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After going through F.E.A.R. 1 and DLC's I just had to get this one to see how it would end. I was first rewarded and then brutally and stupidly let down. See below. Pro's: No more issues with HID compliant devices. Better and more varied graphics. Familiar, intuitive and responsive interface. You can now create havoc in your very own (Well... actually stolen...) powersuit! This time, you can actually blow the head off of a few jerks. Interesting story that meshes with the first installment but with less esoteric mumbo-jumbo. Tough but feasible game without any cheating. Con's: No more save; checkpoints only. Abuse, abuse, and more abuse. No one helps you but they all scream for your help and treat you like dung. Are FPS players all perceived as masochist??? ABSOLUTELY BAAAAD, ASSENINE, STUPID AND INSULTING ENDING. Just for it, I'm out with the franchise. Final: No FPS lover can be without the F.E.A.R. saga. Buy it. The core game is worth it. Just be prepared for the ultimate let down in the end.
This is a simple, fun and very addictive game in the beginning. The problem is that, as you go on, the lazy programming start to show and the fun is quickly converted into frustration. I have a good gaming machine (Asus Extreme MoBo, Intel Corei7 Bloomfield processor, 12Gb RAM, high end Graphic and sound cards, a fast HD (Dry), wireless gaming mouse and keyboard, running Win7-64) and yet the keyboard refuses to respond when attacked by multiple enemies (The AI has priority). Also, the generated scenarios are often lost before they even the start. For example, you will automatically loose a sector when you are not allied with the last remaining race but, some races will not ally with you at any cost. So, if the randomly generated universe contains such races and they win, you will loose regardless of what you do. Furthermore you have to increase the difficulty level as you progress otherwise the points gained are so ridiculously low that you will never get to a higher class. Finally, while your foes will knock your shield and destroy your armor in one shot (The "shield down" and "armor destroyed" are the two sentences you will constantly hear during the game) you will find that their equipment and weapons were actually ridiculously weak when you finally manage to destroy them and loot the wreckage. Add to this bugs in the given quests (Wrong information provided like the planet in question is actually in an other system and thus you just can't solve it) and you'll just throw the towel. Stay away from this one.
As a long time X-COM fan, in fact since the release of the DOS Enemy Unknown, I was looking forward to this remake. What a disappointment! I must say that it looks great and the combat management and base management are true to the original (With certain minor omissions that I consider irrelevant). Combat is very though even at normal difficulty setting. Your opponents are faster, more accurate and much better equipped than the best of your squad. However, since it's possible to save the game whenever you wish, it evens up the chances as far as I'm concerned. Where it breaks totally for me, it's the very short time you have before funding is cut and countries turn against you. It makes the game totally unfair and kills any feeling of accomplishment you may have. Events are happening outside your zone of control and without any possibility for you to intervene. Click on it, double click on it, right click on it but you'll never be able to make it a target for your fighters or send a squad to investigate. Nevertheless, you are penalized. This is made even worse because, regardless of where you put your base to start, the AI will automatically move the action outside of your action zone. Again, it's possible to try to mitigate this by saving often , reloading and hoping to get a better dice roll but it's a totally useless aggravation that brings nothing to the game. In the end though it's NOT a steam game, no DRM and the price on GoG is very acceptable. So, if you're a X-COM unconditional get it and hope for an update....
The controls are impossible. Small wonder they never produced the promised sequel. Stay away from this one at any price.
This is without a doubt one of the best, if not THE best fps/rpg I ever played. The main plot and most of the side quests are interesting. Graphic wise, assuming you have a high end cpu, graphic card, and loads of RAM, the game world is stupendous. The game is very feasible without cheating at normal difficulty level while a bit too much luck dependent to my taste. This however is largely compensated with the ability to save anytime you wish. On the negative side, be ready to experience numerous crashes and bugs specially when there are multiple characters interacting in the game world. Also, the combat system is quite obtuse and counter intuitive in that, during a fight, doing something when the game as decided it's not the time will result in your character quitting fighting and getting killed. Overall though, at GoG's price, you'd be crazy not to get this game if you like the genre.