Quake4/FEAR (MP)

[FatherJack]

Had a bit of a go at both, and there's not a lot to say beyond the obvious, really. All currently available modes are basically frag-fests, expect little strategy or depth - there's nothing here to satisfy hardcore CS:S or BeeF2 fans.

FEAR's a new game, with a much-touted superior graphics engine, which you'll effectively want to switch off in order to get maximum FPS online - showing bullet cases are an option, FFS - how is that going to assist your frag count? Does have separate options for off/online play -> smart marks!

Quake 4 has been there before, sort-of-recently in the shape of Quake 3 - obviously UT2004's been out since then so they've equalled if not excelled in "shiny-ness" - although not quite as in-your-face as SP.

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Levels:
Q4 has some nice-looking MP levels - they all have a very Q3 feel to them (Longest Yard and Xaero Gravity are Q3 levels, after all). You get the feeling they've been extensively playtested - they have good flow and numerous routes available - although the spawn points suffer from the age-old Quake problem of being close to choke-points. The CTF levels are a little convoluted, but still a bit linear - so flag-pursuers don't get much of a chance to reclaim a stolen flag.
The levels give more than a nod to the past, daring to be utterly different to the SP game - having bounce and boost pads, acknowledging that MP is a whole 'nother animal to SP.

FEAR's MP levels are almost the opposite. They remain steadfastly rigid to the theme of the SP game, perhaps in some mistaken belief that this will add quirky appeal, or appeal to hardcore SP'ers. The levels are dull in the extreme, mostly concrete or plasterboard - and have dead-ends, which while useful for ducking into in SP, totally break the flow in MP. They make a kind of sense if one was designing a real building, in that "more than two ways in" is unnecessary, but I've seen the "real world" levels done way better in AHL, CS, Devastation and HL2..

Gameplay:
Much the same as each other: close-quarters chaos - with not much time to think. Q4 has some open levels, but no-one seems to be playing them, FEAR rewards head-shot accuaracy more obviously, in addition to having an "aim-down-the-sight" mode. Q4 is so Q3 it's almost not real - where the big fat weapon-change icons in SP were a jarring reminder, in MP it just feels familiar.

Gimmicks/Game Modes:
FEAR has this slo-mo thing. There's a slo-mo recharger locatable via the HUD, whoever has it can "do the slo-mo" just like SP, and the current holder is shown on the HUD, too. It slows everybody down, so there's no real benefit, other than that the holder knows when it's about to be activated. (Only based on my experience, may not be correct.)

Q4 has a Tourney mode, but basically it's DM with a queue, effectively really similar to elimination.

Depth/Strategy:
WTF? There is none! They make HL2DM with the grav gun seem like a tactical simulation. In FEAR, you have more options - a grenade, and an aim mode, but in Q4 jumping like a bunny whilst pumping out rockets seems to be the order of the day. As ever.

Hopefully this is of some use to someone, I can't say which is the "better" game, as they both have things that appeal to different sides of me, depending on my mood.

Edit: Only 500-odd words, soz.

[cashy]

FEAR has this slo-mo thing. There's a slo-mo recharger locatable via the HUD, whoever has it can "do the slo-mo" just like SP, and the current holder is shown on the HUD, too. It slows everybody down, so there's no real benefit, other than that the holder knows when it's about to be activated. (Only based on my experience, may not be correct.)

what ever player/team holds this moves (and probably shoots) twice as fast as everybody else, making it a handy gizmo to have. and pretty dam fun either way.

one other point worth mentioning is the 10mm auto crossbow gun thing with hardly any recoil, its a noobs delight and half the servers are filled purely with people using this. real shame, the pistols are fun as long as you dont get noobed by that first. hopefully they will fix the pizzow factor in an update or sumit

you pretty much hit the nail on the head with fear, not sure about Q4 but meh.

[Woo Elephant Yeah]

Thanks for that, it's made my mind up, and I'm ordering Quake 4

[mrbobbins]

Thanks for that, it's made my mind up, and I'm ordering Quake 4

This is my plan too, found FEAR on the floor so I can play the SP game, will purchase Quake 4 for multiplayer as I quite liked Q3 online.

[Joose]

Apparently there is a floorware version of teh fear that can be played online. Havent tried it, so I cant verify it.
Havent picked it up yet.
Not sure I can be arsed.