fear
Latest
Remember, fear isn't going to be a big factor in the expansion!
That was the logic used by Blizzard to give Fear Ward to Draenei priests instead of Blood Elves. This comment runs through my mind every time I get feared into mobs in Steamvaults/Underbog/other instances, wiping the group due to something I cannot control. I hate mobs that fear in PVE. As a rogue, there's nothing I can do to control or stop the fear aside from permanently staying outside melee range. (No, I'm not undead.) I haven't even done Nightbane yet, who is apparently another Nef-like encounter that involves major fearing. Sure, tremor totem can help, but if you don't have a shaman you're sort of boned. This isn't another Alliance-has-it-easy complaint -- I know that most Alliance groups probably don't have a dwarf or draenei priest, and many of the "fear" effects are actually horror and aren't stopped by Fear Ward. The mechanics of PVE fear are annoying to everyone, from gnomes to tauren, and I sincerely wish it had some kind of counter -- either by reducing its appearance in instances or giving all priests Fear Ward. It's an overdone and repetitive mechanism that no one actually likes. Looking at the forums, it seems many people agree with me. And surprisingly enough, a good share of the complainers are Alliance. A dwarf paladin notes that he "loves getting stuck between a wagon and its wheel or falling through the world" after a fear, a human warrior hates that you can't stance dance past insta-cast fears, and a night elf priest says that "it's pretty uncreative to make the frustration factor in instances solely based on one spell for almost twelve instances." So do you think fear is overused, or do we just all need to lrn2play by pulling mobs further back and clearing large areas?
F.E.A.R. sequel confirmed -- be afraid of children all over again
Not only do they, as I believe Lemina from Lunar 2: Eternal Blue said, "whine and cry and poop and fight", children have become staples in the Japanese horror genre well beyond the saturation point. Knowing that, F.E.A.R. decided to go ahead with the plans for a sequel to their interesting first-person-shooter-meets-Japanese-style-horror gameplay. While it had been in talks for a while, this is confirmation of the sequel's existence. It has been mentioned that the sequel will be released on the PC and multiple platforms, with each release specifically tailored to each console's strengths. Also, since the "F.E.A.R." franchise is owned by Vivendi games and this sequel is going to be worked on by Monolith and Warner Bros., it's probably going to have a different title. Can anyone think of a humorous title? How about: S.C.A.R.E.: Something Creepy Always Revealing Evilness! A perfect "Engrish" subtitle.
Rumor: F.E.A.R. sequels announced?
A press release from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today that the sequel to F.E.A.R. is in the company's "current production slate". One snag may be that publisher Vivendi owns the rights to the franchise name, while WBIE owns Monolith, the developer of the title. Also mentioned in the press release is that Samantha Ryan, Monolith's CEO is now taking on the role of Senior Vice President of Development and Production at Warner. The forthcoming sequel will be coming to PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, with each version taking full advantage of its respective platform's strengths. So do you have any suggestions for a new name for the game? S.C.A.R.Y. seems a little cheesy to us. [Via QJ.net]
Nerf FEAR!
We've all been there -- cheerfully minding our own business in a battleground when along comes a warlock to ruin our day. Fear, dot, dot, dot, fear, shadowbolt, fear, shadowbolt... And you've died with nary a chance to defend yourself. You may be tempted to run to the most convenient forum and yell "nerf locks! nerf fear!"Well, people of that persuasion, I point you towards Stylewalker's Nerf Warlocks FAQ, which covers all the bases on why fear isn't always an "iwin" button. Like how it's on diminishing returns (on a shared timer with seduce, even) and breaks on direct damage (and becomes more likely to break on dot damage with more spell damage gear). Does fear alone win fights for warlocks? I doubt it -- I've fought with plenty of horrible players for whom fear wasn't near enough to win a fight.
Bringing It Home content, 9/25
Well folks, TGS is over, finished, kaput. As such, it seem only fitting that today's content is more oriented towards western audiences -- note also that there is no Japan exclusive content today. Here's the sweet sweet candy: Battlestations Midway trailer Eragon trailer Import Tuner Challenge trailer Need for Speed Carbon trailer The Darkness trailer Mass Effect Picture Pack (free!) Battlestar Galactica (United States) TGS Showfloor video 3 video F.E.A.R. demo We discussed the F.E.A.R. demo earlier: if you played the OXM demo, there's nothing new. With all this content, it may be time to start clearing out some of that old E3 stuff. Meanwhile, X06 inches ever closer. So, everybody make some room, download each and every one of these trailers, watch them, and then come back here and discuss them. Discuss them, I say!
F.E.A.R. D.E.M.O. on X.B.L.M.
You read the headline, there's a demo of F.E.A.R. available on Marketplace right now. Our more astute readers will no doubt notice that this demo is exactly the same as the demo available some time ago in OXM. Giving it another go this morning, X360F wonders whether or not F.E.A.R. can stand out among upcoming blockbusters like Gears of War and Rainbow Six: Vegas. Also, it may just be us, but why does this game require such a monster PC to run? There are plenty of particle effects and the textures are all very high res, but the geometry just doesn't look that impressive -- again, see Gears of War and Rainbow Six. Still, if you haven't picked up the demo through OXM, you just can't beat the price (hint: it's free). [Thanks, Chris]
X360F plays FEAR, needs new shorts
I managed to grab a copy of the latest OXM yesterday, containing the long awaited F.E.A.R. demo. Let's get one thing straight. I have never played F.E.A.R. My PC can run Diablo II and that's fine by me. As you can imagine, I was giddy when I found out about the 360 port of F.E.A.R., and, now that I've played the demo, I'm intrigued to say the least. The game will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played Monolith's other title for the 360, Condemned: Criminal Origins. The environments and the overall tension of the games are very similar. The difference here is that the enemies in F.E.A.R. are run of the mill soldiers -- which makes the appearance of The Ring-inspired Alma that much more frightening. The supernatural elements of the game feel immediately out of place, which intensifies the...um...fear of them. The only concern I have is whether or not the gun battles will grow stale. That said, the story and horror elements present in the demo are more than enough to pique my interest. The demo is short and barely offers a taste of the action, but horror fans may just want to plunk down the cash for the latest OXM. We promise you at least one genuine scare.
