some areas of the visuals hold up great but i have to disagree about the bland enviroments. even if they wanted to go for the corporate and industrial areas they could have made them look better
No it does"nt have great graphics and was even criticized even back then for using slightly dated graphics;its the effects that were and still are cool including the AI where enemies will try to flank you if they can and move in often unpredictable patterns
The action sequences really hold up. The particle system still looks great when everything is poppin off. This was like the Control of its era in some ways
I was using an audigy2 with 7:1 surround speakers & 1st time playing the game the buckets that get pushed off the shelf by the ghost had the misses running in the kitchen shouting at the dog for messing in the cupboard . I was both amazed & in stitches at the same time . 30 mins later she made me switch to headphones as the sounds were freaking her out the " eax effects were so so cool with damn good positional sound even with just headphone using the cards cmss
F.E.A.R. is not scary at all if we bring in Condemned. It was full of cliche that you quickly get used to, while Condemned is just one of the most horrifying games I've ever played. It can be demoralizing and even traumatizing in the right conditions. It was banned in several countries.
@@coreclassic FEAR has it's moments and is ultimately a better game just because its...one of the best FPS of all time but you're mostly right. Very rarely scary. Condemned on the other hand is a total nightmare from beginning to end. Such amazing sound design.
I was literally thinking about this game yesterday. It has held up so well even after all of these years. The AI was ahead of its time and Alma is still scarier than most horror games released today.
The fact that he's still having so much fun simply playing this game fort the video shows just how damn good this feels to play. Also, guys do a Killzone 2 video. That game was sick.
Gentlemen, I highly recommend playing this on modern hardware. With an i7 7700k and GTX 1080 Ti, I get Maximum settings (no AA or Soft Shadows), 5120x2880 (4xDSR on a 1440p monitor), 144hz, 16x Anisotropic Filtering and a lovely FOV increase to the config files oh and a flashlight mod that makes it cast shadows. The game is GORGEOUS and still holds up to this day. Also, and this is CRITICAL, make sure to use Creative Alchemy tools to reenable all the EAX sound effects! It makes a significant difference in this game, and this is one of the last games to get true hardware accelerated audio support. It's such a shame to see that market die off, but it is what it is.
Finally someone else who wants NOLF back.The amount of gadgets, weapons, and ammo types. Wow. Plus finding those hilarious notes and the conversations from enemies.
@@EndlessFunctionality Nightdive tried to re-release them, had an advertising setup ready to go. But because the companies that own the various parts are too lazy to look in their paper filing cabinets to find out who owns what, NOLF will never see a legal re-release.
Now would be a better time than ever to remake/remaster the original FEAR with the next gen consoles on the horizon. The stuff they could do with ray traced lighting, and taking the still impressive AI and physics to the next level with CPUs that aren’t complete dog shit is a very exciting idea.
actually, this game needs a remake / reboot, not just a simple remaster. level design and animation are so outdated; putting high res textures won't save the day.
I don't know, man. Playing it at 8k is good enough, as long as the HUD can be scaled up. Perhaps some Reshade tweaks can add nifty tricks here and there, but it still looks great today.
Jens S this game’s AI was a bit exaggerated. They basically just defined bits of cover in the environment and then just programmed the AI to wander between them while shouting stuff like “flank em”.
PrezidentTrump right, they used a complex, weighted goal and action tree to get the AI to wander between pieces of cover yelling “flank em”. It’s basically as though there’s a bunch of roombas trying to kill you. They can do such complex squad actions as take cover... but see it’s really different from if the AI decided on its own to take cover because it’s a squad action.
@@Phos9 compared to modern "AI" coding techniques FEAR has been surpassed but pretending that it's just a "they do stuff!" script is goddamn reductive. You can't come here, shit on someone's work and then when people call you out for it you play dumb and pretend we're the crazy ones for caring. For example this part here: "but see it’s really different from if the AI decided on its own to take cover because it’s a squad action" - yes it is different. You may joke, but it is. If an AI decides by itself to take cover, it can make a decision that could make sense in isolation but makes no sense within context, making the enemy look like a bunch of roombas trying to kill you. By having a "squad director" that issues commands to every actor things feel more coherent and the roomba feels alive and dangerous.
I came up on games from the Doom era and the first game I remember looking down and being like “woah I can see me!!” was Trespasser, the Jurassic Park FPS. Game was a disaster overall but really tried to push tech. It was like an attempt to make HL2 way before the tech was ready for it
It more than ruins the immersion, often times those kind of games have more.... Primative more simple hit detection rather than projectile based hit detection. It's like the engine doesn't factor in yoi body for physics and collision.
@@mrnelsonius5631 Is that the game where you also have an awesome pair of tits? I think that game was made by the same creative head behind the first Xbox console.
I think AI is the one aspect of videogames that has been neglected the most. Perhaps due to the growth of multiplayer, but still. It's most evident in stealth games, where Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is still ahead of anything made now.
AI has gone backwards because the base CPUs didn't advance as quickly as GPUs and RAM, game devs prefer to spend the resources on visuals, cinematics and performance than AI. Hope this changes next gen when we have good base CPUs.
@@HondaAccordPerformance The second game had much more varied environments and a few interesting enemies. I'm not saying that the sequel was better, but people should learn to look at a few aspects more objectively.
Love the level design in the first game & the 2 expansions after, going down a corridor & turning around when the door was locked to a totally different new corridor was insane back then. Such a legendary game.
Played through this again a few months ago for the first time in like 15 or 16 years, applied some community fixes for the resolution and mouse fix.. and darn it really still plays great. It feels good
I remember the glory of some of the office battles when I would throw two grenades into a group of 5 enemies, then watch as bodies fly through the flames in slow motion amidst sparks and mayhem. Also, the final scene with the massive whirlwind/explosion down the city street had some of the BEST sound design of any game I can recall. It was so awesome.
What doesn't get mentioned about this game enough is its sound design. It has to be among the best in gaming history, if not the best. This game is underrated in so many ways, but no one ever mentions just how epic the sound is in this franchise.
