F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin:
Weapon and Enemy Guide:
Guide Started: March 25, 2008
by Alan Chan (joylock @ hotmail.com)
The Usual:
This document is mine. Please don't rip it off or take credit for it.
That being said, feel free to post it on any site you want, provided you a)
don't make any changes to it, and b) don't charge money for it. You
don't even have to get my permission to post it (as long as it remains
unaltered), but it would be nice if you emailed me and let me know
(joylock @ hotmail.com).
However: If you do post this guide on your web site, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES
REMOVE !!ANY!! PART OF IT, INCLUDING THE HEADER WITH CONTACT INFORMATION AND
DISCLAIMERS. ESPECIALLY DO NOT REMOVE THE LINE "The Latest Version of This
FAQ can be found at www.gamefaqs.com". Thank you.
Purpose of This Guide:
Since I wrote a detailed Weapon and Enemy Guide for the original F.E.A.R.,
I decided to write one for the sequel Project Origin now that it's out. I
hope you find it helpful.
The latest version of this guide may be found at www.gamefaqs.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- Game Mechanics
- Weapons
- Primary Weapons
- Grenades
- Enemies
- ATC BlackOps
- Replica Soldiers
- Monsters
- Final Boss (Warning: Spoilers)
*****************
*Game Mechanics:*
*******************************************************************************
DIFFICULTY SETTING:
- Project Origin has 3 difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, and Hard.
Difficulty mostly affects the damage enemies do to you with their
weapons. It does not affect how much damage enemies can take
themselves.
- After the 1.02 patch, the difficulty of Hard difficulty has been
significantly increased. On the new Hard difficulty, enemies do more
than 3x normal damage (quite similar to Nightmare mode in Doom 3 and
Quake 4). As a result, you can die extremely quickly. Your armor
can only sustain about 4 assault rifle hits or 5 submachine gun hits,
and a single shotgun blast or sniper rifle shot can take you down from
full armor and health to unarmored and almost dead.
HEALTH AND ARMOR:
- In Project Origin, you have two "life" bars: armor and health. Unlike
the original FEAR, most enemy weapons have 0% armor penetration, and
must completely deplete your armor before affecting your health. The
only enemy attacks that penetrate your armor are the Hammerhead rifle,
sniper rifle, Laser, and the Specter's attack.
- Your health can withstand roughly as much damage as your armor.
However, you're quite vulnerable without armor. Attacks such as a
shotgun blast or a sniper rifle shot can kill you in a single hit if
you're not wearing armor. Also, without armor you can be randomly killed
by a single headshot from any enemy weapon even if your health is at 100%.
- Armor vests are scattered around each of the game's levels. Picking
up an armor vest will completely restore your armor to 100%.
- Likewise, using a Medkit will restore your health to 100%. You can
carry up to 3 medkits at a time.
- You can also pick up health injectors to instantly restore a small
portion of your health. Each health injector restores about 20%
of your health. Health injectors can be found scattered throughout
the levels. Killed enemy soldiers may also drop health injectors
if your health is below 100%.
- If your health is less than around 25%, it will regenerate up to
25% if you manage to avoid taking damage for a few seconds. However,
this is only enough to survive 1 or 2 bullets, so you really need
to find armor or a medkit to restore yourself to fighting condition.
- Unlike the original FEAR, there is no way to increase your total
health.
SLOWMO:
- In the game's second level you acquire the SloMo ability, which
allows you to enter bullet-time for several seconds. SloMo
significantly slows down the world around you, while also somewhat
increasing the speed at which your character moves and shoots, making
combat much easier.
- You begin the game with about 8 seconds worth of SloMo time. Once
this is depleted, it takes about 23 seconds for your SloMo meter
to replenish itself from 0% back up to 100%. However, you can still
activate SloMo even with a partially full SloMo meter, as long as
you have more than a second or so worth of SloMo mojo available.
- There are 13 collectible reflex boosters found throughout the game
which increase the amount of SloMo time you have available. There is
one booster per level (excluding the first level), and once you find
a booster its effect is permanently unlocked in your game profile,
even if you start a new game.
- With all 13 reflex boosters unlocked, you have a total of 16 seconds
of SloMo time. It takes 45 minutes for your SloMo meter to replenish
itself from 0% back up to 100%.
- SloMo is mostly optional, and for the most part it's entirely possible
to beat the game without it, even on Hard difficulty (although Hard
difficulty can be very, well, hard without SloMo). Indeed, many
sequences such as battling Abominations or Assassins are much tenser
and more fun if you do them in normal time without relying on SloMo.
SloMo is semi-mandatory for the final boss, though, since he also has
a SloMo power and moves almost too fast to see if you don't counter
with your own SloMo. While he can be beaten without using SloMo,
it involves a lot of annoying trial and error. Trying to beat the
final boss without SloMo on Hard is just insane (I personally managed
it, but only after a few dozen tries, and do not recommend attempting
it).
HEADSHOTS AND SNEAK ATTACKS:
- Enemies take different amounts of damage based on where you shoot
them.
- A shot to the head does 2x damage.
- A shot to the torso or upper limbs does 1x damage.
- A shot to the lower limbs (i.e. the forearm/hands or shin/feet)
does 0.25x damage.
- Enemies take increased damage if unaware of your presence, so that
you can kill an unaware enemy with just 1 or 2 bullets.
**********
*Weapons:*
*******************************************************************************
==================
=Primary Weapons:=
===============================================================================
- You can carry a total of 4 different weapons at any time. Once you
have 4 weapons, you'll need to swap out one of your existing weapons
if you want to pick up a new weapon.
- Unlike the original FEAR, you cannot drop weapons at will. The only
way to remove a weapon from your inventory is to find a different
weapon on the ground and swap out your existing weapon for it. Likewise,
you cannot holster your weapons to fight with your fists.
- Dropping a weapon causes you to drop all your spare ammo for that
weapon. However, you get it all back if you pick up the dropped weapon.
- The amount of ammo you get from a weapon depends on whether or not you're
already holding a weapon of that type. For example, if you pick up a
Laser, you get 200 units of charge. However, if you're already holding
a Laser and pick up another one, you only get 50 units of charge.
- One exploit you can use to get more ammo for any weapon is to drop that
weapon (by picking up a new one), pick up a new version of that weapon,
then go back to the old version you previously dropped and getting it
again. This should add all your old ammo on top of the ammo bonus you
get from picking up a fresh version of the weapon without already
having one in your inventory.
- NOTE: Because the SDK for Project Origin has not been released
(the game's only been out for less than a month!) I can't browse
the game files to determine exactly how much damage each
weapon does. Instead, I've provided a VERY rough relative estimation
based on in-game observation.
- NOTE: The damage, clip size, and max ammo stats are for single-player.
These stats are different for many weapons in multiplayer for
game-balance reasons (i.e. the missile launcher only holds 3
shots instead of 5).
Melee Attacks:
As in the original FEAR, you can perform a variety of melee attacks
and martial arts kicks against your enemies. The most basic melee
attack is a strike with the butt of your firearm. Unlike in the original
FEAR, a melee strike is no longer an instant kill against enemy
soldiers, and almost all enemy soldiers require at least 2 melee
strikes to kill (Replica Elites take 3 melee strikes to kill). However, a
melee strike will still stagger an enemy soldier for a second or so,
leaving him open to being finished off with a burst of gunfire or
another melee strike. The melee attack is a good way to repel enemy
soldiers that surprise you by coming around a corner into your face.
Additionally, you can perform 3 different types of kick attacks.
Slide Kick: Press FORWARD+MELEE+SPRINT at the same time to
slide forward several feet, knocking any enemy soldiers you collide
with off their feet.
Jump Kick: Press FORWARD+MELEE+JUMP to leap forward and
perform a flying scissor kick.
Sweep Kick: Press MELEE+JUMP to jump straight up in the air and
perform a sweep kick, hitting any enemies standing directly in front of
you.
All kick attacks will instantly kill any standard enemy soldier, including
special enemies like Replica Assassins. However, kick attacks have
no effect against heavily armored foes, such as ATC Flamethrower
soldiers, Replica Heavy Armor soldiers, or Power Armor.
You can also perform melee combos; press MELEE to perform a
melee strike with your firearm, then quickly press
FORWARD+SPRINT or FORWARD+JUMP to follow up with a slide
kick or jump kick.
=====
Pistol:
Damage: Average (~ 20%)
Clip Size: 18
Max Ammo: 200
Rate of Fire: 240 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A basic semi-automatic sidearm with an 18 round mag. Has decent stopping
power (about equal to an assault rifle) and decent accuracy, but
lacks the versatility of a full-auto firearm such as the submachine
gun or assault rifle.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
A semi-automatic 9mm pistol with an 18 round magazine. Has good
accuracy and a decent rate of fire. Also, the pistol actually has pretty
good stopping power; each individual round is comparable in damage
to that of the assault rifle, and you can kill most standard enemy
soldiers in just a few shots. It also has above-average armor-
penetration, although nowhere near as much as the Hammerhead,
Sniper Rifle, or Laser. However, it can be annoying to have to press
the fire button each time to fire each individual shot, and although
decent, the rate of fire is less than that of the submachine gun or
assault rifle. Unlike in the original F.E.A.R., you cannot dual-wield
pistols, although the single pistol is still a decent weapon.
You start the game out with a pistol and a submachine gun. Pistols
can also occasionally be found on desks or shelves in the game's
various levels. Enemy soldiers also carry pistols as sidearms, and will
pull them out to fight with if you cause them to drop their primary
weapon. Pistol ammo is otherwise somewhat uncommon, especially
in the game's later levels.
=====
Submachine Gun:
Damage: Low (~ 10%)
Clip Size: 50
Max Ammo: 500
Rate of Fire: 900 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A fast-firing P90-like submachine gun with a large clip size and a very
high rate of fire. Most enemies require about 8 to 12 SMG bullets to kill,
which thanks to the submachine gun's very high rate of fire is just
a burst or two of SMG fire. Makes a good default weapon for the
early levels, but should probably be replaced with the more powerful
assault rifle once you find enough ammo for one. Ammo is plentiful,
since most ATC BlackOps enemies carry one and drop ammo for it when
killed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
A P90-style submachine gun, this is the default weapon of your Delta
Force squad members, as well as the weapon you start the game
with. The submachine gun has a very high rate of fire and a generous
magazine size that allows for many shots before needing to be
reloaded. The submachine gun has decent accuracy, but there is
some bullet spread, so you're not going to be doing any sniping with it
at long range. It has a select-fire feature and can be fired in either full-
auto or 3-shot burst modes. The 3-shot burst mode is more accurate
than full-auto fire, but it takes at least 3 or 4 3-shot bursts to kill most
enemies.
The biggest drawback to the submachine gun is that its bullets are the
weakest in the game, doing the least damage per individual hit
(although the damage done is still relatively decent, comparable to
that of the submachine gun in the original F.E.A.R.). It takes about 8
to 12 hits to take out most enemies (more for heavier opponents like
Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers or Replica Elite soldiers). This is
compensated somewhat by its high rate of fire. Also, enemies in the
first few levels have relatively low durability and are fairly easy to kill,
so the low damage isn't too much of a problem. Overall, the
submachine gun makes a good default weapon for the game's first
few levels, and works well for close-quarters room-clearing or
medium-range firefights.
