Eidos is truly an
inconsisten company. For every success like Tomb Raider, they put out some junk
like Urban Chaos. Fear
Effect is their first attempt at creating a survival horror game along the lines of Resident Evil, but much
like their history, the game is a hit and miss all the way around. The game's futuristic backgrounds are composed entirely of video. Traffic litters the sky and smoke pours from pipes, but the compression detracts from the overall experience. Animations consistently repeat about every 20 seconds or so, an annoyance that can't be ignored. Other than this, the games Japanime' inspired characters scream style, something that more developers shouild take note of. Also, the entire game is presented in wide screen, further enhancing the cinematic feel.
Anyone interested in designing sound for video games can take a cue from Fear Effect. The outstanding voice acting coupled with an entirely different sounding futuristic soundtrack more than make use of the CD format. Even more credit can be given to the games controls which makes switching weapons on the fly a reality without navigating through countless menus. Aiming is as easy as looking at an enemy and pressing the fire button.
The ease of play is one of the games major flaws. Solutions to
puzzles can be found simply by walking all over the screen waiting for an icon to appear
in the corner of the screen, alerting players to an items presence. The core gameplay has
been ripped from countless other games, hardly even taking a chance to seperate itself.
While not a bad game by any means, it almost seems that Eidos was too ambitious. Everything is here to draw gamers into the world of Fear Effect, but the world will instantly feel the same as numerous others who have done it better. A sequel would be welcome, but only if the core gameplay is re-worked and some innovations added.