Because now its basically 100% just business. Creativity took a back seat to the bean counters once big conglomerates realized how profitable the gaming industry could be.
What I want to know is why FPS games today have bigger guns but completely lack a satisfying feel when you shoot someone. Been playing Serious Sam and shooting people feels great but then when you play Halo, Gears of War or Quake Champions the guns don't do crap.
The powers that be would rather make a fast buck than a great game these days that why they all lack the " Feel of a great F.P.S LIKE F.E A R. Pretty & profitable are more important to the big bosses than making a quality game
20:42 I’ll be honest, I like the aesthetic for the levels. It gives off this eerie, liminal space-like atmosphere to see such mundane office-y environments abandoned and empty. It almost feels like these places were never inhabited.. always empty and alone If the levels were more lively or colorful then it would detract from the atmosphere
Ahh, F.E.A.R. and Condemned, Monolith at its finest, two of the best games I've ever played and two of the scariest too, really ahead of their time. I miss those days.
Not gonna lie, I completely lost it when Alex mentioned the room at 28:14 as the "windowless-hell hole" and it's "wrench o' clock" oh man... much laughs were had from my side :D - Love these types of videos.
It's one of those games where the short comings were intrinsically linked with the highlights. The boxy environments were key to allowing the AI to navigate them successfully and appear intelligent. These days people complain that AI hasn't moved on but they wouldn't accept those sorts of compromises either.
man i love this game. its my all time fav shooter. i still play it! i own all fears on steam and GOG just incase i need a non steam version that can run on older hardware
This game was one of the last of an era that I think we never quite got back. In the span of a few years, we got: Far Cry, Doom 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R., Quake 4, Prey (the original, not the new one), Battlefield 2 (the original, not the new one), Call of Duty (and 2, and 4), Crysis. Each of these games: Was developed for PC FIRST (so all gameplay design, engine features, memory envelopes etc were PC centric), pushed boundaries in their own way in gameplay, graphics, scale, physics and audio, and are still remembered today. After that era, staring with Bioshock, Mass Effect, F.E.A.R. 2, Crysis 2 etc., all started to show signs of stagnation/regressions that were part of console first development. PC gamers were now getting lower technical quality and many left over issues. Menus were awkward and not designed for mouse and keyboard, gameplay (AI, level design) regressed badly, graphics had low resolution textures despite some better shaders (lack of RAM in consoles), innovation was being constrained by what a controller could do (or not do) and just generally the industry became more casual and simplistic. What was the last new PC FPS that really wowed you, aside from maybe Planetside 2 due to scale alone?
low resolution textures was not because of RAM in consoles but storage limitations of DVDs which Xbox 360 used along with having games runs without installation on HDD. As having high res textures in Xbox 360 would have mean having games that came in 3 or 4 DVDs with installation on HDD. Crysis 2 came in 1 DVD on Xbox 360 and runs without installation HDD. Like how N64 despite having more RAM than PS1, it has worse textures due for storage limitations of Cartridges. As having better textures doesn't just require more VRAM, but also better GPU and bigger file size
@@DDT-lr3zz Surely also a factor, but VRAM is very much a constraint on texture storage available for the active scene. System RAM was also fairly paltry on 360 and PS3, which constrains other aspects. Also texture resolution is an input factor on some algorithms relating to shadows and lighting, which means textures that you may have VRAM for could still be too slow for the GPU to render.
HOLY CRAP they heard! Damn I loved this game so much back then. It's sad to see there are no remastered editions or texture packs we could use. The shooting is still so damn solid, I'm surprised. I remember so many things out of this game.... "He's too fast!" "Go there! > "FUCK YOU!" Also, the aftermath of each gunfight. Btw, Shadow of Mordor uses the "same" engine as FEAR. Of course, much improved.
18:50 Probably my favorite thing about FEAR and Half-Life. The AI work together, and communicate their actions so you won't constantly die to an ambush, making the game more fair. FEAR definitely did it a little better though. I think I remember being the most terrified when the AI were radio silent while I had low health. The lack of ambience definitely help set the tone in those situations. Just me versus whoever, or whatever is around the corner.
Back on that time, developers used to design games first and hardware companies had to figure out how to make something capable of handling that software. I used to play this game with a Pentium 4 HT Prescott with an ATI Sapphire x1600 pro, great memories.
I played it on an Xbox 360 bc my Mom gave my brother money to build me a PC so he gave me his old parts and built himself a PC with a beasty GPU. I hated my childhood, did you know that?
One of the best shooters ever made on my opinion. I played it again just 6 months ago and was still blown away by the gun play, physics and lighting. The music was top notch too. I was able to play it on my gtx1070ti at 1440p - 8xMsaa at blazing fast fps. Thumbs up DF for choosing this game.
28:11 "Like, what is this room supposed to be? A windowless hellhole?" I loved the commentary about how bizarre some of the rooms and level design are when you think about them as being actual spaces.
With all the things the next gen consoles are going to be capable of from a a sheer game design perspective with the Zen 2 CPUs and SSDs, FEAR would be the perfect game to reboot/remake. I can only imagine how much FEAR’s still impressive AI and physics would really be brought to the next level with how much technology has advanced since 2005.
@@user-og6hl6lv7p Of course, because we got games in PS3 and Xbox 360 that has superior physics over current games. Far Cry 2 came out in 2008, still has better physics than modern games
Another subtle thing they did to juice the encounters was randomise spawn locations a bit. Makes it so you can't just memorise your way through encounters giving you trouble. 19:40 Best gun in the game and arguably the best shotgun in _any video game._ You can actually use it at medium range like a real shotgun! Pointman's slide and jumpkick are really strong too; very satisfying.