The submachine gun is the weapon of choice used by ATC BlackOps
soldiers, so ammo for it is extremely common in levels where you fight
ATC forces. Ammo for the submachine gun becomes much rarer later
in the game when you're fighting Replica soldiers, since they carry
assault rifles instead. However, by that time you should probably have
traded your submachine gun for a more powerful assault rifle anyway.
=====
Assault Rifle:
Damage: Average (~20%)
Clip Size: 30
Max Ammo: 450
Rate of Fire: 600 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A G36-like assault rifle with good stopping power and rate of
fire. Does about twice as much damage as the submachine gun,
which more than compensates for the slightly lower rate of fire.
Is noticeably more powerful than the original FEAR assault rifle;
most enemies can be brought down with a half-second burst of 4 to 6
shots. This is very much a "typical" FPS assault rifle, and makes a
good default weapon for most of the game. Ammo for it is plentiful
when facing Replica forces, as most Replica soldiers drop ammo for
it when killed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
This G36-style assault rifle is probably the default automatic weapon
that you're going to be using for most of the game. The assault rifle
has a good rate of fire, does good damage, has good accuracy, and is
overall well-balanced in all areas. It also comes equipped with a 2.5x
ACOG scope that lets you zoom in slightly on distant targets. It has a
select-fire feature and can be fired in either full-auto or single-shot
mode. Single-shot mode is quite accurate, while full-auto allows you
to spray bullets quickly, albeit with some bullet spread at medium-long
range.
The assault rifle does about twice as much damage per bullet as the
submachine gun. It has a slightly slower rate of fire than the
submachine gun, but the rate of fire is still quite high. It also has
somewhat better accuracy than the submachine gun. It's very
versatile, working well for both close-range room-clearing and long-
range firefights. It's also noticeably more powerful than the G2A2
assault rifle seen in F.E.A.R., and can bring down most standard
enemy soldiers with a quick burst of 4 to 6 assault rifle bullets.
The assault rifle is the default weapon of the standard Replica
soldiers, and ammo for it becomes extremely common once the
Replica soldiers start to appear. It can first be acquired in Mission 4:
Withdrawal, being used by a few ATC BlackOps Heavy Weapons
soldiers.
=====
Combat Shotgun:
Damage: Excellent (~ 120%)
Clip Size: 8
Max Ammo: 80
Rate of Fire: 90 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A powerful pump-action shotgun, similar to the one in the original
FEAR. Is very powerful at close range, and can kill most enemies
with a single close-range blast. Unfortunately, noticeable pellet
spread reduces the effectiveness as range increases, although it
can still kill enemies at medium range with just 1 or 2 shots.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
A black metal pump-action 10-gauge combat shotgun, similar to the
shotgun seen in the original F.E.A.R. The combat shotgun has great
stopping power at close range, and can usually splatter an enemy into
pieces with a single close-range blast. It has an average pellet
spread, so it does lose power as range increases, but can still kill
enemies at medium range with 2 or 3 shots. Stopping power is
actually comparable to the original F.E.A.R. shotgun, with a point-
blank shotgun blast being equal to about 12 submachine gun bullets.
Great for close-quarters room-clearing, or for use against melee-
attacking enemies.
The most noticeable drawback to the combat shotgun is the reload
time is rather high, as you need to load each individual shell one at a
time. This can be problematic if you run dry and need to reload in the
middle of a firefight.
The combat shotgun is carried by the ATC BlackOps Heavy Weapons
soldiers, and is quite common in levels where you fight ATC enemies.
Additionally, it can often be found in enemy weapon stockpiles. Ammo
for it is fairly common, although not quite as common as assault rifle
or submachine gun ammo. Combat shotgun ammo does however
become very rare to nonexistent in the last few levels of the game, as
ATC BlackOps forces no longer appear after Mission 10: Snake Fist.
=====
Automatic Shotgun:
Damage: Good (~ 90%)
Clip Size: 12
Max Ammo: 120
Rate of Fire: Unzoomed: 108 rpm
Zoomed: 120 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
An automatic shotgun (is actually semi-automatic). Has a slightly
faster rate of fire and better accuracy than the combat shotgun,
but also does less raw damage. All but the weakest enemies require
2 automatic shotgun blasts to kill, even at point-blank range.
On the plus side, better accuracy means that damage decreases
less as range increases, although it's still not effective at
long range.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
A more advanced, assault rifle-like 12-gauge shotgun with an
automatic firing mechanism. The automatic shotgun has a faster
reload than the combat shotgun, as you pop in a single magazine
instead of having to load each individual shell at a time. It also has a
noticeably larger magazine size and max ammo capacity.
Additionally, the automatic shotgun is more accurate, and fires a
tighter spread of pellets, causing less loss of power as range
increases. It should be noted that the automatic shotgun is in fact
semi-automatic... you need to press the fire button individually to fire
each shot. Also, while the rate of fire is slightly faster than the combat
shotgun, it's still below average (about 2 shots per second, compared
to the combat shotgun's 1.5 shots per second).
Oddly, the automatic shotgun fires slightly faster when zoomed using
iron sights than when simply firing unzoomed from the hip.
On the downside, the automatic shotgun does less damage than the
combat shotgun (about 75% as much damage), with a single point-
blank blast being equal to about 9 submachine gun hits. While the
combat shotgun can often blow an enemy soldier into bloody chunks
with a single close-range blast, the automatic shotgun usually
requires 2 shots to kill, even at close range (although it can still kill
regular ATC soldiers with only one shot). On the bright side, it often
only takes 2 to 3 shots to kill at medium range also, since there's less
pellet spread. However, it's still a shotgun, so don't expect it to work
well at long range.
The automatic shotgun is the signature weapon of the Replica Heavy
Weapons soldiers. As a result, it's very common in levels where you
fight against Replica forces. It can also be found in enemy weapon
stockpiles. Overall, ammo is quite common, although not quite as
common as for the assault rifle or submachine gun.
=====
Sniper Rifle:
Damage: Excellent (~ 80%, but with VERY HIGH armor penetration)
Clip Size: 6
Max Ammo: 48
Rate of Fire: 44 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A high-powered sniper rifle with a 10x scope. Excellent for
picking off enemies at long range, and can splatter most enemies
into bloody chunks with just a single shot. Is especially effective
when combined with SloMo for better sniping and/or pulling off headshots.
Unfortunately, has a rather low rate of fire (with a 1.36 second
delay between each shot) and can only be acquired at a few points
in the entire game, mostly just prior to a fight with enemy snipers.
Is strictly meant for sniping; close range running-and-gunning
firing from the hip is nearly impossible due to the low rate of fire
and lack of an on-screen crosshair when not zoomed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
This high powered bolt-action .50 BMG sniper rifle replaces the
original F.E.A.R.'s Type-7 Particle Weapon as the game's sniper
weapon. The sniper rifle has excellent accuracy, as well as a fixed
10x scope that allows you to zoom in on distant targets. It also has
excellent stopping power and high armor penetration; it can splatter most
enemy soldiers into pieces with a single shot to the chest or limbs, and
will kill heavily armored Replica Heavy Weapons and Replica Elite soldiers
with 2 chest shots or 1 headshot. It can even kill a Replica Heavy
Armor soldier with 3 headshots or 5 chest shots, almost exactly like
the Type-7 Particle Weapon in the original F.E.A.R. Unfortunately, the
rate of fire is fairly low, as there is a delay of about 1.36 seconds
between each shot to bolt a new round into the firing chamber.
Unfortunately, the sniper rifle has no targeting crosshair when
unzoomed, so you won't be able to shoot enemies with it "from the
hip". Additionally, the very low rate of fire and fixed long-range 10x
zoom makes the sniper rifle a handicap in close-quarters combat.
The Sniper Rifle only seems to be given to you in the 3 levels where
you fight Replica Snipers. Otherwise, you'll almost never find the
Sniper Rifle or ammo for it, and thus will run out of bullets fairly
quickly if you use it a lot. Still, it's excellent for long range sniping,
especially in combination with SloMo, and makes a great long-range
weapon while you still have ammo for it.
=====
Hammerhead:
Damage: Average (~ 14%, but with VERY HIGH armor penetration)
Clip Size: 25
Max Ammo: 250
Rate of Fire: 250 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A very accurate, full-auto pneumatic rifle (basically a high-tech nailgun).
Probably the most accurate full-auto firearm in the game other than the
Laser. Also has very high armor penetration, making it effective against
heavily armored enemies such as Replica Elite or Replica Heavy Armor.
The rate of fire is half that of a standard assault rifle, but still
relatively decent. Kills most enemy soldiers in just 3 to 5 shots.
Makes a very good backup weapon, but ammo isn't common enough to make
it your default weapon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
The successor to the HV Penetrator from the original F.E.A.R., the
Hammerhead is an automatic pneumatic rifle that fires 14mm depleted uranium
spikes. Accuracy is excellent, almost near-perfect, although the rate
of fire is less than half as fast as the assault rifle's. Damage-wise, it's
slightly above the stopping power of the pistol or assault rifle, and can
kill most enemy soldiers in just 3 to 5 shots (and also has the amusing
effect of pinning enemies against walls). Note that most of the
Hammerhead's damage ability comes from its armor-piercing ability,
so it's less effective against non-armored monster enemies (i.e.
Abominations and Remnants).
The most significant feature of the Hammerhead is its extremely high
armor-penetration ability, making it excellent against heavily armored
foes (who can usually be killed with about 1/2th as many
Hammerhead shots as assault rifle shots). The Hammerhead can
take out a Replica Heavy Armor soldier in about 17 shots, compared
to almost 45 shots from the assault rifle. Unfortunately, it's no good
against Power Armor units, as they are protected by an energy shield
which the Hammerhead's spikes don't penetrate.
The Hammerhead doesn't appear until more than halfway through the
game, in Mission 9: Nurse's Office. Ammo for it is less common than
for the assault rifle or shotgun, but still appears at regular intervals.
Hammerheads are dropped by Replica Heavy Armor soldiers, and
can also be found fairly regularly at enemy weapon stockpiles
throughout the later levels.
=====
Napalm Cannon:
Damage: Good (~ 70% to 90%)
Clip Size: 10
Max Ammo: 30
Rate of Fire: 75 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A flamethrower-like fire cannon. Instead of a continuous flame,
the napalm cannon fires a single concentrated jet of fire that
sets enemies on fire. An amusing weapon, but lack of lethality
combined with wonky hit detection and an inability to hit enemies
partially behind cover make it more of a novelty than a reliable
weapon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
F.E.A.R. 2's equivalent to the flamethrower. Unlike a standard FPS
flamethrower, the Napalm Cannon doesn't fire a continuous flame.
Instead, it fires a single concentrated jet of fire with a range of several
dozen feet, with a second or so pause between each jet. The flame jet
sets enemies on fire, causing them to drop their weapon and flail
around attempting to extinguish themselves. Also, the jet is hot
enough to not only set enemies on fire with a direct hit, but also if it
merely passes within a few feet of their bodies.
