I think you overestimate FEAR. I'm not saying it's a bad or average game (I'm referring to the first FEAR), but let's face it the first game in the series has as many flaws as virtues. On the other hand, calling a videogame ''mediocre'' without having played it (complete) or even if you have played it in its demo version is not enough to qualify Trepang2 as ''mediocre'', the truth is that only those who buy it in its complete release and play it will know for sure if it is or not a bad, regular or good game. In my case, I don't always pay attention to reviews (neither from pseudo-specialists in videogames nor from other players without sufficient reasons to justify their review or criticism). It's like classifying (out of the corner of your eye) Blasphemous as a mediocre clone of Super Metroid (for example) when in fact it is not, and so on with other very good ''clones'' that have very little in the way of clones.

Having played it 12 times last year, the worst part is how slow you walk. Trepang2 fixes that. Unfortunately it looks like the story is barely there/coherent and there's less variety of weapons and enemy types (no robots for ex.). Apparently the devs are a 4 man team? In that case it's a pretty good piece of work. Here's hoping they can pick up a storywriter and bigger budget, and make some good DLC for this that rounds it out better like Extraction Point did for F.E.A.R. For all of its downsides, Perseus Mandate at least expanded weapons/enemies/locations; I personally like the way they went with the horror elements in PM the best. Would really like to see this expanded to have the elements the base game is weak/lacking in, more horror elements, etc.

It's not like F.E.A.R. had great story (barely there is precise description) or weapon and enemy variety. Enemy variety was even unneeded in that game, because Replicas were the most interesting thing to fight.

Looks like it could be good, wishlisted for now!

F.E.A.R.'s story was minimalist but got the job done, a lot of Trepang2 feels too disconnected. Replicas may have been the most fun to fight, but you do need other enemy types to spice things up. That's why they had Heavy's and the Assassins. The Power armors and the Prototype bots also helped. Plus ghosts. Even ATC is still slightly different from the replicas. The expansions added what? Leviathans, Juggernauts, Shadows, Scarecrows, Nightcrawlers. Basically horror enemies and suped up versions of existing enemy types, but due to weapon variety it did make them more unique.

1) I disagree, as far as I am considered you can't get more disconnected then combining John Woo/Matrix style action with mad science sci-fi and supernatural j-horror. That's what always annoyed me with F.E.A.R. story, and if Trepang is criticized about it, then it's only sin is that it's trying to imitate its role model a bit too much.

2) I disagree about enemy variety as well, I could play game with only Replicas, but here is my opinion on variety. Gmanlives was highly critical of assassins IRC (meaning, at least somebody found them annoying); to me they were just mediocre gimmick, while ghosts were just bad gimmick since any amount of creativity and freedom in the game's gunplay goes straight out of the window. Robots and heavies were okay. Nightcrawlers were CHEAP (and expansions mediocre at best).

Hah hah i can wait until the price falls because i have many unfinished games . Even Cyberpunk 2077 awaits me .

The biggest flaw of FEAR was the slo-mo, but it could be easily remedied just by unbinding the key. Every fight in FEAR is infinitely more tense and satisfying when you can't just enable a cheat on a whim.

Seems like the same remedy will be possible in this game, but I fear it might be entirely balanced around the slo-mo, meaning it'd be pretty much unplayable without it as it seems much faster paced.

Gonna keep an eye on it either way. Once it gets a discount in a month or two, might grab it. I desperately need a new FPS game to try/play.

But then the story makes no sense, the protagonist in Fear is a one-man army because of his powers.

The GOG version currently available (v0.90) is an outdated build according to the build number shown in the main menu of the game.

GOG Steam

I'd rather have more fun with the game. I encourage anyone who hasn't to try it. You'll appreciate the Replica AI so much more when you have to react to it in real time without the slo-mo crutch. If a mod existed that also shut up the Replicas so they don't constantly announce what they're doing and made them behave like professional soldiers (not announcing their position/actions constantly), it would be perfect.

And at no point did I feel that not using the slo-mo infringed on the story the 2 or 3 times that I played the game.

I am glad that so many people post their subjective opinions on a game:)

FEAR is the only FPS I've played where you can't kite enemies around corners to pop them off one by one. They just stay in position and wait for you to come to them.

They do eventually come after you if you wait long enough and they have a valid path towards your location. They just don't beeline directly towards you but work more methodically. Sometimes they try to wait you out for a bit, sometimes they try flanking or even baiting you in. The AI is also quite dynamic so it doesn't get boring when replaying the game. Even when you get killed in a fight and load a save before it, chances are it will go differently in some way. It's really good at creating pressure and making you never feel safe as long as a single enemy lives. One mistake can mean a quick death, unless you abuse the slo-mo button.

Agreed. It goes from simple power fantasy to something much more engaging.

That said, I do find some of the enemies to be irritatingly spongy. Especially the first encounter with the heavy armor guys...

I also recall being quite annoyed at the amount of dust that gets kicked off in your face when enemy bullets hit nearby walls. Lean around a corner, blast your shotgun, and next thing you know there's so much dust in your face that you can't take another well aimed shot unless you move to a different position or wait for the dust to settle. It recall it really slowing the pace down in the tighter corridors where you have to use cover well and can't just walz in guns blazing.