Fear had some of the best gunfights I have ever played in gaming. I loved that even with the slo-mo the game was still hard thanks to the AI. I also remember the manual that said playing anything higher than 1024 x 768 would really hamper performance. I think it was the first game that I played that used modern technology as lore (emails, voicemails). It is the best of the Fear games I've played (I've never played Fear 3) and needs a remaster. I loved going in close with slo-mo and blasting someone with the shotgun and seeing the blood, but I also remember being on the roof where some soldiers are standing guard, firing the grenade launcher at their feet, activating slo-mo and watching them fly over the edge.
First time playing this, Alma crawling at you under the floor scared the crap outta me making my hair stand up on my neck. Actually had to pause the game and take a break. It was awesome👍 On a side note, I played it first after playing Left 4 Dead. FEAR always reminded me of a Source game. Seriously gave me a dark Half Life vibe. Left 4 Dead has a very similar look and feel to its environments as well. I'm thinking there was some cross pollination regards inspiration between Half Life 2 -> FEAR -> Left 4 Dead.
DUDE! I had the same reaction in the second game! I was entering a large underground pipe when I saw Alma cross at the other end, and I had to stop playing for days because I was so freaked out.
I used to play this game professionally, and that was definitely one of the most memorable times in my life. I always wondered what happened to the people I used to know in this game 15 years later lol I'd love to ignite some old friendships here! I think my name back then was Kickass if anyone remembers 😂
i remember showing this to my mate, after i'd got a new pc which had roughly those specs. remember him shitting himself when one of the psychic ghosts appeared. it was a great game.
I really enjoyed the video, but Anandtech and all the sites of the time recommended a single way to play with maximum details: 7800 GTX You should have played it with max details on 2005 HW [7800 gtx], not 2004 [6800 gtx] (and not with medium details) at most you could remove soft shadows
Alex I'd love to see a tech focus on MFAA I've always wondered how it performs on games that actually use the tech considering when Nvidia released it, everyone stopped using MSAA lol
It had equivalent IQ with slightly better performance. It's irelevant anyway given MSAA never helped with transparencies and it's better to use downsampling w/ FXAA/MLAA anyway
@@raresmacovei8382 you said it, I used to use MSAA a lot but then I discovered downsampling and never went back. Also MSAA always has compatibility problems while downsampling works in 99% of games, at least as long as the game supports the higher resolution, and with DSR / VSR it's as easy as it goes.
Fear, along with Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (late 2004) just blew my mind with their visuals. This was the era where I couldn't wait to upgrade my GPU and play these games again.
I played FEAR plus all of its expansions in 2020 and was blown away by the AI and its graphics. The game was a lot of fun which helped me overlook and sometimes praise its level design where it was evident that the game was built around a system, rather than a story (looking at you, TLoU) But then FEAR 2 released... I was presented with a prime example of why consoles are holding video games back from materializing their true potential.
I play this game religiously, at least once a year, every year. Maxed out on modern resolutions, it still holds up very well and one thing that is second to none is this game’s ambience and overall *atmosphere.* The story is still far superior to any of this half-hearted, modern garbage these days. The gameplay (especially AI) puts modern games TO SHAME. For me personally, FEAR is the greatest first person shooter ever made.
@@jackshiels3239 Yup agree, Halo's AI has always been a piece of work also in Reach i would say, but i remember enemies in Fear was absolute challenging to me.
I really want Monolith to completely remake Blood II: The Chosen using their latest engine technology. It would be amazing if the Blood II remake was the high-quality type like Resident Evil 2: Remake. Monolith should be given as much time and funding as they need to finish it this time with no publisher interference. The way GT Interactive just pulled the plug halfway through development of Blood II and released an unfinished product without informing the developers beforehand was a tragedy and a disgraceful way to treat Monolith. I would crowdfund the hell out of that remake, who else would throw money at that project as well?
I like these videos a lot but I think that using modern hardware so that we can see ALL the bells and whistles of the games is a better idea. I love older games, they are our art form. I respect older hardware, but it is not something I think we need to hold in as high of a regard as the actual games and their accomplishments. Also, do STALKER.
Well my i7 8700k and gtx 1080 Ti can run this game at 300+ fps with dips to 190 at 1440p on extreme settings only took 13 years to get the game stable at higher refresh rates Haha
All of the weapons in this game sound incredible, they're all really satisfying to use, and - as mentioned - the AI is challenging and fun. So many fond memories of this game!
What a gem of a game. Truly a hallmark of high-end PC gaming at the time. I still remember going over to my friends house and playing this right when it came out.
@@wile123456 it actually worked surprisingly well for me, I am really enjoying the game. But I just want to see what settings to turn on/off for best performance. Im running the RX580 paired with ryzen 5 2600 and im getting a framerate in the 50s. Was lucky with the download aswell lol. Downloaded it twice actually. But the tutorials were a little bit buggy for me. But ive heard a lot of people have had issues running the game and downloading it. Guess I was lucky!
@@shafaatoo9328 first tutorial doesn't even work. Setting radio chatter to auto makes the game freeze up for 2 seconds everytime the game needs to make a response. Tons of gripes like that. It's an early access game that costs 70 dollars and it circumvents steams refund policy. I only recommend people play it if they have Xbox game pass. The game is not worth buying in this state
@@wile123456 Yeah I got games pass, heard the steam version is rife with issues. No wonder you are experiencing that many problems. Definetly not worth a buy on steam yet.
Currently playing this on a 2070 super and 240hz monitor. I am blown away how good it looks at 1080p. It's locked 237fps without a single bit of aliasing. Just using in game MSAA and Nvidia MFAA. I also could not believe it when off screen reflections showed up in puddles. I had to pause and wonder if RTX reflections had been patched in. @digital foundry you should totally explore more old games but running on current gen hardware.
Coincidence right ? In crysis only the first one is a masterpiece and same goes for FEAR as well, halo and cod were the only one which actually had a better sequel in terms of story
Similar to what Rich from RTU stated imagine this game on PS4, Xbox one, and PS5 and Xbox SX consoles have come along way and these games would run great on modern consoles
@@paulwade4058 Fear isn't a particularly hard game too get running on older graphics cards when you turn down or turn off settings. I've run it on a dell inspiron with a integrated ati x300 chip overclocked & a 1.7 ghz single core heh. Also ran it in my at the time windows xp retro build with a overclocked ati 9550 256 mb sd ram 2.8 ghz pentium 4 ht & 1.5 gb ddr ram. At one point i was planning too make that into a windows 98 build before i picked up the dell inspiron laptop for free essentially & just patch the games too run in windows xp when needed.