Hit detection can be a little wonky with this weapon, especially at
close range, so you may have to fire a couple shots before enemies
catch on fire. Also, the flame jet will dissipate if it hits a surface, like a
table or wall. If an enemy is poking out partially from behind cover,
instead of aiming the Napalm Cannon directly at them, you should
aim it to the side so the flame jet passes by them instead of striking
them directly. This lets you set enemies on fire indirectly, whereas a
direct shot would most likely be blocked by the piece of cover.
The Napalm Cannon does about as much damage as a point-blank
automatic shotgun blast. This means that, unfortunately, that while the
weakest enemy soldiers may burn out and die from a single shot,
most enemy soldiers will extinguish themselves after several seconds
and continue fighting you (it takes 2 or 3 shots to kill such enemies).
However, setting any enemy soldier on fire will stun them for several
seconds while they try to pat themselves down, giving you time to
mow them down with another weapon or simply walk up to them and
melee them to death.
Also, the Napalm Cannon is ineffective against monsters
(Abominations and Remnants) as well as special enemy units (i.e.
Replica Heavy Armor soldiers) who ignore being set on fire and
continue attacking you. ATC Flamethrower soldiers and Replica
Assassins both seem to wear flame-proof suits, as neither apparently
can be set on fire.
The Napalm Cannon and ammo for it is dropped by ATC
Flamethrower soldiers, of which there are only 4 in the entire game.
You can also pick up 1 or 2 Napalm Cannons at enemy weapon
stockpiles. It is, however, a fairly rare weapon, and you simply won't
find it or ammo for it after the game's first handful of levels.
=====
Missile Launcher:
Damage: Outstanding
Clip Size: 5
Max Ammo: 15
Rate of Fire: 60 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A portable missile launcher. Fires single, very powerful missiles
and is mostly meant as a anti-vehicle weapon for taking out
Power Armor. A direct hit does extremely high damage, but the
splash damage radius is rather low, so it's mostly intended for
scoring direct hit against single, tough, slow-moving foes. Can
kill a Replica Heavy Armor soldier in just 2 shots, or a Power Armor
in just 5 shots. Quite rare, and is usually found just prior to
fighting an enemy Power Armor unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
A portable missile launcher, for taking out enemy armor (most notably
Power Armor units and one enemy APC). The missile launcher loads
5 missiles at a time, but the rate of fire is relatively low since there's a
second or so delay between each shot. As a result, you should pop in
and out of cover while firing the launcher, instead of simply standing
out in the open. The missile launcher is also equipped with an 8x
computerized scope, but there's not much reason to use it since the
targets you'll be using it against (Power Armor) are large, slow, and
fought in relatively close quarters.
The missile launcher does extremely high damage and also has good
armor-piercing capability, making it the most powerful weapon in the
game (other than the Pulse Weapon). Unfortunately, the splash
damage radius is fairly small, so you need to score direct hits to get
the most out of it. So, it's not terribly effective against groups of
enemies, but it is great against single tough foes. It takes 2 missile
launcher shots to kill a Replica Heavy Armor soldier, 3 shots to kill a
Remnant, 5 shots to destroy a Power Armor unit, and 7 to 8 shots to
destroy an Elite Powered Armor unit. Although fast, the missiles do
not travel instantly, and can miss a fast-moving strafing enemy at long
range (SloMo helps with this).
Not that, despite the missile launcher's small splash damage radius
with regard to enemies, using it in close quarters will still cause
serious damage to YOU. Shooting an enemy with a missile at a range
of less than 20 feet or so can result in the blast knocking out almost
all of your armor, if not killing you outright. So, be sure to be a decent
distance away from your target before shooting them with a missile.
The missile launcher is usually found specifically before most Power
Armor fights. Otherwise, it's not really found anywhere else in the
game, so ammo for it is quite rare. It mostly exists solely for taking out
Power Armor, although if you still have missiles left after fighting a
Power Armor, you can save them for fighting Remnants or Replica
Heavy Armor soldiers later in the game.
=====
Laser:
Damage: Below Average (but with VERY HIGH armor penetration)
Clip Size: 100
Max Ammo: 200
Rate of Fire: 750 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
A Laser weapon that fires a cutting beam which slices enemies apart.
Has extremely high armor penetration and can kill most enemies quite
quickly. Is also very effective at staggering enemies, and also causes
them to flinch in pain and drop their primary weapon. Also has the
interesting effect of completely bypassing energy shields, such as
those equipped by Power Armor units. On the downside, has a split-second
charge-up time before it can fire and burns through ammo very quickly.
Also uses a real-time laser sight that changes position instead of an
on-screen crosshair that's always at the center of the screen, which can
make aiming a bit tricky.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
The Laser constantly emits a red targeting laser. When the fire button
is pressed, the weapon charges for a split second, then fires a
continuous yellow laser beam that inflicts continuous cutting damage
on enemies. The Laser does below average damage per "unit" of charge, however
it has a very high "rate of fire" and can cut enemies apart very quickly.
Also, the Laser has incredible armor penetration, and can bring down a
Replica Heavy Armor soldier with just a little over 1/4th of a clip
(25 units of charge). The biggest advantage of the Laser is that it has
perfect accuracy, even when you're moving and jumping around. However,
aiming the Laser is a little tricky, since it uses a real-time targeting
laser that varies in mark based on the 3D environment, rather than fixed
crosshair that's always in the center of the screen.
Be aware that the Laser's charge time results in a split-second delay
between when you press the fire button, and when the Laser actually
starts to fire. Interestingly, being hit by the Laser often causes
enemies to drop their primary weapon when you shoot them with it.
However, they'll simply pull out a pistol and continue fighting.
Another interesting feature of the Laser is that it passes right through
the energy shields of Power Armor units. This allows you to damage
Power Armor units directly without having to take down their energy
shield first. You can destroy a standard Power Armor unit with a little
over half a clip (50 units) of Laser fire, and bring down an Elite Power
Armor unit with about 150 units of Laser fire. (Unfortunately, the Laser
is unavailable the 3 times you're forced to fight a Power Armor unit on
foot).
The Laser only appears in the game's last few levels. You first get one
about halfway through Mission 11: Keegan. It and ammo for it is fairly
rare, but you can still find several of them in the game's last few
levels. The Laser is dropped by 3 Replica Heavy Armor soldiers, and
2 or 3 can also be found laying around the levels. One plus is that
when you first pick up a Laser, you get the full 200 units of charge for
it that you can carry. However, this is only if you're not already
carrying a laser; otherwise, you only get 50 units of charge. If you
want the full 200 units, you should drop your current Laser before
picking up a new one.
=====
Pulse Weapon:
Damage: Insane
Clip Size: 5
Max Ammo: 10
Rate of Fire: 60 rpm
BRIEF BLURB:
An experimental energy cannon that fires a slow moving blue
energy ball which vaporizes any enemies it passes by. Probably
the game's ultimate weapon. A single shot can clear a roomful
of normal enemies, and even kill any heavy enemy (including a
standard Power Armor unit) by aiming the shot at their feet
for maximum exposure and damage. However, you can only find a
total of 15 shots for this weapon throughout the entire game.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
The Pulse Weapon is F.E.A.R. 2's UberWeapon. It fires a blue ball of
energy that travels at average speed and becomes stationary upon
impact with a solid surface. If any enemy passes within several feet of
the energy ball, it will discharge an electrical arc that does very high
damage. A single arc will reduce any standard enemy soldier (even
Replica Heavy Weapons and Replica Elite soldiers) into a bloody
skeleton, and several arcs will kill even a Replica Heavy Armor
soldier. The energy ball also explodes after several seconds, dealing
additional damage to any enemies near it.
The power of this weapon is insane; a single well-placed shot will kill
pretty much any enemy in the game, even Replica Heavy Armor
soldiers and Replica Power Armor units. The only thing in F.E.A.R. 2
that can survive a shot from the Pulse Weapon is a Elite Power Armor
unit, which can still be killed with 2 or 3 Pulse Weapon shots.
The one caveat to the Pulse Weapon is that it passes through
enemies. Against normal soldiers, this is a plus, as the energy ball
can pass through and kill several enemies in a row. However it's a
handicap against heavy enemies like Heavy Armor or Power Armor,
as the ball will pass through them, and thus will stop doing damage to
the enemy once it travels past them by several feet. To do maximum
damage, aim the Pulse Weapon at the foot of the large enemy you
want to kill, so that the energy ball will land at their feet, giving the
enemy maximum exposure to the energy discharges as well as to the
energy ball's eventual explosion.
You acquire the Pulse Weapon 2/3rds of the way through the game,
given to you by Snake Fist at the end of Mission 10: Snake Fist. It
starts with 10 shots, and those 10 shots are ALL you have, as there
simply isn't any extra ammo for the Pulse Weapon to be found. The
only exception is a second Pulse Weapon loaded with 5 shots in a weapon
case in Mission 13: Approach, just before the extremely large room in which
you chase Keegan and battle many Replica Assassins.
===========
=Grenades:=
===============================================================================
- Project Origin features 3 different types of grenades, as well as 1 type
of proximity mine. Grenades has a 5 "tick" fuse (equal to about 2
seconds), and explode after the 5th "tick". Unlike the original FEAR,
you can now "cook" a grenade by holding down the grenade throw
key, letting the fuse run for a few ticks before you throw it so that it
explodes more quickly when it lands.
- Unlike in FEAR, grenades do not explode upon impacting an enemy,
only after the fuse runs out. However, being physically hit by a
grenade does do some small amount of damage, roughly equal to a
single submachine gun bullet (I suppose this is somewhat akin to the
damage of taking a fastball to the face).
- Enemies in Project Origin throw grenades more often than they did in
FEAR, but fortunately they do not "cook" their grenades, giving you
about 2 seconds to run away from the grenade before it explodes.
- Also unlike the original FEAR, you can now acquire grenades from
killed enemies, and every dead enemy has a decent chance of
dropping a single grenade for you to pick up.
Frag Grenades:
Max Ammo: 5
A typical FPS frag grenade, with an explosion that deals significant
damage and has a blast radius of about 16 feet. Grenades are also
useful in flushing enemies out of cover, as enemy soldiers react to
them immediately and attempt to run away from them.
Frag grenades are fairly useful against ATC soldiers, and are capable
of killing an entire group of them as long as they're within about 15
feet of the blast center. Unfortunately, the effective lethal radius of the
frag grenade's explosion against more durable Replica soldiers is
rather small... less than several feet. Replica soldiers within 10 to 15
feet of the blast center will simply be moderately injured and possibly
staggered for a couple seconds. Grenades are also not particularly
effective against heavier enemies, such as Heavy Armor or Power
Armor (it takes 4 direct frag grenade hits to kill a single ATC
Flamethrower soldier or Replica Heavy Armor soldier).
=====
Shock Grenades:
Max Ammo: 5
Shock grenades release a huge burst of electrical energy that stuns
enemies for a couple seconds. It is effective against all enemies,
ranging from standard soldiers to Power Armor. The blast radius of a
shock grenade is fairly large, about a couple dozen feet or so. Shock
grenades are very useful for briefly immobilizing a group of enemy
soldiers, or a single very tough enemy such as a Heavy Armor or
Power Armor, giving you time to fire at the enemy without needing to
worry about being shot back at.