F.E.A.R. demo scares OXM disc
K1lla (of K1lla's Xbox Domain, natch) just received the October issue of OXM, including a 360 demo of F.E.A.R., just in time for Halloween. At least it would be without arcane magazine lead times. Anyway, the upshot is that everyone gets a chance to try out F.E.A.R. before it hits the shelves -- and without upgrading their PC. Can a Marketplace demo be far behind? The demo is single player only and is reportedly very nice. We don't know if OXM has actually hit newsstands yet, but subscribers should expect the mag any day now. So, who's got a copy? Is it good? Is it super scary? Inquiring minds want to know. [Thanks, Joey]
Vivendi's F.E.A.R. coming to PS3 with extra scary extras [Update 1]
F.E.A.R. was pretty cool on the PC. Sure, adding Japanese Horror stereotypes to a FPS may seem awkward to some, but it worked out as a fairly entertaining device. No one wants a pale little girl with long dark hair anymore, that's for sure. It's also getting a release for the 360, with expansion pack Extraction Point. Now the game is also coming to the PS3. Better late than never? Oh, and online multiplayer is free. That aside, PS3 fans, let's get geared up for finally getting to play an interesting game, assuming we missed out on it for the PC or 360. Would this game make a nice launch title? Not really, since it's not the newest kid on the block, but it would still make a good game to be released with the system. At old-gen prices, please. No offense to the game, but paying $60-70 for it, when it'll most likely be cheaper for any other system, isn't exactly enticing. How about we get it free with the system? That'd be nice. Anyone have any thoughts about games that are released right now being ported to the PS3? Should they have a standard pricing, or be a little cheaper than other titles, like Heavenly Sword? [Update: oops! It's not out on the 360? Wonder what the heck I played... changed that line.]
Live member spotted playing F.E.A.R. demo
360 Fanboy reader, Malik, sent us this tip today: "Ok, I decided to make a thread for this whole thing. As I said in the Marketplace thread, I was browsing my Xbox.com friends list when I noticed that controlcommerce from CAG was playing the F.E.A.R. demo. Instantly I open up the 360 forum to see nothing about it mentioned while I sign onto the Marketplace on my 360. After finding nothing in the Marketplace I open his profile on my Xbox 360 Dashboard, and it says that he was playing Street Fighter II HF and not F.E.A.R." Does this portend the imminent arrival of a F.E.A.R. demo? Does a fanboy dare to dream? (Any loose-lipped Microsoft insiders can hit us up with a tip. I won't tell anyone, I promise.)
F.E.A.R. this countdown
Eurogamer posted a story about this a while ago. I meant to post it then, but --as usual -- Eurogamer failed to link it in any way whatsoever(!). Anyway, the point is this: joinfear.com has a countdown running (14 days to go as of this post) with the title "COMBAT IS COMING". What it's counting down to is anybody's guess. A 360 release date? Marketplace demo perhaps? Give us some theories in the comments.
F.E.A.R 360 P.R.E.V.I.E.W
EuroGamer has some info on F.E.A.R 360's "instant action" mode: It's not just for kicks though - the better you do, the better your end-of-level or post-death stats, which you're given on an analysis screen afterward. Not only that, but the game computes a final score for you and uploads it to Xbox Live leaderboards, which ought to encourage a bit of competition. Vivendi's also talked about "brand new multiplayer content created to fully utilise Xbox Live" so it's a fair bet Live will be employed for more than boards, too - although whether F.E.A.R. 360 will make use of the content recently added to the PC version, including new Control game-modes, is something Vivendi hasn't got anything to say about right now. More to come, presumably. Those of us with under-powered PCs are counting on this port to deliver what our aging rigs cannot. [Thanks 8BitNinja]
F.E.A.R. confirmed for 360 this fall
We already knew it was coming, but Vivendi finally let us know that they know that we know and officially confirmed Monolith's spooky FPS. The port was originally anticipated due to developer Monolith's other creepy FPS, the Xbox 360's Condemned: Criminal Origins, having a similar code base to F.E.A.R. When Condemned was ported to PCs, the logical assumption was that F.E.A.R. could be ported to the 360. The port is being handled by "Chicago-based Day 1 Studios, who worked on both MechAssault and MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf" and is due out this fall and will be on display at E3 next week. We'll let you know if the graphically demanding title appears to be making the transition smoothly.
Is F.E.A.R. coming to the 360?
The latest Electronic Gaming Monthly floats the rumor that Monolith's eyeball-popping FPS, F.E.A.R., may be headed for the Xbox 360 in 2006. Apparently the title shares more than a passing similarity to Monolith's other creepy FPS Condemned: Criminal Origins, it also shares some underlying technology. So, the logic goes, much of the legwork of a port has been done already, so what do they have to F.E.A.R.? (That was bad... we know.) F.E.A.R.'s graphics engine garnered much praise on its release, so a jump to the 360 should prove the mettle of Microsoft's console. See Also: Joystiq Review: F.E.A.R. (PC