Man... I still remember running this game on my first real workstation in 2008 (I was running a Core i7 920 and a GTX 8800) and the graphics BLEW MY MIND!! And it still does...
This game has great graphics, great AI, and contrary to most people I love the corporate and industrial environments. It has aged like fine wine.
Same, very underappreciated environments, though I'd wish the base game had some of the cool environments of the expansions.
It looks terrible. The AI was the only reason to play it.
some areas of the visuals hold up great but i have to disagree about the bland enviroments. even if they wanted to go for the corporate and industrial areas they could have made them look better
No it does"nt have great graphics and was even criticized even back then for using slightly dated graphics;its the effects that were and still are cool including the AI where enemies will try to flank you if they can and move in often unpredictable patterns
The action sequences really hold up. The particle system still looks great when everything is poppin off. This was like the Control of its era in some ways
One of the best action horror games ever. We need more games like this now.
There are tons. Play more games
Agreed. Nothing else could ever get close to this game.
@@silenthill4 Like what ? Only game that comes to my mind in the same kind is Cry of Fear.
yes
Well Trepang2 seems to have at least nailed the action part of Fear.
I really enjoyed this laid back style of video! Hope you do more of these.
F.E.A.R. has the best plastic bucket sound effect I've ever heard.
Nice as soon as i read this i also heard it.. 'Dong da dong da dong dong'
@@buckiesmalls XD
@@buckiesmalls oh the times when that bucket got stuck. The bucket and the cans stuck sounds were annoying. But were well made.
I was using an audigy2 with 7:1 surround speakers & 1st time playing the game the buckets that get pushed off the shelf by the ghost had the misses running in the kitchen shouting at the dog for messing in the cupboard . I was both amazed & in stitches at the same time . 30 mins later she made me switch to headphones as the sounds were freaking her out the " eax effects were so so cool with damn good positional sound even with just headphone using the cards cmss
One of the best shooter ever made!
The slow mo shooting and creepy bits are cool. I didn't like the over all story.
@@infinitysynthesis no one asked
@@infinitysynthesis nobody likes you too.
@@sean7332 Like I care.
Sean stfu
Thumbs up for the Condemned: Criminal Origins mention at 5:20
I played both back to back during quarantine. A great pair of stellar games. The peak of Monolith for sure.
F.E.A.R. is not scary at all if we bring in Condemned. It was full of cliche that you quickly get used to, while Condemned is just one of the most horrifying games I've ever played. It can be demoralizing and even traumatizing in the right conditions. It was banned in several countries.
@@coreclassic FEAR has it's moments and is ultimately a better game just because its...one of the best FPS of all time but you're mostly right. Very rarely scary. Condemned on the other hand is a total nightmare from beginning to end. Such amazing sound design.
I was literally thinking about this game yesterday. It has held up so well even after all of these years. The AI was ahead of its time and Alma is still scarier than most horror games released today.
Held up so well? It loos like shit dude.
@@UmVtCg haha exactly
@@UmVtCg You're literally a child.
@Miles True! So in other words...FEAR God not some fictional Alma : )
@@UmVtCg it looks fantastic an it's old poly look makes look creepier.
The fact that he's still having so much fun simply playing this game fort the video shows just how damn good this feels to play.
Also, guys do a Killzone 2 video. That game was sick.
They've already done a df retro on killzone 2
I'd love to see them analyze the graphics and technology of the entire Killzone series.
@@oblivious12o Then I know what to watch now.
They already did. It's an awesome video. Go check it out
They made 3 videos analyzing the Killzone 2 technology in 2009 and there’s his DF Retro too, Killzone 2 has a lot of material made by them.
Gentlemen, I highly recommend playing this on modern hardware. With an i7 7700k and GTX 1080 Ti, I get Maximum settings (no AA or Soft Shadows), 5120x2880 (4xDSR on a 1440p monitor), 144hz, 16x Anisotropic Filtering and a lovely FOV increase to the config files oh and a flashlight mod that makes it cast shadows. The game is GORGEOUS and still holds up to this day.
Also, and this is CRITICAL, make sure to use Creative Alchemy tools to reenable all the EAX sound effects! It makes a significant difference in this game, and this is one of the last games to get true hardware accelerated audio support. It's such a shame to see that market die off, but it is what it is.
Upvote this comment to the top boys! make it happen also Max Difficulty is the true way to play!
"No One Lives Forever" seriously needs a remake and a sequel! TimeSplitters also.
NOLF is still in Weird Copyright Hell because none of the megacorps involved care enough to figure out who owns it.
Finally someone else who wants NOLF back.The amount of gadgets, weapons, and ammo types. Wow. Plus finding those hilarious notes and the conversations from enemies.
@@EndlessFunctionality Nightdive tried to re-release them, had an advertising setup ready to go. But because the companies that own the various parts are too lazy to look in their paper filing cabinets to find out who owns what, NOLF will never see a legal re-release.
Not going to happen until studios put the effort into finding legal documents.
One of the best games I ever played!
Of any game out there, I wish these were remastered.
It never got Xbox backwards compatibility either
Now would be a better time than ever to remake/remaster the original FEAR with the next gen consoles on the horizon. The stuff they could do with ray traced lighting, and taking the still impressive AI and physics to the next level with CPUs that aren’t complete dog shit is a very exciting idea.
It really needs a remake. They mention it a lot in the video, but the game is really a slog to playthrough due to the level design.
actually, this game needs a remake / reboot, not just a simple remaster. level design and animation are so outdated; putting high res textures won't save the day.