=====
Incendiary Grenades:
Max Ammo: 4
Incendiary grenades release a burst of flames that sets any enemies
caught within about a dozen feet of the blast center on fire. Enemy
soldiers set on fire will drop their weapons and stagger around
helplessly for a couple seconds trying to put themselves out.
Unfortunately, being set on fire typically isn't lethal, and after a couple
seconds the enemy soldiers will extinguish themselves, draw their
pistols, and continue fighting. It's fairly easy to mow them down while
they're busy flailing around, though. Fire is also ineffective against
most of the rarer enemy types, such as Replica Heavy Armor, Replica
Assassins, Power Armor, and monsters, who either cannot be set on
fire, or ignore being on fire and take negligible damage from it.
=====
Proximity Mines:
Max Ammo: 4
Proximity mines are sphere-shaped devices that stick to any solid
surface when thrown, such as a wall or floor. When an enemy comes
within a couple feet of the proximity mine, it will explode, dealing
significant damage. Proximity mines do high damage and have very
high armor-piercing capability, making them about twice as powerful
as standard frag grenades. They can take out any standard enemy
soldier (even Replica Elite or Replica Assassins) in a single hit, and
even heavily armored enemies such as ATC Flamethrower soldiers or
Replica Heavy Armor soldiers can be brought down with just 2
proximity mines. However, proximity mines are also much less
common than frag grenades, as enemies don't seem to drop them,
and they appear in weapon stockpiles somewhat less often than other
grenade types.
Be very careful of your own proximity mines. They completely bypass
your armor to directly damage your health, and do LOTS of damage.
On Normal difficulty, they will kill you in one hit if you're caught in the
blast. Make sure to be at least 20 feet away from your own proximity
mines before they detonate. While you won't set off your own
proximity mines by walking near them, you can be caught in the blast
if an enemy triggers one while you're nearby.
If you are unsatisfied with the placement of a proximity mine, you can
walk over to it and pick it up again with the USE key.
**********
*Enemies:*
*******************************************************************************
- Enemy soldiers in Project Origin display the same impressive A.I. as
seen in the original F.E.A.R. Enemies are very mobile, frequently
running throughout the entire battlefield instead of staying in a single
spot and making themselves an easy target. They make good use of cover,
fire from behind cover, advance from one piece of cover to another, and
when possible will attempt to flank around your own cover. They can
retreat and set up ambushes (although they seem to do this less than
in the original FEAR) and even take alternative paths to circle around
and catch you from behind (although, again, the level design is such that
they're able to do this less than in the original FEAR).
Enemies also operate in coordinated squads, providing suppressing fire for
each other as they advance forward or switch from one piece of cover to
another.
- Enemy soldiers throw grenades noticeably more often in Project Origin
than in the original FEAR, especially if you dig in behind cover. They're
very adept at tossing a grenade near you to flush you out of cover if
you hide in the same spot for too long. Fortunately, their aim with
grenades isn't perfect, and they can often miss and cause the grenade
to hit and bounce off of walls or obstacles, causing it to land somewhere
where you aren't exposed to the blast. Additionally, enemy grenades take
about 2 seconds to explode after landing, giving you a relatively good
amount of time to run out of the grenade's blast radius.
- Enemies in Project Origin also seem to be somewhat less accurate than
those in the original FEAR, although their accuracy is still reasonably
good. This decrease in accuracy is probably to compensate for the fact
that you are unable to lean around corners in Project Origin.
- There are two different factions of enemy soldiers in Project Origin;
ATC BlackOps (human soldiers of the ATC corporation) and Replica
(rogue clone soldiers manufactured by ATC). ATC BlackOps and Replica
are hostile towards each other, although there are only a handful of
occasions in the entire game where they appear in the same area and
fight each other.
- NOTE: All enemies have both armor and health, which affects their
durability. However, since the SDK hasn't been released and I can't
browse through the game files, I'm not sure as to the exact value of
each. Instead, I've provided a general estimate of each enemy's overall
durability based on in-game observation, representing the effect of
their combined armor and health.
===============
=ATC BlackOps:=
===============================================================================
- ATC BlackOps are highly trained soldiers of the Armacham Technology
Corporation, sent to liquidate the corporation's enemies as well as
to dispose of evidence and witnesses to the corporation's many acts
of wrongdoing. They have better training and equipment than the lightly
armed and armored ATC Security Guards seen in the original FEAR, being
professional soldiers as opposed to basic security guards.
ATC BlackOps soldiers are also a more major enemy than the ATC Security
Guards in the original FEAR. While ATC Security Guards were only
encountered in a few levels and numbered at most a few dozen throughout
the entire game (with the vast majority of your enemies being Replica
soldiers), the ATC BlackOps soldiers in Project Origin make up almost
half of the enemies you face throughout the game, with the other
half being primarily the Replica forces.
- ATC BlackOps soldiers are somewhat less durable and poorer equipped
than equivalent Replica soldiers, but they still operate in coordinated
squads and make use of intelligent combat tactics. Overall, they're
competent enemies, although they're surpassed by the Replica forces
later in the game.
- ATC BlackOps soldiers are encountered in 8 of the game's 14 missions,
and are your primary opponents for the first half of the game. However,
they stop appearing entirely after Mission 10: Snake Fist. In the game's
last 4 missions, you fight almost exclusively against Replica soldiers.
ATC BlackOps Kidnapper:
Appearance: Covert operative wearing blue sweater, black ski mask,
and nightvision monocle.
Durability: 50%
Primary Weapon: Submachine Gun
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
DESCRIPTION:
These ATC goons are the first and weakest enemy soldiers you fight
in the game. They are only encountered in the game's first level,
Mission 1: Sanctuary, where they serve as the level's only enemies,
and are attempting to kidnap Genevieve Aristide from her penthouse
suite.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
They are equipped with submachine guns, and fight using the game's
standard enemy infantry tactics. They take cover, lean around or over
cover to fire, move from cover to cover, and attempt to flank your
position. Your armor can withstand about 14 to 15 hits from their
submachine guns before failing, but their high rate of fire means they
can take it out with just a few bursts of automatic fire, so good use of
cover is very important.
Kidnappers do not wear any body armor, and can be brought down
with just a quick burst of 5 submachine gun shots or 3 pistol shots.
They also don't carry grenades, so you won't have to worry about
being flushed out of cover by a frag grenade when fighting them.
EVALUATION:
Overall, Kidnappers have decent aim, tactics, and weaponry, but their
lack of body armor or grenades makes them noticeably weaker than
the game's other enemy soldiers. They're fairly easy to kill and make
a good warm-up fight for the game's introductory level. The only real
advantage they have is that you don't have SloMo when fighting them
(as you don't get it until Mission 2), but even without it they shouldn't
be any trouble to kill.
=====
ATC BlackOps Regular Soldier:
Appearance: Human soldier wearing black armor vest and black
helmet over blue uniform.
Durability: 80%
Primary Weapon: Submachine Gun
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
These are the regular ATC BlackOps soldiers, and are probably the
most commonly encountered enemies in the game. You first fight
them in Mission 2: Awakening, and they compose the majority of the
ATC enemies you fight for the rest of the game.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Regular ATC soldiers are equipped with submachine guns, light
armor, and frag grenades. They operate in coordinated squads and
use all the game's standard enemy infantry tactics, being very
manueverable and making good use of cover, flanking, and
suppressing fire. They also frequently make good use of frag
grenades to flush you out of cover.
EVALUATION:
Regular ATC soldiers are slightly weaker than standard Replica
soldiers, and can be brought down with a quick half-second burst of
about 8 submachine gun shots or 4 assault rifle shots, 4 pistol shots,
or a single blast from the combat shotgun or automatic shotgun.
Individually they die rather quickly, although they can pose a
challenge in groups. Remember, they can bring down your armor with
just a few direct bursts of automatic fire, so good use of cover is
important in firefights.
=====
ATC BlackOps Heavy Weapons Soldier:
Appearance: Human soldier wearing blue armor vest with protective
shoulder and limb pads and white helmet, over bulky padded
white uniform.
Durability: 120%
Primary Weapon: Combat Shotgun
Other Weapons: Assault Rifle
Hammerhead
Missile Launcher
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
These heavy ATC soldiers wear thicker than usual armor, allowing
them to survive somewhat more damage than regular ATC soldiers
(their durability is about 50% higher than regular ATC soldiers, and it
takes about 12 submachine gun shots or 6 assault rifle shots to kill
them, although they can still be killed with just 4 pistol shots).
Notably, their heavier armor also makes them somewhat
slower than regular ATC soldiers (they move at about half speed),
although they are still manueverable enough to run, leap over
obstacles, and take cover. ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers are quite
common, and you'll often find a couple of them mixed in with a squad
of several regular ATC soldiers.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers almost always carry combat shotguns,
which makes them extremely dangerous at close range. They can
knock out your armor with a couple close range shotgun blasts, and if
you lack armor they can kill you outright with a single well-placed
shotgun headshot. As a result, it's best to fight them from as long
range as possible, where the effectiveness of their shotguns is
significantly reduced.
ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers also use other weapons, although only
rarely. In Mission 4: Withdrawal, you'll encounter about 7 Heavy
Weapons soldiers equipped with assault rifles instead of combat
shotguns. In Mission 6: Ruin, you'll encounter 3 Heavy Weapons
soldiers armed with missile launchers, who can be extremely
dangerous to you if you don't take proper cover (fortunately, their
missile launchers produce a green targeting laser that gives away
their position). One Heavy Weapons soldier in Mission 9: Nurse's
Office even carries a Hammerhead rifle (he notably yells "I smell a
payday!" just before you fight him).
EVALUATION:
Despite their heavier armor, ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers can still be
brought down reasonably quickly with a couple bursts of automatic
weapons fire. Just be sure not to let them get within close range, as
their shotguns can be murderous up close.
=====
ATC BlackOps Hazmat Soldier:
Appearance: Human soldier wearing black armor vest over blue
plastic hazmat suit.
Durability: 85%
Primary Weapon: Submachine Gun
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
These guys are a special (and very amusing) type of ATC soldier that
you only encounter in the game's first few missions. They are only
fought in Mission 2: Awakening, Mission 3: Discovery, and Mission 4:
Withdrawal, where they represent a decent percentage of the ATC
enemies you fight, alongside the regular soldiers and the Heavy
Weapons soldiers. Many early firefights consist of a nearly equal
number of Hazmat, regular, and Heavy Weapons soldiers.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Hazmat soldiers wear a full-body blue plastic hazmat suit, presumably
to assist in disposing of biological samples and other evidence of
ATC's crazy genetic experiments. Their suit has a self-contained air
supply in the form of a large pressurized oxygen tank on their backs.
Hitting the oxygen tank with a single bullet will cause the Hazmat
soldier to explode violently and messily in a hilarious burst of air. It's
also extremely easy to hit their tanks, as their combat pose causes
their tank to protrude significantly on their right side.
