X768 :@
 
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I can live with letterboxing till some extent but the stuttering has to go. There are no two ways about it. I have completed Assassin's Creed, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Silent Hill: Homecoming & a lot of other games in 16:9 mode. It doesn't hamper my gameplay in any form. The lock up & stutter, on the other hand, are extremely annoying.
 
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