I don't know, man. Playing it at 8k is good enough, as long as the HUD can be scaled up. Perhaps some Reshade tweaks can add nifty tricks here and there, but it still looks great today.
You forgot tell about EAX sound effects in this game. Sound with that is pretty awesome!
Right. Thanks for the reminder. Another thing we lost along with good AI.
Jens S this game’s AI was a bit exaggerated. They basically just defined bits of cover in the environment and then just programmed the AI to wander between them while shouting stuff like “flank em”.
PrezidentTrump right, they used a complex, weighted goal and action tree to get the AI to wander between pieces of cover yelling “flank em”. It’s basically as though there’s a bunch of roombas trying to kill you. They can do such complex squad actions as take cover... but see it’s really different from if the AI decided on its own to take cover because it’s a squad action.
@@prezidenttrump5171 Why is this game so important to you?
@@Phos9 compared to modern "AI" coding techniques FEAR has been surpassed but pretending that it's just a "they do stuff!" script is goddamn reductive. You can't come here, shit on someone's work and then when people call you out for it you play dumb and pretend we're the crazy ones for caring.
For example this part here: "but see it’s really different from if the AI decided on its own to take cover because it’s a squad action" - yes it is different. You may joke, but it is. If an AI decides by itself to take cover, it can make a decision that could make sense in isolation but makes no sense within context, making the enemy look like a bunch of roombas trying to kill you. By having a "squad director" that issues commands to every actor things feel more coherent and the roomba feels alive and dangerous.
Love FPS where I can see my legs - it's always disappointing when the character just floats around.
That’s my only gripe with doom :(
I came up on games from the Doom era and the first game I remember looking down and being like “woah I can see me!!” was Trespasser, the Jurassic Park FPS. Game was a disaster overall but really tried to push tech. It was like an attempt to make HL2 way before the tech was ready for it
Half Life has left the chat
It more than ruins the immersion, often times those kind of games have more.... Primative more simple hit detection rather than projectile based hit detection.
It's like the engine doesn't factor in yoi body for physics and collision.
@@mrnelsonius5631
Is that the game where you also have an awesome pair of tits? I think that game was made by the same creative head behind the first Xbox console.
Never stop with this content. Always nice to see older tech and games get some love nowadays :)
Retro for the win!
Interesting fact is that the AI is still better than games nowadays.
@Geralt of Trivia we need fear 4 with this kind aggressive ai like black mesa
I think AI is the one aspect of videogames that has been neglected the most. Perhaps due to the growth of multiplayer, but still. It's most evident in stealth games, where Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is still ahead of anything made now.
They should do a video on ghosthunter for the ps2 as its one of the best looking ps2 games.
AI has gone backwards because the base CPUs didn't advance as quickly as GPUs and RAM, game devs prefer to spend the resources on visuals, cinematics and performance than AI. Hope this changes next gen when we have good base CPUs.
I know, right? When did they just give up on improving AI?
Too bad the franchise went downhill after this masterpiece of a game.
Sorry but I think part 2 was the best one. That's my opinion.
Daniel Badger Second one added nothing just More of the same shit first one needs a remake.
@@HondaAccordPerformance
The second game had much more varied environments and a few interesting enemies. I'm not saying that the sequel was better, but people should learn to look at a few aspects more objectively.
@@danielbadger4985 Same here, 2 was a blast.
Not really
Yes! Please do Splinter Cell! I'd love to see a deep dive into the tech of that game!
Love the level design in the first game & the 2 expansions after, going down a corridor & turning around when the door was locked to a totally different new corridor was insane back then. Such a legendary game.
28:10 Yeeeaaah, I'm gonna need you to move your desk into the back, there... just try to get it as far into the corner as you can.
....and come in on Saturday 😂
Nothing makes me happier than seeing people appreciate how good this game really was
Me too man its awesome seeing people praze and speaking well about this game :)
Played through this again a few months ago for the first time in like 15 or 16 years, applied some community fixes for the resolution and mouse fix.. and darn it really still plays great. It feels good
I remember the glory of some of the office battles when I would throw two grenades into a group of 5 enemies, then watch as bodies fly through the flames in slow motion amidst sparks and mayhem. Also, the final scene with the massive whirlwind/explosion down the city street had some of the BEST sound design of any game I can recall. It was so awesome.
What doesn't get mentioned about this game enough is its sound design. It has to be among the best in gaming history, if not the best. This game is underrated in so many ways, but no one ever mentions just how epic the sound is in this franchise.
Why they don't make games like this anymore, just baffles me.
Because now its basically 100% just business. Creativity took a back seat to the bean counters once big conglomerates realized how profitable the gaming industry could be.
Because games like these don't sell anymore.
@@BogusLettuce They do still make money, they just don't make all the money and the publisher that owns their studio wants all the money.
What I want to know is why FPS games today have bigger guns but completely lack a satisfying feel when you shoot someone. Been playing Serious Sam and shooting people feels great but then when you play Halo, Gears of War or Quake Champions the guns don't do crap.
The powers that be would rather make a fast buck than a great game these days that why they all lack the " Feel of a great F.P.S LIKE F.E A R. Pretty & profitable are more important to the big bosses than making a quality game
20:42 I’ll be honest, I like the aesthetic for the levels. It gives off this eerie, liminal space-like atmosphere to see such mundane office-y environments abandoned and empty. It almost feels like these places were never inhabited.. always empty and alone
If the levels were more lively or colorful then it would detract from the atmosphere
Ahh, F.E.A.R. and Condemned, Monolith at its finest, two of the best games I've ever played and two of the scariest too, really ahead of their time. I miss those days.
Not gonna lie, I completely lost it when Alex mentioned the room at 28:14 as the "windowless-hell hole" and it's "wrench o' clock" oh man... much laughs were had from my side :D - Love these types of videos.