Like regular ATC soldiers, Hazmat soldiers are equipped with
submachine guns, grenades, and light armor, and overall have the
about same level of durability as regular soldiers (it takes about 8
submachine gun shots or 5 pistol shots to kill them). They fight using
standard enemy tactics and pose about the same level of threat as regular
ATC soldiers.
EVALUATION:
Overall, it's rather easy to one-hit-kill these guys by shooting their
oxygen tanks, especially if you use SloMo to give you more time to
aim. Unfortunately, their exploding oxygen tanks don't seem to be
powerful enough to significantly damage other enemy soldiers standing
near them, although it will set off nearby explosive barrels.
=====
ATC BlackOps Elite Soldier:
Appearance: Human soldier wearing black armor vest over blue
uniform, with shoulder and limb pads, wearing electronic
visor with 4 lens.
Durability: 125%
Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle
Other Weapons: Submachine Gun
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
ATC Elites are the best of the best of ATC's BlackOps soldiers.
Functionally, they're essentially upgraded regular ATC soldiers with
better armor and weaponry. Their appearance is also very similar to
regular ATC soldiers, except they have small protective shoulder and
limb pads, as well as a quad-lens electronic visor. ATC Elite soldiers
can survive about as much damage as ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers,
but are faster (unlike Heavy Weapons soldiers, they're not slowed
down by their armor) and equipped with longer-range weapons.
ATC Elite soldiers are actually fairly rare; you only encounter them in
2 levels, and there are only about 36 of them in the entire game. You
first encounter a squad of about 12 ATC Elite soldiers towards the
end of Mission 6: Ruin, assisting a pair of ATC Flamethrower soldiers
in battle. About 24 ATC Elite soldiers are fought in the first half of
Mission 10: Snake Fist, just before your showdown with ATC
BlackOps leader Colonel Vanek.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
One or two of the ATC Elites in Mission 6: Ruin are equipped with
submachine guns instead of assault rifles, although the vast majority
of them are equipped with assault rifles.
ATC Elite soldiers have more armor and health than regular ATC
soldiers, and can survive a little over 50% more damage than regular
soldiers (it takes about 11 submachine gun shots or 7 assault rifle
shots to kill them). ATC Elite soldiers are also equipped with assault
rifles, which do more damage and are more accurate compared to the
submachine guns carried by regular ATC soldiers.
EVALUATION:
Despite being noticeably tougher than regular ATC soldiers, ATC
Elites are only slightly tougher than standard Replica soldiers, and
can still be brought down relatively quickly with a couple bursts of
automatic weapons fire.
=====
ATC BlackOps Flamethrower Soldier:
Appearance: Large human soldier wearing black armor vest and gas
mask over bulky orange pyro suit.
Durability: 500%
Primary Weapon: Napalm Cannon
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Incendiary Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
The ATC Flamethrower soldier is presumably ATC's equivalent to the
Replica Heavy Armor soldier. Flamethrower soldiers are very durable
and well-armored, and can survive several times as much damage as
a regular ATC soldier.
There are only 4 of them in the entire game, and they serve as mini-boss
battles of sorts. One is fought alone in a burning hospital ward near
the beginning of Mission 3: Discovery. One jumps out of a retreating van
and attacks you in Mission 4: Withdrawal. Finally, two are fought in the
same area near the end of Mission 6: Ruin (although fortunately the second
one usually doesn't seem to appear until the first one dies). These last
two Flamethrower soldiers can be seen easily killing Replica soldiers,
and are also assisted by several ATC Elite soldiers.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Flamethrower soldiers are equipped with the Napalm Cannon, and
attack by firing a concentrated jet of flame at you every second or so.
Their flame attacks do decent damage, and also obstruct your vision
as well as setting you on fire. They can also throw incendiary
grenades, although fortunately they rarely do so.
Flamethrower soldiers are very durable, and require a full clip of
submachine gun or assault rifle fire to kill. It even takes 5 point-blank
combat shotgun blasts or 4 direct frag grenade hits to kill them.
Fortunately, their heavy armor prevents them from running, limiting
them to a slow and steady walk. They simply walk towards you while
firing their Napalm Cannon, sidestepping around any cover you try to
hide behind.
Although they have a napalm canister on their back, shooting it
doesn't do much good (a small flame will burst out, and it'll briefly
distract the Flamethrower soldier for a second or so while he tries to
pat it out, but the tank won't explode or anything), so don't consider it
a "weak spot" like the Hazmat soldier's oxygen tank.
EVALUATION:
The best way to deal with a Flamethrower soldier is to strafe left and
right to try and dodge their flame jets, while blasting them with full-
auto fire from your submachine gun or assault rifle (the more powerful
assault rifle is preferable). If you move quickly enough, you should be
able to dodge most of their flame jets, and kill them before you take
more than one or two hits. As always, SloMo makes things much
easier by increasing your speed and giving you more time to aim and
react.
Alternatively, you can hit them with a Shock Grenade to stun them for
a couple seconds, giving you time to ventilate them with a clip of
submachine gun or assault rifle fire.
Note that popping in and out of cover to shoot at them DOESN'T work
so well, due to their steady rate of fire preventing you from getting a
safe opening to jump out.
==================
=Replica Soldier:=
===============================================================================
- The Replica clone soldiers return in Project Origin, apparently having
been reactivated as a side effect of the powerful psychic emanations
produced by Alma. However, unlike the original FEAR where they were your
primary opponents for the entire game, the Replica soldiers now only make
up about half of the total enemy forces you face in the game, with the other
half consisting of ATC BlackOps soldiers.
- Replica soldiers are overall more durable and better equipped than their
ATC BlackOps counterparts. Replicas also have a greater variety of
soldier types, including Snipers, Assassins, and Power Armor, which
the ATC BlackOps forces lack. Fortunately, by the time you face them,
you'll have access to better weaponry.
- Replica soldiers first appear in Mission 5: Replica. They appear in
each of the levels after that, although only a handful appear in
certain levels such as Mission 6: Ruin and Mission 9: Nurse's Office,
where the primary enemies are ATC BlackOps.
Replica Soldier:
Appearance: Replica Soldier wearing olive green metal chest armor
over green camo uniform. Wears yellow visor goggles over
thick cloth facemask.
Durability: 100%
Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
The standard Replica soldier is the most basic Replica enemy you'll
face in Project Origin. Replica soldiers are tougher and better
equipped than regular ATC BlackOps soldiers. They can survive
slightly more damage (about 10 submachine gun shots or 5
assault rifle shots), and carry harder-hitting, more accurate assault
rifles as opposed to the ATC BlackOps' submachine guns (their
assault rifles can take down your armor in about a dozen or so hits,
compared to 14 or 15 hits from a submachine gun).
Replica soldiers in Project Origin actually appear very similar to those
in the original FEAR, the only real major cosmetic difference is that
their chest armor is now made of hard metal/ceramic plates instead of
kevlar-like fabric. Also, while the Replica soldiers in FEAR came in
several different uniform varieties, all standard Replica soldiers in
Project Origin are of the same type and appearance.
EVALUATION:
Overall, Replica soldiers are tougher enemies than regular ATC
BlackOps soldiers, but you should still be able to handle them with
decent tactics, smart use of cover and (if needed) SloMo. Notably,
while Replica soldiers in Project Origin have health and armor that is
roughly on par with those in the original FEAR, they're much easier to
kill as the new Project Origin assault rifle is noticeably more powerful
than the one in the original FEAR.
Since the assault rifle works very well on them, and since they always
drop assault rifle ammo, I recommend fighting them using the assault
rifle instead of the weaker submachine gun.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
In Mission 13: Approach, you'll pass through an old Replica storage
facility and encounter recently activated Replica soldiers who aren't
wearing their masks. These Replica soldiers are bald, have mildly
deformed faces, and speak in slurred grunts rather than standard
tactical chatter. Otherwise, in terms of behavior and stats they're
completely identical to normal Replica soldiers.
=====
Replica Heavy Weapons Soldier:
Appearance: Replica Soldier wearing olive green thick metal
chestplate over black uniform. Wears a Combine-style
white ceramic facemask/gasmask.
Durability: 150%
Primary Weapon: Automatic Shotgun
Other Weapons: Missile Launcher
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers are surprisingly similar in
appearance to the Replica Elite soldiers from the original FEAR, with
black armor and a white ceramic facemask. Like the original FEAR's
Replica Elite, Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers can survive about
50% more damage than a standard Replica soldier. They wear a thick
metal chestplate that provides them with heavier armor than a
standard Replica soldier, but as a trade-off their heavier armor also
causes them to move noticeably slower as well (although they are still
manueverable enough to run, jump over obstacles, and make good
use of cover). Interestingly, Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers make a
deep growl sound when killed, similar to that made by Replica Heavy
Armor.
Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers are quite common, and you'll
usually encounter two or three Heavy Weapons soldiers supporting a
squad of several standard Replica soldiers. Heavy Weapons soldiers
also appear alongside squads of Replica Elite soldiers later in the
game.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Like ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers, Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers
favor close-combat weaponry; in their case, automatic shotguns.
Replica automatic shotguns are slightly more accurate but also do
slightly less damage than the combat shotguns used by ATC,
although they are still quite deadly at close range, and can even kill
you in a single shot if you don't have any armor. As with ATC Heavy
Weapons soldiers, it's best to fight Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers
from long range to reduce the effectiveness of their automatic
shotguns.
They're quite tough, and it takes about 15 submachine gun shots or 8
assault rifle shots to kill one. It even takes 2 sniper rifle shots to the
chest to kill one, although a single sniper headshot is still lethal
against them. The armor-piercing Hammerhead automatic rifle is
effective against them, and can kill a Replica Heavy Weapons soldier
in just 5 shots (to compare, standard Replica soldiers go down after 4
Hammerhead shots).
In Mission 7: Top and Mission 12: Epicenter, a total of about 14 (7 per
mission) Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers will attack you with missile
launchers during the game's two Elite Power Armor driving
sequences. Their missile launchers can pose a moderate threat to
your Power Armor (especially on Hard), so you'll want to make killing
them a priority. They're very easy to spot due to their missile
launchers' green targeting laser.
EVALUATION:
Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers are one of the most durable standard
enemy soldiers in the game, just below Replica Elites in terms of
durability. Their shotguns also make them very dangerous at close
range. Fortunately, their reduced speed makes them easier to hit, and
they can still be brought down with a second or so of sustained
assault rifle fire.
=====
Replica Elite Soldier:
Appearance: Large Replica Soldier wearing olive-green suit of thick
metal plate armor. Wears a smooth metal faceplate with 6
electronic eyes.
Durability: 220%
Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
Replica Elites are large, heavily armored Replica soldiers that only
appear in the last few levels of the game. They wear a large suit of
armor plates that allows them to soak noticeably more damage than
standard enemy soldiers; they can survive more than twice as much
damage as a standard Replica soldier. Unlike Replica Heavy
Weapons soldiers, they appear unburdened by their armor's weight,
and can run and move at normal speed. Like standard Replica
soldiers, they are equipped with assault rifles and frag grenades.
