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Fear Effect Review
Noel Brady
00/12/0000
Metal Gear Solid is to blame. Hideo Kojima's classic marked a paradigm shift in the way we think about videogames.
It pioneered a gaming environment where nothing could be taken for granted. Assumptions based on years of gamesplaying no longer applied. It breathed new life into apparently mundane gaming situations and drew upon cinematic influences that enhanced the experience, rather than popping some bankrupt movie experience. But Metal Gear wasn't the only game in 1999 that suggested a bighter future. In the same year we witnessed the advances of Dino Crisis, Shadow Man, Silent Hill and Syphon Filter and snatched a glimpe at some of the original projects around the corner. Enter Fear Effect.
Fear Effect is a single-player 3D adventure with graphical and gameplay twists that elevate it beyond anything we've previously seen on PlayStation. Kicking off in Hong Kong, a trio of mercenaries (Hana, Glas and Deke) are on the trail of the missing Wee Ming Lam, daughter of the triad leader. From the opening moments of the game which feature a helicopter swooping across a dark urban landscape, there's a sense this isn't a normal game.
Cut to the inside of the helicopter and our heroes Hana and Deke explain the plot featuring manga-style characters, cartoon animation and American dialogue. The helicopter lands, Hana hops out and the game begins. We wait for the inevitable cut to in-game action but it never happens... The cut-scene animations are constructed using the in-game engine. Control is seamlessly transferred directly to the player and, for arguably the first time in vidoegame history, we're actually playing a cartoon.
Fear Effect marks a technological leap for the PlayStation. Like any console, the PlayStation's capabilities are effectively fixed at borth. As the machine ages, we rely on developers to push those boundaries. Fear Effect shoulder barges those limits by constantly streaming the level backgrounds straight from the CD. Which means by the time the player has reached a new level, it should have already loaded, eliminating those interminable loading screens prevalent in many Japanese games.
Constantly streaming backgrounds also provide the game with a distinctive look. The cars gliding down the dark streets below are all seamless footage, the candles that light the pathways are flickering shadowy animations, and, as you stare at the screen in awe, you wonder how they managed to fit it all onto one little PlayStation disc... Enter the atch that the bulky Fear Effect demands four discs.
Though the disruption is limited by dividing the game into four acts. Act I is set in the Lam building where much skulking-in-shadows, shooting-gangsters-style shenanigans ensue. Arrival at the next disc, the River Settlement, shifts the scene to a deserted jungle village crawling with zombies. The chase for little Lam eventually leads to Madam Cheng's 'cafe' and ultimately Hell. Yes, Hell. This is one pretty fucked plot as one of the South Park kids would probably say.
Another striking feature of the game is the health bar. Fear Effect doesn't have one. Instead, it uses a device called the Fear-meter, which is essentially a measure of your character's confidence. If you're shot, your confidence drops to the point where one hit will kill. Conversely solving puzzles raises your confidence levels, as does sneaking around in the shadows, sniping at people from a distance. Unrealistic? Almost certainly. Does it work? Well it's original, but it will take some getting used to.
The beauty of Fear Effect is that you rarely just watch. Since the same graphics engine and cool camera angles are used for cutscenes in-game, you always fell in among some of the tightest plotted action the PlayStation's seen. One minute you're shooting down a helicopter gunship, the next you're diffusing a bomb strapped to some bloke's chest while heavily armed guards lie around every corner. Forget Resident Evil's tension or Metal Gear's constant Codec waffle, this is action so seamlessly stitched together that it would have Arnie reaching for his inhaler.
The only thing breaking up the excitement is the over-the-top performance from Mr Death. You die. A lot. Often, the Game Over screen is up before you know what's happened, making for plenty of pad-bashing frustration and the sort of trial and error gameplay that'd be hard to forgive if the rest of the game wasn't so captivating. The occasionally tricky targetting system, some thoughtlessly placed save points and the way the fear meter means you're only ever a couple of shots from doom don't plat to Fear Effect's movie-like strengths.
When you're forced to play the same sequence over and over again, the game's not so much like being in a manga movie as watching it on video with a sticky rewind button. It wouldn't be so bad if loading was instantaneous, but it's not. It's actually far from it often taking over half a minute to reboot. It doesn't get any quicker with renewed attempt either. Admittedly, the cutscenes can be skipped but there's far too much willing the loading bar too fill up.
That said, Fear Effect offers such weapons grade excitement, you'd be mad not to get in and prepare for an explosive experience that you'll never forget. It won't be that long before you seen the end credits and it would be embarrassingly short without all the dying. But it locks you into its manga world so tightly, not completing it will leave one with a feeling of leaving the cinema half way through one of the best films you've ever seen.
