Extensive Hands-On With F.E.A.R. for Xbox 360
- May 11, 2006 19:11 PM PST
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Can F.E.A.R. on Xbox 360 hold up to its PC prowess? We blast through the extensive E3 demo to find out.
Though F.E.A.R. on 360 isn't breaking news, the playable demo at E3 certainly was. Obviously, VU Games is banking on F.E.A.R. to be as popular as it was on PC, and it sure looks like there is nothing stopping it on Microsoft's next-gen console.
The E3 demo was our first hands-on with F.E.A.R. on Xbox 360, and it lasted for about 20 beautiful, blood-bursting minutes. It was only a few different open sections of gameplay area, and there were about 10-15 enemies in each one.
The first noticeable change is that the AI has been ramped up to be even smarter than on the PC. And in the demo version, the baddies were roaming around an environment that wasn't really tailored to a story, so it was "anything goes". There was some cover to use, but it took a lot of dancing around to stay out of harm's way.
The feel of the game is pretty much identical to the PC version, with a very subtle differences. For instance, aiming is a little assisted to compensate for the lack of a mouse. But actually, the analog stick sampling is very good, meaning movement is nice and fluid. The Monolith representative even assured that it will be much better in the final version. Considering the fact that the game is currently in pre-alpha state, I'd say things are looking very good.
The weapons are the same, and the demo provided the pistol, shotgun, and the Racow assault rifle, among some other guns that you could pick up from fallen enemies along the way. One thing that works much better on the Xbox 360 is the melee attack, simply because it is easier to access via the 'B' button than a button on a PC keyboard. And the controls are pretty standard for a console FPS, with shoot and grenade throw functions on the triggers. The slow-time feature works exactly the same, so no extra learning here.
I blasted my way through the demo, making sure to get enough headshots to satisfy my daily dose of FPS delight. Most of the enemies were standard, though there were a couple that required more than a few shots to take down.
VU and Monolith aren't quite ready to release any juicy info on Xbox Live content, but they did allude to the fact that there will be more open-style combat. But, if I were a betting man, I'd say that the Xbox Live mode for F.E.A.R. will be better than the multiplayer component on PC, what with the improved interface, friends, and clan features leading the way.
We'll have more on F.E.A.R. for 360 following the show, including some multiplayer hands-on within the next couple months.