Replica Elite soldiers first appear in the subway in Mission 11:
Keegan, and also appear throughout Mission 12: Epicenter, and
Mission 13: Approach. They replace the standard Replica soldiers as
your primary enemies throughout Mission 11 and Mission 12, and are
also fought alongside standard Replica soldiers in Mission 13.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Elites have significantly more health and armor than standard Replica
soldiers, and even Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers. It takes almost
half a clip of submachine gun or assault rifle fire to kill them (about 22
submachine gun shots, or 12 assault rifle shots). They can even
survive a direct hit from a frag grenade, although the blast will stagger
them, and they can be finished off with a few assault rifle shots. Like
Replica Heavy Weapons soldiers, they can take 2 sniper rifle shots to
the chest or limbs, although a sniper headshot will still kill them in one
hit. The armor-piercing Hammerhead automatic rifle kills them in just
7 shots.
EVALUATION:
Overall, Elites are tough and challenging opponents, yet they can still
be brought down with sustained automatic weapons fire (although
you'll probably use up half a clip of assault rifle fire just to kill ONE of
these guys). The armor-piercing Hammerhead rifle is especially
effective against them, although a couple seconds of assault rifle fire
will still bring them down. They can be quite dangerous though,
especially on Hard difficulty, due to their ability to kill you relatively
quickly with their assault rifles while being able to survive a decent
amount of damage from your own attacks. Proper use of cover is very
important when fighting them, and SloMo also makes things much
easier.
=====
Replica Sniper:
Appearance: Sniper wearing brownish-grey hooded combat poncho
and glowing red visor goggles.
Durability: 70%
Primary Weapon: Sniper Rifle
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
DESCRIPTION:
Replica Snipers are specialized enemies geared towards long range
combat and equipped with .50 BMG sniper rifles. They typically
appear in high-up sniper positions such as building windows or
balconies, and snipe at you with their sniper rifles. Snipers have very
little body armor, and have relatively low durability. However, they
have good accuracy and their sniper rifles do heavy damage and are
also armor-piercing, making them quite dangerous.
Replica Snipers actually only appear on 3 seperate occasions in the
entire game. 7 of them snipe at you from a variety of building windows
near the beginning of Mission 7: Top. 3 of them snipe at you from
overhead balconies as you make your way down the street at the
beginning of Mission 12: Epicenter. Finally, you'll fight a group of 8
Snipers in a major fight inside a large chamber at the end of Mission
13: Approach. Overall, there are a total of only about 18 Replica
Snipers in the entire game.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Notably, Replica Snipers won't simply stand in one spot shooting
at you, making themselves an easy target. Instead, they take cover,
pop out of cover to fire, and after each shot will often move to a
different piece of cover to snipe at you from a different position.
On the plus side, Replica Snipers have fairly low durability and can be
killed with just a few bullets from any weapon. It only takes 7
submachine gun shots, 4 assault rifle shots, or a single hit from your
own sniper rifle to kill one. Since they always attack you from extreme
long range, the sniper rifle is the best weapon to fight them with.
However, their high powered .50 BMG sniper rifles make them very
dangerous. Their sniper rifles do high damage and also have good
armor penetration, and a single hit will knock out a decent chunk of
both your armor and your health. On Normal difficulty, a Replica
Sniper can kill you in just 4 or 5 shots. On Hard (post-1.02 patch) a
single sniper hit can take you from full armor and health to almost
dead. They also have pretty good accuracy, although they do
sometimes miss a shot (especially if you're moving around a lot).
Fortunately, you have 3 major advantages when facing off against
Replica Snipers. First, their sniper rifles produce a highly visible red
laser beam that gives away their position and also lets you know
when they're aiming at you. Second, it takes them about a second to
sight out on you before they fire a shot, giving you time to fire back at
them before they can pull the trigger. And of course, your final major
advantage is your SloMo power, which significantly increases your
speed and reaction time and makes it much easier to counter-snipe
enemy Snipers.
EVALUATION:
Your best bet when facing off against enemy Snipers is to find a good
piece of cover, quickly pop out to spot their laser sight, then dodge
back into cover before they can shoot you. Prep your sniper rifle, aim
at the spot that you know them to be at, then pop out of cover and shoot
them before they can sight out on you and shoot you.
=====
Replica Heavy Armor Soldier:
Appearance: 6.5 foot tall Replica Soldier wearing bulky, olive-green
suit of thick metal armor plates. Has a metal facemask with
a single large yellow electronic eye, and a large metal
powerpack on back.
Durability: 900%
Primary Weapon: Hammerhead
Other Weapons: Laser
Missile Launcher
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
Frag Grenades
Incendiary Grenades
DESCRIPTION:
The Replica Heavy Armor soldier is a walking tank, capable of
absorbing several times as much damage as a standard Replica
soldier. They are slow but powerful; their heavy armor limits them to a
slow and steady walk, and they are incapable of running or leaning
around or over cover. A single Heavy Armor usually appears supporting a
group of several standard Replica soldiers. Notably, in addition to their
primary weapon, Heavy Armor soldiers can also throw frag grenades and even
incendiary grenades, although they rarely do so.
Replica Heavy Armor soldiers have received a graphical upgrade
from the original FEAR; instead of a simple suit of thick armor plates,
the new Heavy Armor soldiers look like they're wearing a crude
version of Iron Man Power Armor, including a large powerpack on
their backs which powers a pair of high-intensity shoulder-mounted
searchlights.
Heavy Armor soldiers actually don't appear until more than 3/5ths of
the way through the game. They first appear in Mission 9: Nurse's
Office, and make appearances in each of the following levels. There
are usually 2 or 3 Heavy Armor soldiers per level, and there are a
total of 13 of them in the entire game. Heavy Armor soldiers are often
encountered in twos, with the second Heavy Armor appearing soon
after the first is killed.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Heavy Armor soldiers have very high health and extremely high
armor, making them VERY durable; it takes a full clip and a half of
assault rifle fire to kill one. They even take 7 point-blank combat
shotgun blasts, 9 point-blank automatic shotgun blasts, or even 4
direct frag grenade hits to kill. However, armor-piercing weapons are
very effective against them; they can be killed with 17 Hammerhead
shots (or about 9 Hammerhead headshots), 5 sniper rifle shots (or 3
sniper rifle headshots), or about 28 units of Laser fire. Additionally,
you can kill them with 2 direct missile launcher hits or 2 proximity
mines.
They mostly slowly walk towards you while firing, although they do
occasionally sidestep into partial cover to fire at you from.
They're also not particularly aggressive, and will often eventually
stop in a single spot and fire at you from there, instead of trying
to continuing advancing forward right up into your face.
Like the original FEAR's Heavy Armor soldiers, who were mostly
equipped with HV Penetrators, the majority of Heavy Armor soldiers in
Project Origin are equipped with Hammerhead rifles (9 of them in
total). Hammerhead spikes are armor-piercing and inflict damage on
your armor as well as directly on your health. However, they're
not particularly damaging, and on Normal difficulty you can survive more
than 15 direct hits before dying. Additionally, Heavy Armor soldiers have
TERRIBLE aim with the Hammerhead, and at a distance of a few
dozen feet with only hit you with 2 or 3 shots out of a full clip of 25
Hammerhead spikes.
However, 3 Heavy Armor soldiers are equipped with the Laser
weapon (2 in the subway in Mission 11: Keegan, and 1 in the cinema
near the beginning of Mission 12: Epicenter). These guys are
extremely dangerous... not only do they have very good aim, but their
Laser completely ignores your armor and does direct damage to your
health. A Heavy Armor soldier equipped with a Laser can cut you in
half in less than a second of direct fire.
Finally, 1 Heavy Armor soldier appears equipped with a missile
launcher during the final shootout against the Replica army in Mission
14: Climax. Strangely, this particular Heavy Armor soldier is able to
run, but only in a pre-scripted path to his designated firing position.
The missile launcher is pretty dangerous, but fortunately you're
manning the Delta Force APC's turret gun during this sequence,
which deals heavy damage as well as reduces the damage you take
from enemy attacks.
EVALUATION:
Overall, Replica Heavy Armor soldiers can take a lot of damage, but
their poor aim and average attack damage using the Hammerhead
rifle seriously reduces the threat they pose. Armor-piercing weapons
such as the Hammerhead or the sniper rifle are very effective against
them, but you can also kill them with a couple clips of automatic
weapons fire. If you fire at them from long range and behind cover,
you should be able to eventually bring them down without too much
trouble. In fact, you're best off eliminating any standard Replica
soldiers accompanying the Heavy Armor beforing concentrating on
the Heavy Armor itself, as the Heavy's ability to damage you is
notably less than that of its standard Replica entourage.
The 3 Heavy Armor soldiers equipped with Lasers are much, much
more dangerous. These guys are easily capable of killing you in less
than a second. You're best off blasting them from behind good cover
using headshots from armor-piercing weaponry (i.e. the Hammerhead
or sniper rifle), assisting your aim and speed with SloMo if possible.
You can also cut them down with your own Laser while firing from cover.
Alternatively, you can toss a shock grenade or even a frag grenade at
them to stun them for a couple seconds, giving you time to shoot
them without being shot at. Note that the first Laser Heavy Armor
soldier you meet can be electrocuted by switching the power to the
subway tracks back on.
=====
Replica Assassin:
Appearance: Ninja wearing moderate metal plates over black spy suit.
Has a black face mask with an exposed skin-less mouth,
glowing red goggles and power pack on back.
Durability: 180%
Primary Weapon: Shock Fist
Other Attacks: Leap Attack
DESCRIPTION:
These cool ninja-like stealth soldiers from the original FEAR reappear
in Project Origin with a retooled appearance and combat abilities.
Replica Assassins in Project Origin are fairly similar to those from the
original FEAR, although their black masks now show their exposed,
skinless, teeth-filled mouths, and they now make cockroach-like
hissing sounds. As in the original FEAR, Assassins are fast and agile
opponents who are equipped with cloaking devices and strike with
melee attacks. They have good health and armor (more than even a
Replica Heavy Weapons soldier) and can survive close to twice as
much damage as a standard Replica soldier (requiring 9 assault rifle
shots or 18 submachine gun shots to bring down).
Assassins are slightly more plentiful than they were in the original
FEAR, although you'll still only be facing them sparingly throughout
the game. They are only encountered in 3 of the game's levels, and
you'll face a total of about 25 of them. You fight 6 assassins in a mini-
boss-like battle at the end of Mission 10: Snake Fist, 7 near the
beginning of Mission 11: Keegan, and around 12 in Mission 13:
Approach (most of whom attack you in a huge underground
machinery room full of catwalks and moving lifts).
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Assassins are extremely agile, and can cling to walls, leap more than
a dozen feet to climb up to a higher level, and also leap across huge
gaps from one platform to another. They are constantly running
around, making them very fast, although not superhumanly so
(Assassins in Project Origin seem slightly slower than those in the
original FEAR, although they're still very quick). Assassins will also
roll sideways when shot at to attempt to dodge your gunfire.
Assassins attack with melee strikes, using hit-and-run tactics. They
use their cloaking device's invisibility to run up to you, strike you, then
run away and hide for a few seconds before beginning another attack
run on you.
