Favorite FPS Supernatural Spec Ops games? - Fighting fanged spooks with guns.

[Michael Wade]

So TREPANG 2 released and it looks fucking awesome. Basically the F.E.A.R sequel I always wanted

I am a massive sucker for this kind of genre and I was wondering what else was out there like it. There's excellent stuff like F.E.A.R and underhell paired among delightful crap like Clive barkers Jericho. Id love to hear some favorites.

 

[JesusChristDenton]

Thanks for reminding me that I really should finish the first FEAR.

As for favorites, I don't really have any but there's a SCP Containment Breach mod that lets you play as an MTF member, it's been in development for a few years now but you can access an early access version on steam.

 

[Michael Wade]

Thanks for reminding me that I really should finish the first FEAR.

As for favorites, I don't really have any but there's a SCP Containment Breach mod that lets you play as an MTF member, it's been in development for a few years now but you can access an early access version on steam.

Vanilla F.E.A.R is good But 2 is the best of the franchise. And one's expansion packs are no slouch either.

3 is.... A decent enough conclusion to the story, but not that great in terms of scares. They put too much into a call of duty level up system for a horror game.

 

[The Bovinian Derivative]

3 is.... A decent enough conclusion to the story, but not that great in terms of scares. They put too much into a call of duty level up systsem for a horror game.

I have no idea what they were thinking with that "competitive" 2 player co-op game mode for the campaign where you had to out-score the other guy, such a jarring game design concept. Not that it did anything when you played alone.

 

[Michael Wade]

I have no idea what they were thinking with that "competitive" 2 player co-op game mode for the campaign where you had to out-score the other guy, such a jarring game design concept. Not that it did anything when you played alone.

Co op very rarely translates into decent horror. Also It didn't help it was being made by a C team that only handled the ports for F.E.A.R 1.

 

[Mr.Miyagi]

FEAR is one of my all-time favorites, and I usually make it a habit to go back and play it every October, along with the expansions. Even though the graphics are a bit technically dated, the gameplay and atmosphere still hold up well. I still get annoyed at the beginning when Fettel smacks your "superhuman reflexes" Pointman with a 2x4, like it's Condemned: Criminal Origins. Actually, that's another supernatural-ish game I still love.
In the age of remakes and remasters, I'm surprised FEAR hasn't been dragged out of the grave, but maybe it's licensing issues, or FEAR 3's sales just soured corporate interests. I don't know much about the series' state nowadays.
I played the Trepang2 demo last year (and the more recent one, with the hub area and all that) and really liked it. I'll probably pick it up, was a bit worried they'd trip at the finish line, but the reviews seem really positive. Not bad for some guys who (if I remember right) started out making Half-Life 2 mods.
Really, the only other recent supernatural spec-ops game I can think of is SCP 5K, where you're fighting crazy shit, but you don't get bullet time or anything. It seems like it's doing well, but I'm wary of everything SCP related these days.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

In Bioshock Infinite Booker Dewitt is a former pinkerton engaging in a special operation, and supernatural things happen, therefore I insist that qualifies as an FPS Supernatural Spec Ops game.

Either that or playing zombie servers in old Counter Strike: source.

Idk, the fact anyone really likes the genre is a little odd to me. "Mostly anonymous jughead fights humans, then fights spookier things" is barely less soulless than straight up Call Of Duty bro shooter tripe.

 

[BirdUp]

i didn’t care for the bullet time or the story, but F.E.A.R. is what half-life 2 should’ve been gameplay-wise: it built on (and recreated perfectly) the feeling of shooting half-life’s marines

i played like five minutes of F.E.A.R. 2 then uninstalled it

 

[Michael Wade]

I'm surprised FEAR hasn't been dragged out of the grave, but maybe it's licensing issues, or FEAR 3's sales just soured corporate interests. I don't know much about the series' state nowadays.

Warner bros owns the rights and they are stingy bastards. The most recent thing done with the license was F.E.A.R online that shut down in 2015. it was a free to play online counterstrike style shooter made by Koreans.

I actually remember enjoying it quite a bit. It ran like a dream on my shitty PC at the time and looked fantastic. It used the F.E.A.R 2 engine, had a few co-op missions and fun gore. My favorite mode before they balanced it was a three way team deathmatch. They had two teams fighting each other and one guy would randomly turn into a monster and kill everybody. The monster was so OP the one balancing factor was that gunfire slowed it down. After the devs removed that balance it rapidly became unfun. It was pretty ambitious, they had new skins, lore and a killing spree announcer. No scares, but it was fun to play around in the setting again. There was also a unbalanced mode where two teams would get two mechs in a tiny map and pulverize the crap outta each other. Good times.

In Bioshock Infinite Booker Dewitt is a former pinkerton engaging in a special operation, and supernatural things happen, therefore I insist that qualifies as an FPS Supernatural Spec Ops game.

That's a bit of a stretch, but I appreciate the outside the box idea. I was thinking more spiritual unexplained horror then steampunk.

Idk, the fact anyone really likes the genre is a little odd to me. "Mostly anonymous jughead fights humans, then fights spookier things" is barely less soulless than straight up Call Of Duty bro shooter tripe.