It's one of those games where the short comings were intrinsically linked with the highlights. The boxy environments were key to allowing the AI to navigate them successfully and appear intelligent. These days people complain that AI hasn't moved on but they wouldn't accept those sorts of compromises either.
man i love this game. its my all time fav shooter. i still play it! i own all fears on steam and GOG just incase i need a non steam version that can run on older hardware
Love the *nail-gun* in this game! Just the sound when popping body-parts stuck at the wall in multiplayer. Good old times :D
the office related jokes at around 28:00 brought some warmth to my old office-working heart.
This game was one of the last of an era that I think we never quite got back. In the span of a few years, we got: Far Cry, Doom 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R., Quake 4, Prey (the original, not the new one), Battlefield 2 (the original, not the new one), Call of Duty (and 2, and 4), Crysis.
Each of these games: Was developed for PC FIRST (so all gameplay design, engine features, memory envelopes etc were PC centric), pushed boundaries in their own way in gameplay, graphics, scale, physics and audio, and are still remembered today.
After that era, staring with Bioshock, Mass Effect, F.E.A.R. 2, Crysis 2 etc., all started to show signs of stagnation/regressions that were part of console first development. PC gamers were now getting lower technical quality and many left over issues. Menus were awkward and not designed for mouse and keyboard, gameplay (AI, level design) regressed badly, graphics had low resolution textures despite some better shaders (lack of RAM in consoles), innovation was being constrained by what a controller could do (or not do) and just generally the industry became more casual and simplistic.
What was the last new PC FPS that really wowed you, aside from maybe Planetside 2 due to scale alone?
low resolution textures was not because of RAM in consoles but storage limitations of DVDs which Xbox 360 used along with having games runs without installation on HDD.
As having high res textures in Xbox 360 would have mean having games that came in 3 or 4 DVDs with installation on HDD.
Crysis 2 came in 1 DVD on Xbox 360 and runs without installation HDD.
Like how N64 despite having more RAM than PS1, it has worse textures due for storage limitations of Cartridges.
As having better textures doesn't just require more VRAM, but also better GPU and bigger file size
@@DDT-lr3zz Surely also a factor, but VRAM is very much a constraint on texture storage available for the active scene. System RAM was also fairly paltry on 360 and PS3, which constrains other aspects. Also texture resolution is an input factor on some algorithms relating to shadows and lighting, which means textures that you may have VRAM for could still be too slow for the GPU to render.
I'm actually waiting for this 2005-stencil-shadows look to come back in some fashion, maybe in the indie space!
i remember playing this game with a potato pc in 2007 , i remember trying to maxing out the graphics at 640x480 lol with an old crt monitor
the good old times lol :)
According to Digital Foundry, those are superior to today's tech, despite lower resolution.
FAR superior in, some cases.
@@GameslordXY I can trade the superiority away for no headaches and lower weight flat screens. Fuck CRTs.
One of the games that have really impressed me at the time. One of the major cornerstones of the gaming in my opinion.
HOLY CRAP they heard! Damn I loved this game so much back then. It's sad to see there are no remastered editions or texture packs we could use. The shooting is still so damn solid, I'm surprised.
I remember so many things out of this game....
"He's too fast!"
"Go there! > "FUCK YOU!"
Also, the aftermath of each gunfight.
Btw, Shadow of Mordor uses the "same" engine as FEAR. Of course, much improved.
I thought FEAR looked absolutely gorgeous!
Still does when you max out all settings except soft shadows maybe, bit weird with the shadows turning that on imo.
@@Mini-z1994 on modern PC it still looks amazing.
same, art direction is amazing!
I remember playing this back in the day on my simple PC. There still isn’t a game like this one. Man....those were the days, boys.
The Sedrick Channel Agreed.
I played this game on my slim PS3, good times. I also played FEAR 2 and 3. It is one of my favorite franchises right up there with Bioshock.
YES! So many good ol' times playing FEAR.
18:50 Probably my favorite thing about FEAR and Half-Life. The AI work together, and communicate their actions so you won't constantly die to an ambush, making the game more fair. FEAR definitely did it a little better though. I think I remember being the most terrified when the AI were radio silent while I had low health. The lack of ambience definitely help set the tone in those situations. Just me versus whoever, or whatever is around the corner.
Finally, The king of shooter received its deserved attention
Brings back high school memories all over again. Teenage years were fun
6800GT didn't come out in 2005, it was the 7800GT.
The card I waited for to play Oblivion on.
Yeah looked it up to confirm, april of 2004.
You’re right. 2005 was the year of the Ati Radeon X1800 and Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX.
Alex has made the same mistake in almost all of his retro PC videos, people have tried to correct him but apparently he doesn't read TH-cam comments.
Seeing a FEAR video by a major PC channel in 2020. Instant click. One of the best games of all time. I built my first PC to play this in 2005.
Back on that time, developers used to design games first and hardware companies had to figure out how to make something capable of handling that software. I used to play this game with a Pentium 4 HT Prescott with an ATI Sapphire x1600 pro, great memories.
I have such fond memories of FEAR. I played it on the first ever computer I built myself, before Crysis became the go to for benchmarks. Good times.
I played it on an Xbox 360 bc my Mom gave my brother money to build me a PC so he gave me his old parts and built himself a PC with a beasty GPU.
I hated my childhood, did you know that?
@@HazyJ28 Oh. Wow. That sucks. But at least you got to play the game one way or another. 😁
28:26 That's a Calendar Alex.
One of the best shooters ever made on my opinion. I played it again just 6 months ago and was still blown away by the gun play, physics and lighting. The music was top notch too. I was able to play it on my gtx1070ti at 1440p - 8xMsaa at blazing fast fps. Thumbs up DF for choosing this game.
Again, best enemy AI that still really hasn't been topped.
LOL, no, no, not by a long shot. Try AI in games, he'll educate you proper.
@@UmVtCg which game has better AI?
@@CyborgSodaCollects Halo Reach, for example. One man once said "The enemies in Halo are more clever than most of my friends".
@@StygianSaviour I'll have to check out that episode.
28:11 "Like, what is this room supposed to be? A windowless hellhole?" I loved the commentary about how bizarre some of the rooms and level design are when you think about them as being actual spaces.