In Project Origin, Assassins are now equipped with a "shock fist"
glove that allows them to deal additional electrical damage
in addition to their basic melee punch. Their attacks are quite
powerful, and can take out your armor in just 4 hits and deplete your
health in 3 or 4 additional hits. Assassins also have a new attack
where they leap at you from more than a dozen feet away and strike
you on impact. Their new leap attack can catch you by surprise and
lets them strike you even if they're not yet in punching range.
Although Assassins have their cloaking device activated most of the
time, they do decloak just a second before striking you. Being shot
also disrupts their cloak and makes them visible for a few seconds.
Notably, the Assassin's cloaking device seems less effective and
easier to spot than it was in the original FEAR, as instead of a very
subtle Predator-like distortion effect, the cloak now constantly emits a
bright bloom of light (appearing sort of like a glowing, transluscent,
man-shaped cloud of gas) that is relatively easy to notice if you know
what to look for. Additionally, the cloak will periodically emit a bright
rainbow-colored burst of light, giving away the Assassin's position.
EVALUATION:
Overall, Assassins are still cool enemies that can catch you by
surprise and do good damage, but they are now noticeably more
visible when cloaked than in the original FEAR, making them
somewhat easier to fight. SloMo cancels out their speed advantage
and also makes them easier to spot, which makes mowing them down
with the assault rifle or automatic shotgun that much simpler. You can
even mow them down with your assault rifle at medium-long range
even without using SloMo, as long as you keep an eye open for their
cloak's distinct bright bloom and open fire whenever you see it. Their
leap attack is kind of annoying, as it lets them quickly leap and strike
at you from more than a dozen feet away, but fortunately they don't
always use it.
Kick attacks are also quite effective against Assassins, and they can
be killed with a single slide kick before being able to reach and hit you
(they can still occasionally hit you by using their leap attack on you in
the middle of a slide kick, though).
=====
Power Armor:
Appearance: 10-foot tall mech suit with a round egg-shaped body and
miniguns for arms.
Durability: 3700%
Primary Weapon: Dual Miniguns
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
DESCRIPTION:
Similar in appearance to the original REV6 Power Armor from
F.E.A.R., Project Origin's Power Armor is taller, equipped with twin
miniguns instead of twin mini-missile launchers, and also possesses a
bubble-like blue energy shield. Thanks to the energy shield, the new
Power Armor is more than twice as durable as the Power Armor seen in
the original game. On the plus side, the new Power Armor is also
somewhat slower than the original REV6 Power Armor, and moves
only slightly faster than the slow walk used by the Replica Heavy
Armor soldiers.
There are a total of 9 Power Armor units in the game. One is fought
as a sort of boss battle in a large warehouse room at the end Mission
5: Replica. Likewise, one is fought in the school courtyard in Mission
8: Elementary. The rest appear during the game's two Elite Power
Armor driving sequences, where they should be easily destroyed with
3 seconds of sustained minigun fire from your own Elite Power Armor
unit.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
Power Armor units are equipped with dual miniguns, which can
quickly rip apart your armor and health if you stand in their direct line
of fire. Good use of cover is especially important while fighting them.
Although each individual minigun bullet isn't any more powerful than a
standard assault rifle or submachine gun round, their extremely high
rate of fire makes them very dangerous. Power Armor fires in
prolonged bursts of minigun fire, but there is a very short delay
between bursts, giving you an opportunity to pop out of cover and
shoot the Power Armor.
Power Armor is extremely durable against small arms fire; it takes
about 6 full clips of assault rifle fire to kill one (about 2.5 clips to take
out the energy shield, and the rest to destroy the Power Armor itself).
The Power Armor also takes about 32 combat shotgun blasts to kill
(13 shots to take down the shield, the rest to destroy the Power
Armor). The Power Armor's energy shield also protects it from most
armor-piercing projectiles, such as the Hammerhead's spikes.
Interestingly, Power Armor units are vulnerable to the Laser, which
passes right through the energy shield and damages the Power
Armor unit directly (it takes only about 50 units of charge, half a clip of
Laser fire, to blow up a Power Armor). Unfortunately, the Laser isn't
available for the two times you're forced to fight a Power Armor on
foot.
EVALUATION (First Power Armor Boss Battle):
In your first battle against a Power Armor unit at the end of Mission 5:
Replica, you won't have access to a missile launcher or other heavy
weapons, being limited to small arms fire and grenades. You'll just
have to shoot it with your assault rifle or shotgun until it explodes,
while using the crates and pillars in the room as cover to hide from the
Power Armor's miniguns. Fortunately, there are a number of exploits
that can make this battle easier. First, if the Power Armor passes next
to an electrical box, you can shoot the electrical box to electrocute the
Power Armor, stunning it for a couple seconds and giving you time to
blast it freely. You can also use Shock Grenades to stun the Power
Armor (there are many Shock Grenade pickups, as well as armor and
health pickups, scattered around the large warehouse room you fight
the Power Armor in). SloMo makes fighting the Power Armor easier,
as you can move faster and inflict more damage, and it'll be easier to
avoid the Power Armor's minigun-fire.
Finally, the Power Armor's minigun's are located relatively low on its
body. Try to get to an elevated position behind a low crate so that only
the top of the Power Armor is visible. That way, you'll have line of
sight on the top of the Power Armor and can shoot it, but the Power
Armor's minigun's won't have a line of sight on you (due to being
blocked by the lower portion of the crate) and thus won't be able to
shoot back at you.
EVALUATION (Second Power Armor Boss Battle):
The second Power Armor fight in Mission 8: Elementary is much,
much easier, as you'll be able to pick up a Missile Launcher just prior
to the fight. Just pop out of cover, shoot the Power Armor with a
missile, then dodge back behind cover to avoid its counter-attack. It
should only take 5 direct missile hits to destroy the Power Armor (only
3 missiles if you stun the Power Armor with a shock grenade first).
SloMo makes the fight even easier by giving you more time to aim at
the Power Armor as well as making you move faster to dodge its
attack.
=====
Elite Power Armor:
Appearance: 15-foot tall bipedal mech robot with boxy body, large
shoulders, and miniguns for arms.
Durability: ~ 7800%
Primary Weapon: Dual Miniguns
Other Attacks: Quad Rocket Launcher
DESCRIPTION:
The regular Power Armor's bigger, meaner brother, Elite Power Armor
doesn't so much look like a robot suit, and looks more like a full-out
Battle Mech that escaped from MechWarrior or BattleTech. The Elite
Power Armor unit features heavier armor and a more powerful energy
shield than the standard version, allowing it to survive more than twice
as much damage from most standard weapons as the regular Power
Armor (making it by far the most powerful enemy unit in the game).
Also, in addition to the twin miniguns, the Elite Power Armor is also
equipped with a pair of shoulder-mounted rocket pods that launch a
salvo of 4 drunken rockets at a time.
In addition to the 2 Elite Power Armor units you get to pilot, there are
only 3 enemy Elite Power Armor units in the entire game. Two are
encountered back-to-back at the very end of Mission 6: Ruin (one is
destroyed by ATC BlackOps Heavy Weapons soldiers armed with
Missile Launchers, the other is fought by you after it kills the
aforementioned Missile Launcher-equipped soldiers). The 3rd and
final Elite Power Armor appears at the end of the second Elite Power
Armor driving sequence in Mission 12: Epicenter, and you fight it with
your own Elite Power Armor.
EQUIPMENT AND ATTRIBUTES:
The Elite Power Armor's twin miniguns are quite damaging, and good
use of cover is required to avoid them. Also, the Elite Power Armor's
rocket attack is EXTREMELY dangerous; even the splash damage
from a single indirect rocket hit will kill you instantly even at full health
and armor. Fortunately, the Elite Power Armor uses its rocket attack
very infrequently, although you should always be hiding behind large,
heavy cover just in case.
Additionally, the Elite Power Armor's durability is extreme, more than
twice that of the standard Power Armor; it takes about 13 clips of
assault rifle fire (almost 400 bullets), or about 67 combat shotgun
blasts, to bring one down (5 assault rifle clips or 26 combat shotgun
blasts to bring down the energy shield, and the rest to destroy the
Elite Power Armor itself). Elite Power Armor is, however, vulnerable to
the Missile Launcher (which does high damage and has good armor-
piercing ability) as well as the Laser (which ignores the Elite Power
Armor's energy shield and also has very good armor-piercing ability).
It only takes 7 or 8 missile launcher shots, or about 150 units of Laser
charge, to destroy an Elite Power Armor.
EVALUATION:
On the plus side, neither of the game's Elite Power Armor fights are
particularly difficult. In your first fight against an Elite Power Armor unit
at the end of Mission 6: Ruin, you'll have access to a Missile
Launcher. In between the Elite Power Armor's bursts of minigun fire,
pop out of cover and shoot it with a missile. It should only take 7 or 8
missile hits to destroy the Elite Power Armor. You can also shoot the
electrical transformers overhead to create a large burst of electricity
that will stun the Elite Power Armor for a few seconds, or toss a
Shock Grenade to stun the Elite Power Armor for a couple seconds.
Finally, the ATC Heavy Weapons soldiers armed with Missile
Launchers may distract the Elite Power Armor for you, letting you
shoot it in the back while it's busy fighting them.
In the second Elite Power Armor fight, you'll be driving an Elite Power
Armor of your own, and should be able to destroy the enemy Elite
Power Armor with several seconds of sustained minigun fire (the
enemy Elite Power Armor should explode before your own miniguns
overheat; if it doesn't, a salvo of rockets should finish it off).
===========
=Monsters:=
===============================================================================
- In addition to the ATC BlackOps and Replica soldiers, you also
encounter an assortment of supernatural and monsterous enemies
throughout the game. Abominations are insane sub-human creatures
created as a product of ATC's experiments, whereas Specters and
Remnants are supernatural foes produced by Alma's influence
over the city. Encounters with these enemies appear periodically
between firefights against ATC BlackOps or Replica soldiers to
add variety to the gameplay.
Specter:
Appearance: Emaciated, transparent, flickering ghostly man in suit,
emitting bright yellow glow.
Durability: 10%
Primary Weapon: Specter Attack
Other Attacks: N/A
DESCRIPTION:
These ghostly enemies replace the Nightmares from the original
F.E.A.R. as your main supernatural threat, and exhibit an extremely
similar attack pattern. Specters basically float towards you at above
average speed, and will collide with you, causing them to burst while
doing damage to you. Specters completely ignore your armor with
their attack, and do direct damage to your health. Fortunately, they do
below-average damage, and you can survive more than a dozen hits
from them.
Specters first appear in Mission 6: Ruin, and also make appearances
in Mission 8: Elementary, Mission 9: Nurse's Office, and Mission 11:
Keegan. They are mostly encountered during supernatural scare
sequences (some of which take place in total darkness, illuminated
only by your flashlight and the Specters' glow). You'll usually have to
deal with several at a time.
BEHAVIOR AND ATTRIBUTES:
Many Specters charge you from a distance, or can even be spotted at
long range standing in one spot with their back to you until you get
close to them. However, some can seriously surprise you, since they
can appear behind you, or actually come out of the wall just a few feet
in front of you. Specters can also pass straight through objects such
as walls or shelves to get to you.
