F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin Demo out!

[Ethan_Hunt]

As promised the demo is up & running. It's again a whopping 1.76GB demo. Here's the link:

*www.gamershell.com/download_38288.shtml

As you can see it's gamershell & it's a hell(ish) download site. So bear with it.

Also a screenshot of the graphic settings from the game posted on Rage3D forum:

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29663_ganq6/FEAR2SPDemo2009-01-2203-38-21-63.jpg

 

[amitava82]

download started in my steam account.. Should be done in a hour. Let's see.

 

[Davidboon]

thanks for the news Ethan, will be downloading it right now .

 

[amitava82]

lol 15 minutes demo.. I mean you can finish in 15 minutes.. just like 1st F.E.A.R demo. But you get the flavor and it's GOOD! You pretty much get to try almost every weapons including a vehicle.. a cool Mech! gotta buy this. Didn't know WB is releasing this one.

One advice, DO NOT look back if you don't want to freak out! Game Play is really smooth. I get avg 30 at 1680*1050 everything max 2X AA, AF no HDR on my laptop. Desktop users should get better fps with any latest cards. Weird I started at medium settings and I got avg 25.. Probably because I had VSync on. But the game is very well playable even at 17fps.

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29671_b2ljq/FEAR02.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29672_wbnwe/FEAR03.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29673_hbuz7/FEAR04.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29674_eda9w/FEAR05.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29675_4hrav/FEAR06.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29676_xslsy/FEAR07.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29677_pgzqk/FEAR08.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29678_8iadi/FEAR09.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29679_r7edz/FEAR10.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29680_bxuvk/FEAR11.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29681_rwz9n/FEAR12.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29682_uoyor/FEAR13.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29683_oztuv/FEAR14.jpg *www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29684_rfijz/FEAR15.jpg

Link to Gallery

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

The textures look somewhat poor & not as sharp as they used to look in F.E.A.R. The weapon & character detail seems alright. The game seems to have adopted a grainy look for some reason. And why on earth would they put letterboxing? Those black borders look really irritating. I don't feel like downloading the demo just yet but will do so in a few days. Let's hope the in-game experience is better.

 

[Faun]

@amitava82

lol...wtf ? Don't play scary, violent games You don't want Alma to haunt your dreams

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

If you get scared, keep chanting "Keep it together, keep it together". It will help.

 

[amitava82]

@amitava82

lol...wtf ? Don't play scary, violent games You don't want Alma to haunt your dreams

lol... I freaked out once or twice when I turned back and saw ghost of Alma for a sec.. My heart beat pumped and I was running like crazy.. lol But it's not as bad as L4D, alone is the dark etc..

 

[Faun]

^^try Dead Space, it's really good and you will have some adrenaline rush. If you are scared then play it with someone watching near you. In fact it can be a riot to play while your friend guides you and gets stupefied by around the corner boo scares.

Alma is one spooky kid, I got to watch the directors commentary and footage when I played the first F.E.A.R. It was terrifying as Ring.

Just for the info: The protagonist in first F.E.A.R. was the first offspring of Alma (thats why you get some of those amazing reflexes and Alma didn't try to kill you actually). Paxton Fettle was the second offspring and he was the first successful prototype psychic.

This time the main character is no way related to Alma, atleast there is no evidence by developer of direct link. But whats more interesting is that, you will actually hang out in open wide spaces this time and can fully utilize your long range weapons wading through alternative ways. It will be fun IMO, best part is that system requirements are nearly the same as was for the first F.E.A.R. That means no friggin upgrade is required.

 

[Ecstasy]

Awesome screenshots.

 

[amrawtanshx]

Saw two Gameplay videos of the Demo and it reallly looks good.
I wont play Demo though ... So waitin for full version to arrive

 

[rockthegod]

Ok.. the demo was very very good in terms of the usual trademark FEAR type gameplay and this is the first time I am playing FEAR on a machine equipped with the Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum sound card with 8 channel headphones.... the sound effects are toooo good !!! ha ha.. this is the way scary games are supposed to be made... on the flipside, the graphics department saw very little improvement over the original FEAR engine, though at some places the HDR effects are good. one different thing I noticed is the constant "film-grain" effect on your FP fov..... I kinda like it as it looks like you are actually looking through your helmet view-glass... the lighting and shader effects has also been boosted up.. but the texture quality still feels the same as original FEAR !!! But I loved FEAR and I love scary games... and I like the gameplay in this 15 minute demo... !!!