This game gave me the creeps back in the day!!
Fear is one of my favorite games of all time, so unique and epic, it’s good to see you recording it
With all the things the next gen consoles are going to be capable of from a a sheer game design perspective with the Zen 2 CPUs and SSDs, FEAR would be the perfect game to reboot/remake.
I can only imagine how much FEAR’s still impressive AI and physics would really be brought to the next level with how much technology has advanced since 2005.
Have you been living under a rock for the past 5 years? What on earth makes you think the AAA industry won't steamroll it into the ground?
@@user-og6hl6lv7p Of course, because we got games in PS3 and Xbox 360 that has superior physics over current games.
Far Cry 2 came out in 2008, still has better physics than modern games
Another subtle thing they did to juice the encounters was randomise spawn locations a bit. Makes it so you can't just memorise your way through encounters giving you trouble.
19:40 Best gun in the game and arguably the best shotgun in _any video game._ You can actually use it at medium range like a real shotgun! Pointman's slide and jumpkick are really strong too; very satisfying.
“Matrix meets The Ring” when it came out.
Fear had some of the best gunfights I have ever played in gaming. I loved that even with the slo-mo the game was still hard thanks to the AI. I also remember the manual that said playing anything higher than 1024 x 768 would really hamper performance. I think it was the first game that I played that used modern technology as lore (emails, voicemails). It is the best of the Fear games I've played (I've never played Fear 3) and needs a remaster. I loved going in close with slo-mo and blasting someone with the shotgun and seeing the blood, but I also remember being on the roof where some soldiers are standing guard, firing the grenade launcher at their feet, activating slo-mo and watching them fly over the edge.
First time playing this, Alma crawling at you under the floor scared the crap outta me making my hair stand up on my neck. Actually had to pause the game and take a break. It was awesome👍
On a side note, I played it first after playing Left 4 Dead. FEAR always reminded me of a Source game. Seriously gave me a dark Half Life vibe. Left 4 Dead has a very similar look and feel to its environments as well. I'm thinking there was some cross pollination regards inspiration between Half Life 2 -> FEAR -> Left 4 Dead.
Same here man! :) I remember having to go to the bathroom often, and my palms were sweaty almost all the time
Man, I‘ll never forget when I turned around for a ladder grab and saw Almas legs right in front of me. That was one classy jumpscare.
DUDE! I had the same reaction in the second game! I was entering a large underground pipe when I saw Alma cross at the other end, and I had to stop playing for days because I was so freaked out.
Same.
It's been DONE! Finally, time to relax and soak this one in. One of my all time favs. *Frickin Exceptional Alex, Really.*
(and John).
I used to play this game professionally, and that was definitely one of the most memorable times in my life. I always wondered what happened to the people I used to know in this game 15 years later lol I'd love to ignite some old friendships here! I think my name back then was Kickass if anyone remembers 😂
Sup dude! I played it too. I was Ep1c
@@teambattleground9076 Its funny because that name does really sound familiar! 😂 Thats awesome tho! Do you happen to remember the clan(s) you were in?
@@ARCH3TYPE77 TCS, a few of our members came from FKA. You remember Hanibalberetta or Leadpoison?
@@teambattleground9076 Hell yeah I remember HB and Leadpoison! LP was actually the first pro player that helped me get a lot better
@@ARCH3TYPE77 They are good friends. Good people. We all miss the Fear days
Wow I love this era of Blood, Shogo and NOLF! So many good memories provided by Monolith
I love this game so much. One of the best FPS campaigns of all time. Still holds up and works great on modern hardware.
I remember buying a 360 specifically for F.E.A.R and Condemned they are still awesome games! they don't make them like they used to.
i remember showing this to my mate, after i'd got a new pc which had roughly those specs. remember him shitting himself when one of the psychic ghosts appeared. it was a great game.
I really enjoyed the video, but Anandtech and all the sites of the time recommended a single way to play with maximum details: 7800 GTX
You should have played it with max details on 2005 HW [7800 gtx], not 2004 [6800 gtx] (and not with medium details)
at most you could remove soft shadows
Alex I'd love to see a tech focus on MFAA I've always wondered how it performs on games that actually use the tech considering when Nvidia released it, everyone stopped using MSAA lol
It had equivalent IQ with slightly better performance. It's irelevant anyway given MSAA never helped with transparencies and it's better to use downsampling w/ FXAA/MLAA anyway
@@raresmacovei8382 you said it, I used to use MSAA a lot but then I discovered downsampling and never went back. Also MSAA always has compatibility problems while downsampling works in 99% of games, at least as long as the game supports the higher resolution, and with DSR / VSR it's as easy as it goes.
My soulmate will be like these guys. Just as excited as me over the mechanics, the visuals and the small details.
Fear, along with Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (late 2004) just blew my mind with their visuals. This was the era where I couldn't wait to upgrade my GPU and play these games again.
I played FEAR plus all of its expansions in 2020 and was blown away by the AI and its graphics. The game was a lot of fun which helped me overlook and sometimes praise its level design where it was evident that the game was built around a system, rather than a story (looking at you, TLoU)
But then FEAR 2 released... I was presented with a prime example of why consoles are holding video games back from materializing their true potential.
I play this game religiously, at least once a year, every year. Maxed out on modern resolutions, it still holds up very well and one thing that is second to none is this game’s ambience and overall *atmosphere.* The story is still far superior to any of this half-hearted, modern garbage these days. The gameplay (especially AI) puts modern games TO SHAME.
For me personally, FEAR is the greatest first person shooter ever made.
The story and world building (in Extraction Point ad well) are surprisingly well done for the game it is.
To this day, my favorite FPS ever. I could still get goosebumps hearing "FLUSH HIM OUT !!" from enemy AI. Superb stuff. And glimpsing Alma... CHILLS !
Enemy AI in this game was amazing, yet no game has come even close at this point in terms of AI mechanics.
I would argue Halo CE and Halo 3 are close enough to call.
Halo games have great A.I. as well. Also, Condemned.