Fortunately, Specters are extremely weak, and can be dispelled
with a single shot from any weapon. However, they still pose some
threat since they move quite quickly, can occasional get the jump
on you by phasing out of a wall of object just a few feet in front of
you, and are often encountered several at a time.
EVALUATION:
Automatic weapons such as the submachine gun or assault rifle work well
against them; just blast them as soon as you see them coming. On Easy or
Normal difficulty, you can actually just quickly run through the
Specter-infested area, as you'll manage to escape before taking enough
Specter hits to kill you. This isn't advisable on Hard difficulty, though,
as Specters can kill you in a handful of hits on Hard.
Note that only the brightly glowing yellow Specters are dangerous to
you. On a few occasions (mostly in the subway in Mission 11: Keegan
and the blast epicenter in Mission 12: Epicenter) you'll encounter
transparent, white ghosts. These ghosts are completely harmless and
will simply vanish once you approach them.
=====
Abomination:
Appearance: Emaciated, animalistic patient wearing pants and
hospital bandages.
Durability: 100%
Primary Weapon: Melee Attack
Other Attacks: Tackle (quicktime event)
DESCRIPTION:
These freakish, animalistic, and insane creatures are failed Project
Harbinger test subjects, humans whose higher brain functions have
been destroyed by experimental attempts to elevate their psychic
abilities. They are typically encountered in ATC medical facilities,
having escaped from their ceils in the ensuing chaos of the day's
events.
Abominations are mostly encountered in Mission 3: Discovery,
Mission 5: Replica, and Mission 10: Snake Fist, where you'll face
several in a single area. A single Abomination also attacks you near
the beginning of Mission 4: Withdrawal.
BEHAVIOR AND ATTRIBUTES:
Abominations are very fast and agile, moving at high speed while also
being able to leap up on and crawl around on walls and ceilings, leap
up more than a dozen feet to reach a higher level, balance on railings,
and leap across large gaps from one platform to another. They crawl
around on all fours, but move very quickly and can often reach and
attack you before you know it. Abominations are good at ambushes,
especially in the dark, and can often pull off moves like leaping on the
ceiling, crawling behind you, then dropping down and striking you
from behind by surprise.
Unlike Replica Assassins, who use hit-and-run tactics, Abominations
charge you and attack with a rapid series of melee strikes that can
quickly rip away your armor and health, and also knocks your view
around, potentially confusing your aim. Their attacks do decent
damage and can destroy your armor in just 5 or 6 hits. They also hit
you several times in a row in rapid succession, unlike Assassins who
simply strike once then run away.
Abominations can also leap on you from several feet away, knocking
you to the ground while they straddle and punch you. When this
happens, you need to quickly mash the melee button to punch them off
you.
Fortunately, Abominations have standard durability, and can be
killed with about 10 submachine gun shots, 5 assault rifle shots,
or a single combat shotgun blast.
You can usually tell an Abomination is nearby by the heavy panting
noises they make. This sound is helpful in tracking their position,
especially in the dark where they can hide on walls or ceilings to
sneak around you.
EVALUATION:
Abominations can be pretty harrowing to fight without using SloMo,
especially in close quarters. If you can spot them coming you can
mow them down with a burst of assault rifle fire or a shotgun blast
before they get close, but things can get tricky if they do manage to
get up to you and start wailing on you. Even slide kicks aren't
completely foolproof against them, as they can often manage to strike
you once in the middle of your slide before you collide with them and
kill them. With SloMo, however, their speed and surprise advantage is
significantly removed, and you can mow them down much easier.
=====
Remnant:
Appearance: Bulging, mutated, zombie-like human surrounded by
psychic red "strings".
Durability: 1000%
Primary Weapon: Melee Attack
Other Attacks: Scream
DESCRIPTION:
Remnants are human civilians who have been mutated by exposure
to Alma's psychic power, transforming them into powerful monsters.
When first encountered, Remnants are seen acting out the last
moments of their human lives, but will quickly notice you and attack
you viciously. There are only 3 Remnants in the entire game, and
each serves as a sort of boss battle. The first Remnant is a
businessman waving down a (destroyed) taxi in Mission 6: Ruin. The
second Remnant is a music teacher plinking at a piano in the school's
music classroom in Mission 8: Elementary. The final Remnant is the
school's Principal, who is fought in the admin office area near the end
of Mission 9: Nurse's Office.
BEHAVIOR AND ATTRIBUTES:
The Remnant's main attack is its ability to revive and control nearby
corpses (who are all invariably dead ATC soldiers) by manipulating
them like puppets with red psychic "strings" that connect from the
Remnant to the animated corpse. The Remnant usually only revives
one or two corpses at a time, but it can have several active corpses
walking around at once if you don't kill them as they revive. The
Remnant revives corpses with a loud psychic "scream"; additionally,
this scream can mess up your vision for a few seconds if you're
standing within several feet of the Remnant.
In addition to controlling corpses, the Remnant can also run up to you
and smash you with a melee attack, although it usually only does this
if you get close to it.
Remnants are very tough, they have boss-level health and can
survive quite a lot of damage before dying. It takes about 2 full clips of
submachine gun fire (about 100 bullets), almost 2 clips of assault rifle
fire (about 50 shots) or 11 point-blank combat shotgun blasts to kill
one. If you have a missile launcher leftover from a previous level, a
Remnant can be taken out with 3 direct missile hits (although SloMo
is usually needed to hit them with a missile, since they're a constantly
moving target).
All 3 Remnants are fought in large, maze-like areas, with the
Remnant spending most of its time running away from you while
occasionally pausing to scream and revive 1 or 2 corpses.
EVALUATION:
Killing the Remnant is simply a matter of chasing after it while
blasting it with your assault rifle or shotgun. The Remnant can take
a lot of hits, so patience is needed. The Remnant's scream will cause
your vision to white out for a couple seconds if you're close to it,
just continue blasting at the Remnant's last known position, as it doesn't
move or change position while screaming. If possible, pause to quickly mow
down any revived corpses that get in your way so they don't add up
and gang up on you. As with all combat, SloMo makes things easier,
but isn't absolutely necessary. Once the Remnant is destroyed, it and
any corpses it has revived will explode into ash.
=====
Remnant Puppet:
Appearance: Animated corpse of an ATC BlackOps soldier, covered
in ash.
Durability: 50%
Primary Weapon: Submachine Gun
Other Attacks: Melee Attack
DESCRIPTION:
The areas in which you fight each Remnant are scattered with several
dead ATC BlackOps soldiers, whose corpses the Remnant will revive
and control. Remnant Puppets move in a floppy, puppet-like manner,
and will lurch towards you while firing their submachine guns at you. If
they lose their submachine guns, Remnant Puppets will either pull out
a pistol and continue firing at you, or lurch towards you and strike you
with melee attacks. Fortunately, they fire their weapons one-handed,
and have fairly poor aim.
EVALUATION:
Remnant puppets are very weak, and can be killed with just 5
submachine gun shots, 3 assault rifle shots, 2 pistol shots, or a single
shotgun blast. Overall, they mostly just serve to distract you from
chasing down and killing the Remnant, although you should kill them
as they appear, as they can become dangerous if several of them are
active and chasing you down.
============
=Final Boss=
===============================================================================
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
*****WARNING: SPOILERS!*****
Sergeant Keegan:
Appearance: Twisted Delta Force soldier with mummified skin and
empty eyesockets.
Durability: 50%
Primary Weapon: Assault Rifle
Other Attacks: N/A
DESCRIPTION:
The game's "final battle" takes place inside Alma's mind, inside a
circular crater with a tree in the middle. Your final opponent is Sgt.
Keegan, who has been assimilated by Alma and transformed into a
psychotic and hostile apparition.
Keegan is armed with an assault rifle and possesses a superior version
of your own SloMo power, allowing him to run across the battlefield
at incredible superhuman speeds (for comparision, your SloMo slows
time by a factor of about 5x while only increasing your speed by a
factor of about 2x. Keegan's SlowMo increases his speed by a factor
of about 5x). He does stop and stand still whenever he shoots at you,
giving you a brief opening to shoot back.
Keegan has very low durability, and can be dispelled with a quick
burst of just 3 assault rifle shots. However, in addition to his SloMo
power, he also apparently has the ability to clone himself, and as the
battle progresses you'll end up fighting multiple Keegans at the same
time. Fortunately, Keegan's appearances are all pre-scripted, each
Keegan appears only after you cross a certain point on the battlefield,
and once killed, no new Keegans will appear until you actually move
further ahead.
You can use your own SloMo power to cancel out Keegan's, although
even with your SloMo active Keegan will be running around at normal
speed. This battle is very difficult to near impossible to finish without
using SloMo, especially in the third phase where you'll be attacked by
several Keegans at once.
THE FINAL BATTLE:
The final battle takes place in 3 different "phases". Fortunately, your
health and armor are restored to full at the beginning of each phase,
which is very important because Keegan can rapidly drain your armor
and health using SloMo and his assault rifle. At beginning of each
phase, you're dropped off at one end of the circular battlefield, and
your goal is to make your way to the opposite end of the battlefield
and activate the Telesthetic Amplifier console there.
PHASE I:
The first phase is fairly easy; Keegan mostly attacks you one at a
time, and is relatively easy to kill using SloMo and/or firing from
behind the limited cover available. Keegan appears a total of about 4
times in this phase. Note that you should stop and kill Keegan each
time he appears, as simply rushing the console will cause all 4
Keegans to appear and attack you at once.
PHASE II:
In the second phase, the crater is littered with debris which forms a
semi-maze, and you'll be attacked by 2 or 3 Keegans at the same
time. What you need to do is run through the doorway on your left to
make it to the console. On your way, you should stop, take cover, and
use SloMo whenever a couple Keegans appear to attack you. In this
phase you'll have to deal with about 5 Keegans, who mostly appear
from the direction of the area near the console itself.
PHASE III:
In the third, final, and most difficult phase, you'll be attacked by
several Keegans at the same time (you fight a total of about 7
Keegans in this phase). The tree at the center has been transformed
into a sphere floating over a large circular pit (a mental representation
of the Telesthetic Amplifier itself), and you'll need to take either the left
path or the right path around the pit to reach the console on the other
side. Personally, I found the left path offers much better cover than
the right one, which definitely improves your odds against the super-
fast, multiple Keegans. Advance slowly from cover to cover while
blasting the Keegans as they come.
With SloMo, this should be slightly challenging, but not too bad. Without
SloMo, this can be a nightmare, especially on Hard difficulty. I personally
managed to finish this part on Hard without SloMo by using Proximity Mines
and the Pulse Weapon to clear a path, using knowledge of the exact spots the
Keegans would appear based on multiple previous failed attempts.
After activating the console 3 times, you'll face a final quick-time event
against Keegan (mash the melee button, then the fire button when
prompted) and then witness the (rather bizarre) ending/obvious-set-
up-for-a-sequel to the game.
END OF TEXT
Copyright 2009 Alan Chan
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