One screenshot highlighting the "film-grain" effect: @1680x1050, Max quality, 8X AA, 16X AF !!!

*img209.imageshack.us/img209/2530/screen1fx1.th.jpg

Screenshots combining flashing "blur" effect + sepia gradient tone (remember "Condemned") + "film-grain" effect + variable lighting effects + awesome creepy sound = formula for instantly effective creepy horror !!!

*img246.imageshack.us/img246/6379/screen2ue7.th.jpg *img293.imageshack.us/img293/2225/screen3cf6.th.jpg

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

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:

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29729_0sqbq/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2008-54-33-26.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29730_srimc/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-00-07-57.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29731_tbouw/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-00-56-68.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29732_96ja3/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-08-44-40.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29733_qfng3/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-08-50-75.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29734_zjx5z/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-17-16-95.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29735_ven4x/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-18-18-07.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29736_u4uci/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-19-27-28.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29737_pm0t0/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-19-30-90.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29738_vlrn0/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-19-53-21.jpg

*www.imgx.org/thumbs/small/29739_rj6fl/FEAR2SPDemo%202009-01-24%2009-20-50-65.jpg

 

[rockthegod]

^^ Hey, I kinda liked the grain effect.. somehow emulates a retro-film effect !!! and alo I didn't face any stuttering even with 8X AA, the frame rate was smooth as a fluid and solid even in heavy firefights.... !!!!

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

I love the grain effect for movies but for games it's somewhat unacceptable. Condemned: CO was an exception. The game actually felt like a movie.

Anyway if there is no stuttering then consider yourself very lucky. Head over to project origin boards & there tons of people complaining of frame dips & micro stuttering. I hope it's only a demo issue else it would ruin the full version's experience.

 

[rockthegod]

^^ To each its own. But I completely agree on the fact about Condemned CO.. that was brilliant and at times it felt like you were playing a character in a muvi. It shares quite some similarities in lighting patterns and the sepia gradient imagery with this new FEARO .... although AFAIR, Condemned was developed on the same engine that powered the original FEAR and its expansions.

About that stuttering, is that something to do with having a radeon card or is it happening to owners of both nvidia and ati cards ? I am running on 8800 GT SLi with the newest 181.20/15.23 drivers and definitely WinXP SP3 and so far its cool.. I did finish the demo once on normal and twice on hard difficulty setting..... the weapons feel too good and it has that COD4 weapon handling smoothness in it. I am getting the full version as soon it comes out.

 

[Faun]

^^Yup condemned has same engine, i found out when Ethan whipped out his handgun

 

[Ei8t]

@ ethan
i got the same issue of the game freezing for 1-2 secs and then run fine, the fps even touched around 70's. i have this same problem in Quantum of solace.. wondering if this is the issue of only ati cards...

 

[Ethan_Hunt]

Stuttering & locking up is not isolated to ATI cards alone. It's an issue with the engine itself. People with high end quad cores & graphic cards too face this issue. Many people associate this issue with Auto-saving & some people even have the theory of pre-loading certain locations in advance. Frankly, this is quite a vague explanation. I have seen people on Rage3D forums having Core i7 rigs with GTX280 in SLI & heck even with 12GB RAM facing this micro stuttering. So it's pretty random issue. This used to occasionally happen with F.E.A.R as well back when I had an Nvidia card.

@Ei8t: I didn't face any issues with Quantum of Solace. The game was locked at 30fps but didn't face much frame dropping or stuttering issues. It's pretty frequent with F.E.A.R: PO only.

 

[NVIDIAGeek]

@amitava82

lol...wtf ? Don't play scary, violent games You don't want Alma to haunt your dreams

^^Hee hee , That's true, I never even tried F.E.A.R., I saw a gameplay on YouTube, and I s=-tteD [offtopic: Does too much gory-ness affects us in the future???]