Honestly I haven't seen much of it these days. It used to be all the rage back in the ps3-360 era but It kinda died out around the next gen aside from the occasional brand like Resident evil. It actually takes a lot more effort to create an enemy type that's spooky and messed up, rather then some generic call of duty bad guys

i didn’t care for the bullet time or the story, but F.E.A.R. is what half-life 2 should’ve been gameplay-wise: it built on (and recreated perfectly) the feeling of shooting half-life’s marines

i played like five minutes of F.E.A.R. 2 then uninstalled it

Pussy. You missed EVERYTHING. It's like 100 times more fucking awesome the longer you play it! There's fucking laser guns and playable mechs!

 

[BirdUp]

Pussy.

it felt like call of duty

 

[Michael Wade]

it felt like call of duty

The blanket gets ripped off pretty quickly after the first mission. You're on your own for most of the game and things get a lot more aggressive, with way more kinds of enemy's then the first one.

Admittedly there's only two gun slots but the set pieces and environments are far more varied then the simple office complex's and construction sites of 1. And the AI is still kickass.

 

[LightDragonman1]

Eh, I personally felt that the gunplay in F.E.A.R. 2 was a huge step down from the first game.

Shots didn’t feel as impactful, the pistol and shotgun were heavily watered down, the environments, while more diverse, didn’t allow the AI to show off their intelligence as much, slow-mo didn’t last as long, and on the whole, it felt neutered due to focusing on consoles over PC.

Still, the mech sections were very awesome.

 

[Kid Named Rocket]

I'd argue the STALKER games technically fit the "spec ops vs the supernatural" niche, though you play as a mercenary/soldier rather than a member of some special glowie squad.
Cultic would also fit, since your MC is just a random private investigator going up against a demon-worshipping cult. DUSK is in the same vein too, although it's even a bigger stretch since the protagonist in that is just some random treasure hunter

 

[Michael Wade]

Eh, I personally felt that the gunplay in F.E.A.R. 2 was a huge step down from the first game.

Shots didn’t feel as impactful, the pistol and shotgun were heavily watered down, the environments, while more diverse, didn’t allow the AI to show off their intelligence as much, slow-mo didn’t last as long, and on the whole, it felt neutered due to focusing on consoles over PC.

Still, the mech sections were very awesome.

I cant speak for PC, but on console it felt perfect, maybe that's my problem.

I'd argue the STALKER games technically fit the "spec ops vs the supernatural" niche, though you play as a mercenary/soldier rather than a member of some special glowie squad.
Cultic would also fit, since your MC is just a random private investigator going up against a demon-worshipping cult. DUSK is in the same vein too, although it's even a bigger stretch since the protagonist in that is just some random treasure hunter

Good suggestions. Although I tend to prefer the trained military guy with an AK or M16 against the supernatural as opposed to a rustic dude with a shotgun.

 

[TheDarknessGrows]

Spec Ops: The Line was supernatural as shit. None of that was a gay-ass war crime.

 

[Snekposter]

I cant speak for PC, but on console it felt perfect, maybe that's my problem.

Yeah, a lot of the fun was watered down. The weapons especially got more serious and boring. No more lightning gun that turned your enemies into charred skeletons. And the compressed air dart gun in 2 wasn't nearly as fun as the GIANT IMPALING SPIKES of 1. I think the assault rifle lost its drum mag, too.

 

[LightDragonman1]

Yeah, everything in the second (and third) F.E.A.R. was dumbed down considerably from the first game. Especially in regards to the gunplay.

Not just in the less interesting weaponry, but also the dumber AI, weaker feedback when hitting enemies, and slow-motion not allowing for as many satisfying moments.

 

[Agent of Z.O.G.]

Spoiler: My actual reaction upon playing Trepangsquared

I didn't finish it.

It also doesn't actually play like FEAR and tries to do it's own stealth-ish gimmick.

 

[HarblMcDavid]

FEAR is probably the easiest to recommend that I remember, 1 was mechanically really solid and fun to play even if you might be sick of office buildings by halfway through it.

I'd argue STALKER is scarier if you pop the lights off and haven't played it before but it's a bit less focused on the horror if that makes sense. Controllers are legit scary to deal with, and the invisible men come out of fucking nowhere when you least expect them, but they're just uncommon enough to let you forget about them. Maybe most importantly the actual atmosphere is perfectly desolate to set the scene. That said, STALKER is really hard to recommend because the game itself is so technically busted that it's a bit of a labor of love to enjoy since there are so many gamebreaking bugs, though I suppose the horror of realizing you can't go back to previous areas due to minor save corruption to find things you missed might add to the experience of existential dread.

 

[Spud]

What I liked from playing the Trepang 2 demo (Aside from the slow mo, destructible environments, sound of the guns, can take a human shield then attach grenade to them and throw, sliding having a dedicated button and the rag doll physics the bodies have) was after killing Control from the prison is that you're able to friendly fire the team that comes to extract you. They'll fight back but I liked that you can shoot at them and not get the boring "Friendly fire is not tolerated" screen that cod would give. Fun game but gonna get it on discount