X-bit labs

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point Performance Preview

Category: Video

by Anton Shilov , Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 10/18/2006 | 09:28 PM ]

F.E.A.R. game has been one of the most technologically advanced games for about a year now. But in addition to being a technology masterpiece, F.E.A.R. is an amazing psychological thriller, which is why it quickly became popular. Today we are taking a look at an add-on for F.E.A.R. called Extraction Point in order to share our experience and recommend the best graphics hardware for the upcoming game.

Table of contents:

• F.E.A.R. Extraction Point Demo Experience
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Premium Graphics Cards
  
• High-End Graphics Cards
  
• Performance-Mainstream Graphics Cards
  
• Mainstream Graphics Cards
  
• Entry-Level Graphics Cards
  
• Quality or Quantity: Both, Please!
  
• Conclusion
  

Those, who have come a long way from dark and monotonous rooms of Prince of Persia and Zeliard of the early nineties down to the shiny beaches of Far Cry, hardly can be impressed with anything like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Moreover, it is hardly likely that they would be scared from street clashes of the Half-Life 2 or impressed by the realism of similar clashes of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter not because the games lack something, but because they are not tailored to being realistic due to technical or other reasons. But there is an amazing way to add realism and immersion without adding too many details – like shot off body parts of Soldier of Fortune – to catch the imagination of the gamer and make him scare himself.

You don’t need to cry if you want to be heard. You do not need to demonstrate what is about to happen next to show off what will happen next; all you have to do is to make the viewer imagine the trace of what is going to occur. This could be done by showing off the start and the bloody finish, predeceased by scary sounds and followed by the absolute silence. Well, that’s what the director of The Ring motion picture, as well as producers of F.E.A.R. and Condemned: Criminal Origins video games have managed to do very well: to create frightening psychological thrillers that are more or less politically correct.

The new F.E.A.R. Extraction Point continues the traditions of the original F.E.A.R. and adds a few new graphics effects, which are, apparently, pretty much performance demanding. This article will briefly explain the differences between the good old F.E.A.R. and its improved version as well as reveal the requirements of the game when it comes to graphics hardware.