Word of Mouth

Bob Colayco tells you why he's excited for F.E.A.R. and Dragon Age.

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Bob Colayco
Features Editor

F.E.A.R.

GameSpot debuted the original trailer for Monolith's modern horror shooter this past summer. When I saw the movie for the first time, it took my breath away. While Monolith typically uses the latest build of its Lithtech engine for its own games, the company's chosen to build a brand-new engine for F.E.A.R. The result is an amazing piece of technology. The environments in the game appear to be extremely destructible, and the trailer depicts a crack team of commandos that's emptying its automatic weapons inside an office building. The resulting mayhem includes a lot of broken glass, bits of concrete and dry wall, wood splinters, paper, and other debris flying about with cinematic flair. Some Max Payne-esque slow-motion effects contribute to the overall look of the game, which also hearkens back to the action films of John Woo and the Wachowski brothers. A good assortment of machine guns, rocket launchers, and railguns means there will be plenty of shooting going on.

F.E.A.R. promises wall-to-wall action, with lots of guns, gore, and stuff breaking.

Technology and nifty guns by themselves, of course, don't make a game. Thankfully, F.E.A.R. doesn't look like it has the makings of a one-trick pony. Details on the storyline remain sketchy, but based on what we've gathered from both the early trailers and our recent play session, the game places you on a hotshot special forces unit that finds itself facing other automatic weapon-wielding baddies, as well as a mysterious, ghostly little girl that delights in using some type of special power to kill in excruciatingly gory ways. So who are the enemy soldiers? Why is it that you're able to slow down time? And who's the ghostly girl that's killing all the soldiers indiscriminately? Whose side is she on? It seems as though the lengthy trailers we now have on the game have merely created more questions than they've answered, but figuring everything out is likely going to be one hell of an exciting ride.

With F.E.A.R., I'm expecting a lot of memorable, scripted sequences, in addition to a good mix of chills and good old-fashioned action. The game's due out in June, so while the year may have just started, the summer can't come soon enough.

Dragon Age

We got our first look at Dragon Age at last year's E3, and there hasn't been much flow of information since. Regardless, my interest in the game was pretty much piqued as soon as I heard the words "new RPG from Bioware." And it hasn't waned since. Bioware is a company that arguably saved the PC role-playing-game genre with Baldur's Gate in 1998, and since then it's done nothing but crank out ultrahigh-quality RPGs, like Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, and the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In fact, I've wasted an embarrassing amount of time with all these games, even going so far as to lock myself in my room for days at a time to explore every nook and cranny, as well as explore every side quest available.

I'm anticipating a lot of sleepless nights when Dragon Age comes out.

Dragon Age is exciting primarily because it's the first time that a Bioware RPG will be operating without the constraints of an existing license. The content and mythos in the game sound like standard fantasy fare, but given the level of detail that Bioware games are known for (and the amount of creativity they've exhibited even within the restrictions of their past works), I have extremely high hopes for Dragon Age.

The game will operate on a brand-new 3D engine, which promises to combine the aesthetics of the KOTOR point of view with the tactical and strategic feel of the Baldur's Gate games, once you enter into combat. What isn't changing is the perfectly balanced, pseudo-real-time feel of the past Bioware games, which allowed you to speed through easy fights while still leaving the opportunity to pause a game in midstream to issue tactical commands in more-difficult battles. Bioware's also promising full speech in the game, so those who may have tried KOTOR first but were unable to get used to the slightly less-impressive production values in Neverwinter Nights or Baldur's Gate should be appeased.

Information remains sparse, and there's not even a release date attached to the game, but whenever Dragon Age comes out, I'll be ready and eager to play it. From what little we know so far, it sounds like a no-compromises RPG that has blockbuster potential.