fear effect : inferno

[chang0]

i wonder if this beta is out there? .. or it is as rare as biohazard 1.5 too

[GunPanther]

Here's some info on it.


Apparently, due to the mediocre sales of the 2nd Fear Effect game, it was inevitable that the fledgling Eidos Interactive drop development on the title before completion.

I believe it was cancelled sometime in 2004 and there are no plans for it to be completed, let alone released for that matter.

I can tell you this; it was nearing completion.


Sometime in late 2003, I was part of a Video Game Focus Group held at the Eidos Interactive Offices here in San Francisco. The game I ended up playtesting was "Fear Effect: Inferno" for the PS2.

I had been there numerous times to playtest games such as "Hitman 2", "Commandos 3", "Backyard Wrestling 2" and "Fear Effect: Inferno", until I stopped hearing from the focus group coordinator, probably because Eidos could no longer afford to keep doing focus groups.

The version of Fear Effect: Inferno was playable but was extremely frustrating to play due to the bad camera angles as well as the confusing control scheme.

In the level I was playing, you took control of this male character who had some hand to hand fighting ability in the tradition of the "Fighting Force" game series.

Enemies would randomly spawn out of thin air and attack accordingly. They were all easily dispatched and that left me to explore the rest of the area.

Overall, it looked like it was going to be a 'throwaway' type of game, especially since they claimed that the version we were playtesting was 'almost complete' as the group coordinator had stated.

Believe me, there were many things that needed to be worked on in order for that game to have been a success in any way. You didn't miss much. Trust me on that.




GunPanther

[Queen Of The Felines]

Yeah, but were there gonna be lesbians in it again?

Kristine

[bargora]

Yeah, but were there gonna be lesbians in it again?

Kristine

Yes. Demon lesbians. It was to be the video game debut of the dreaded succumuff.

Kid Fenris said there was gonna be fursuits, too, but I never know when he's being serious.

[Tachikoma]

Yeah, but were there gonna be lesbians in it again?

Kristine

I remember a lot of people making such a big fuss about that being in Retro Helix. I think eidos just added it in as selling point.

[pragmatic insanester]

retro helix seriously sold bad?
i figured the collapse of the third title to be the work of "tomb raider, all-attentive devouring whore vacuum idol". <3 project eden too.

[Kid Fenris]

Retro Helix came out during the post-December deadtime of 2001, when the recently-released PlayStation 2 was dominating the news. I'd be surprised if any PSone games sold well during that period.

I'd like to play Inferno. The Fear Effect games were frustrating, but there was something fun about their exploitive, pulpy atmosphere, like a Hong Kong action anime directed by Ralph Bakshi.

Yeah, but were there gonna be lesbians in it again?

Kristine

Yes. Demon lesbians. It was to be the video game debut of the dreaded succumuff.

Kid Fenris said there was gonna be fursuits, too, but I never know when he's being serious.

You may take your filthy lies and return to Furryville from whence you most certainly came, sir.

And it was demon lesbian NURSES, if I'm not mistaken.

[bargora]

Furryville appears to be quite cute! I shall take my lies there immediately!

[GunPanther]

Yeah, but were there gonna be lesbians in it again?

Kristine

Yes. Supposedly, the 2 female characters from the 2nd game were supposed to be playable on later levels, although there was a 'profile' subscreen (when you paused the game action using the select button) that gave a little bit of information about the female characters.

In the level I was playing, there was a cut scene where the male character gets stuck near a door he can't open and then the brunette haired femme comes around 'just in time' to help him 'hack' the door lock code.

The character models for the female characters were of course, nice to look at, especially since they had on skintight catsuits in black or red but their overall design was just un-appealing in terms of the way they were rendered.

The graphics for the characters seriously looked like they belonged in some sort of 1st generation Dreamcast action title like "Blue Stinger". Low detailed character models, but smooth animation.

I'll also point out that they didn't look 'cel-shaded' either, but more along the lines of the 'blocky polygon' look from the previous Fear Effect games, just a little smoother around the edges.

Eidos was probably producing this game in an effort to try and have the Fear Effect franchise make it's (hopefully) triumphant leap onto the next gen home consoles. Unfortunately for Eidos, we all know what they did next. :/


I guess Eidos should just take a break and figure out how to make their games fun and innovative once again.


Honestly, I thought that some franchises, such as the "Syphon Filter" series were never going to have sequels made. Luckily, the Syphon Filter series made a great jump onto the next gen PS2 console. (and yes, they ARE making yet another sequel to "Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain". How do I know? I play-tested a NEW level for it in Summer of 2004)




GunPanther