@@metanumia yup i agree.
@@jackshiels3239 Yup agree, Halo's AI has always been a piece of work also in Reach i would say, but i remember enemies in Fear was absolute challenging to me.
@@metanumia That's just true. and i'd really love to see a remake
F.E.A.R. is still one of my all-time favourite games, and it always will be.
I really want Monolith to completely remake Blood II: The Chosen using their latest engine technology. It would be amazing if the Blood II remake was the high-quality type like Resident Evil 2: Remake. Monolith should be given as much time and funding as they need to finish it this time with no publisher interference. The way GT Interactive just pulled the plug halfway through development of Blood II and released an unfinished product without informing the developers beforehand was a tragedy and a disgraceful way to treat Monolith. I would crowdfund the hell out of that remake, who else would throw money at that project as well?
I definitely agree. You could definitely tell the intention was there
The first game I played on my 8600GT & it ran smoothly. Fear: perseus mandate was my favorite.
I also played it on that card.
I like these videos a lot but I think that using modern hardware so that we can see ALL the bells and whistles of the games is a better idea. I love older games, they are our art form. I respect older hardware, but it is not something I think we need to hold in as high of a regard as the actual games and their accomplishments.
Also, do STALKER.
Well my i7 8700k and gtx 1080 Ti can run this game at 300+ fps with dips to 190 at 1440p on extreme settings only took 13 years to get the game stable at higher refresh rates Haha
Yeah dips to 20 fps in some of the coolest scenes in this video made it hard to watch.
All of the weapons in this game sound incredible, they're all really satisfying to use, and - as mentioned - the AI is challenging and fun. So many fond memories of this game!
I decided to play through all the FEAR games a year or two ago, and this game blew me away. Then FEAR 2 happened...
21:50 thank you for the heads up on the mouse polling rate
Fear supports 32x9, like right out of the box. "it just works"
That's basically the two levels this game has.
An office and a sewer.
And they're the best goddamn 2 levels of all fps history.
Warehouses, underground facilities as well...and it fits with the plot. The second one has new locations and so does the third.
Finally! Been asking for this video for so long. One of the all time greatest shooters. Still holds up great today.
Still some of my favorite combat. It just feels great, and even on the 360 I couldn't get enough of the multiplayer.
What a gem of a game. Truly a hallmark of high-end PC gaming at the time.
I still remember going over to my friends house and playing this right when it came out.
Is MSF 2020 performance testing coming out soon???
Alex's machine has likely crashed multiple times trying to test that unfinished game
It's attrochious! :(
@@wile123456 it actually worked surprisingly well for me, I am really enjoying the game. But I just want to see what settings to turn on/off for best performance. Im running the RX580 paired with ryzen 5 2600 and im getting a framerate in the 50s. Was lucky with the download aswell lol. Downloaded it twice actually. But the tutorials were a little bit buggy for me. But ive heard a lot of people have had issues running the game and downloading it. Guess I was lucky!
@@shafaatoo9328 first tutorial doesn't even work.
Setting radio chatter to auto makes the game freeze up for 2 seconds everytime the game needs to make a response.
Tons of gripes like that. It's an early access game that costs 70 dollars and it circumvents steams refund policy.
I only recommend people play it if they have Xbox game pass. The game is not worth buying in this state
@@wile123456 Yeah I got games pass, heard the steam version is rife with issues. No wonder you are experiencing that many problems. Definetly not worth a buy on steam yet.
one of those games that I keep coming back to because it still looks great and never gets boring
i had no idea these devs also created claw! that game used to be my shit back in the day.
Really happy with the df retros lately keep up the good work!
Excellent game with great shooting and A.I.
Currently playing this on a 2070 super and 240hz monitor. I am blown away how good it looks at 1080p. It's locked 237fps without a single bit of aliasing. Just using in game MSAA and Nvidia MFAA. I also could not believe it when off screen reflections showed up in puddles. I had to pause and wonder if RTX reflections had been patched in. @digital foundry you should totally explore more old games but running on current gen hardware.
I think Crysis would have actually been the last of its kind but FEAR is close.
Coincidence right ? In crysis only the first one is a masterpiece and same goes for FEAR as well, halo and cod were the only one which actually had a better sequel in terms of story
FEAR series was one of my favourite of all time. So eerie.
This game has the best AI in the whole industry. Modern shooters are stupid in comparison.
The game is just simply *amazing* to this very day. I'm glad videos are still being made on it.
Good time to mention trepang2 exists, check out the demo on steam, closest thing to a new fear game
Similar to what Rich from RTU stated imagine this game on PS4, Xbox one, and PS5 and Xbox SX consoles have come along way and these games would run great on modern consoles
You can technically play fear on ps4,but it's the ps3 version streamed 🤮
Why a 6800gt? Wasn’t the 9700pro king at this time?
Think it's more meant to represent a midrange gaming PC for the time
Nope, ATI was using the x00 series at the time like the x800 pro & X800 XT, GTO etc... on the higher end side.
This is a gpu from 2004 after all.
@@Mini-z1994 I remember using my 9800pro for doom3 and FEAR. Having no problems at all at 1024x768.
@@paulwade4058 Fear isn't a particularly hard game too get running on older graphics cards when you turn down or turn off settings.
I've run it on a dell inspiron with a integrated ati x300 chip overclocked & a 1.7 ghz single core heh.
Also ran it in my at the time windows xp retro build with a overclocked ati 9550 256 mb sd ram
2.8 ghz pentium 4 ht
& 1.5 gb ddr ram.
At one point i was planning too make that into a windows 98 build before i picked up the dell inspiron laptop for free essentially & just patch the games too run in windows xp when needed.
Love this game. Barely ran on my PC when it came out, but I still loved every second of it.
The dislike was for 2 ads in a row within 5 minutes.
Um. Pay for TH-cam.
Man... I still remember running this game on my first real workstation in 2008 (I was running a Core i7 920 and a GTX 8800) and the graphics BLEW MY MIND!! And it still does...