First Impressions: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin on Playstation 3

E.A.R.</a> was a good game. Told because we didn't actually play it. Apparently the series is a mix of sci-fi, horror and bullet-time. Given this list of cliches we were a bit sceptical dropping into Project Origin but, fear not, our worries have been temporarily quashed.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin feels super-tight from the moment you drop into it. The demo begins with your vision suitably hindered. As things become clearer you'll find yourself in the middle of a barren urban street facing a decidedly straggley girl. This is Alma (she looks a bit like that girl from The Ring). A decidedly horrific little girl to complete the horror cliche aspect of the game.

Anyway she leads you into this vortex type thing and after a few seconds communicating with your team you're into the game and shooting dudes. The combat is tight and tense aided by some great animation and motion blur. The guns are loud and have a real bang to them even if it takes many shots for enemies to fall.

The key mechanic of the gun combat is that you can slow down time with a quick tap of Triangle. You get a few seconds in bullet times so you're prompted to use them wisely. It's great fun approaching an enemy, slowing the time and then popping a bullet in their head, mind. Being an 18 the visual feedback of a headshot is particularly bloody and not for the faint hearted.

The demo has you progress through a school environment where the soundscape is filled with laughing children and other eerie noises. There are a lot of great visual effects too including an encounter with a ghost that is terrifically handled.

The problem is the game never really has a scare factor as it fails to build tension. When flitting images of horrific characters are popping into the screen with every few steps you take the tension is quickly removed. This is somewhere that last years Dead Space exceeded.

The demo concludes with a giant mech fight. It feels a little out of place but is undeniably fun. The destruction that can be achieved in the mech suit is truely mesmerising although we did notice the framerate stuttered a little.

All in all we were pleasantly surprised with our time on F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin. The gunplay is fun, the graphics solid and the animation exquisite. We only hope that the full-game can manage to keep up a high level of suspense.

Look out for our full review next month.