holoz0r's A-Z of Steam: F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin

F.E.A.R is PC gaming combined with jump scares, and a side of Red Faction. It captures a transitory phase of first person shooters, where they began to meld genres, and before they all ventured out doors into the sunshine and massive open worlds.

It's a game that reminds me of the fast paced combat of old school shooters like Soldier of Fortune, Painkiller and to a lesser extent: Quake 4.

There's a story, there's shooting, and there's awesome, really fun guns.

The story of F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin follows the creepy undead child, Alma, and centers around militarised super soldier clones, and their continued efforts toward the failure to control the paranormal.

The title holds up remarkably well for something released more than ten years ago, running without any modification of ini files or other such things. As with all games of this age, you can make it better with custom shaders, but it looks decent enough on its own.

What impressed me most was the slick controls, fun firearms (the guns have a high level of effectiveness against all your foes) - and the tight level design that sees you constantly moving forward toward your objective of not being jump-scared by a creepy child.

Beyond this, it is a rather generic shooter, but what it does while taking you through its tour of research facilities, a bombed city, and other environments is give you all the ingredients required for a successful first person shooter.

Combine this with the survival horror and paranormal plot undertones, and you've got a game with a wider appeal than "military goon shoots other military goons", which is so often the basis of a first person shooter.

It's no Deus Ex or Half-Life, but it is a solid play.