ShareThisBy CHRIS CAMPBELL
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Since it's Halloween season once more, it's time to take a look at two particularly excellent games that capture both the fear and tension-filled excitement of the holiday _ and also mock it campy qualities.
"F.E.A.R."
_ Platform: Xbox 360
_ Genre: Shooter
_ Publisher: Vivendi Games
_ ESRB Rating: M for Mature
_ Grade: 4.5 stars out of 5
Shooting games always try to inject a little bit of something spooky into the plots, whether you are battling it out against flesh-eating zombies ("Resident Evil") or trapped in a deserted and creepy town or island ("Silent Hill," "The Suffering"). What you get with "F.E.A.R." (First Encounter Recon Assault, a paranormal military unit) is all of that and much more. In a nutshell, this is one of the most complete first-person shooters ever developed.
You are the newest squad member of "F.E.A.R.," and when a psycho loses his mind and takes over a militia of cloned soldiers, it's your job to hunt them all down and eliminate them. This doesn't begin to do the story justice, however, and the whole game is visceral and in your face from start to finish.
But what makes the game stand out most is the weapons/violence and the presentation. Whether it is a simple hand gun or the impressive assault rifle, each weapon kicks some serious butt. Getting stuck in a building lobby with 5-6 baddies is an intense display of tactics and gunfire. Soldiers react and shift strategies to best draw you out, and it's great to have enemy AI react and battle it out like real soldiers might. You get some special abilities (like being able to go into "Matrix"-like bullet time), but it's best to ignore it as much as possible _ you'll enjoy the game more without it.
In presentation, "F.E.A.R." is hard to top. It's spooky and fraught with anxiety because of how isolated you feel. Most of the game you are guided only by the flashlight on your helmet, so visual tricks and apparitions have some impact when playing this game at night.
This game was released last year for the PC, and got glorious reviews then as well. But on the 360, the game is even more streamlined and creepier and has none of the few flaws that existed on the PC side. Clearly the year tweaking it for the console paid off.
Xbox 360 owners should not hesitate to buy this game.
"Destroy All Humans! 2"
_ Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox
_ Genre: Action/Adventure
_ Publisher: THQ ESRB
_ Rating: T for Teen
_ Grade: 3 stars out of 5
Last year one of the surprise games that blew everyone away was "Destroy All Humans!" It was a hilarious send-up on campy 1950s sci-fi films and an all-out joy to play, since the roles were reversed and you starred as an alien who needed to kill as many earthlings as possible.
It could have stood alone as a testament to sleeper hit greatness, but THQ did what any other game company would do, and pumped out a sequel. The second go-around is naturally not as good as the original. It does keep the campy nature of the first game, but doesn't have as convincing a story.
You are still starring as Crypto the alien, and now you are somehow president of the United States. Your boss has been killed by Russians (a solid 1960s bad guy if there ever was one) and you must take on the KGB, hippies and other humans out to end your reign.
The story mashes all sorts of genres and campy movie send-ups. Everything is so bad (yet comical) that you can't help but laugh, thinking you are starring in some video game version of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." You've got more weapons and alien abilities at your disposal this time, an improvement from the original's stripped-down weapons system.
The visuals are pretty much the same as before, and you can tell that the hard work went into the dialogue, where once again Crypto and the other characters definitely shine.
While not as original as the first game, there is plenty of enjoyment to be found here. You can never go wrong getting to zap all those pesky humans.
