"The PS3 version looks below average and doesn’t control as good, but there is still a fun and frantic shooter to be found."
Positive
+ Loud, powerful sound effects
+ Solid and intensive firefights
Negative
- Story is confusing
- More shooting, less horror this time around
- Visuals are subpar all round
The original F.E.A.R. first released in 2005 brought about a new element in the standard first-person shooting action – the horror and suspense. That gave F.E.A.R. is unique approach that it is difficult to find even in today’s game. The second F.E.A.R. was an improvement, but the lack of suspense and mystery in the second half of the game dampened the story. F.E.A.R. 3 is a follow-up in the F.E.A.R. franchise, but despite sharing its name with its much revered predecessor, this standard first-person shooter has lost its ability to terrorize you and with a confusing story to boot, the third F.E.A.R. is no longer the distinguishable shooter it once was but it is still a capable and occasionally thrilling shooter.
The story will put you as Point Man (protagonist of the original), nine months after the end of the previous two games, who had been captured by Armacham soldiers. Paxton Fettel, (antagonist of the original), now as a Specter, helps free his brother, forming an alliance and escaping the Asylum. At this point in time, the world is on brink of destruction, as Alma, now no longer a little girl, is about to give birth. Despite different goals the brothers meet with Jin Sun-Kwon, a former F.E.A.R. operative in an attempt to stop their mother. The story of F.E.A.R. series was about paranormal activity and supernatural occurrences, and its psychologically disturbing atmosphere. Unfortunately F.3.A.R. is a more shooting oriented game and discards its psychological effects in favor of firefights. F.3.A.R. is a very good shooter, but without its scary moments like when you’d go down a silent, dark hallway and suddenly a frightening little girl appears in front of you, or something unexpected occurring, the third F.E.A.R. is nothing more than a regular, entertaining shooter.
F.3.A.R. is a challenging first-person shooter against trained soldiers, elite commanders, psycho maniacs and bizarre creatures that employs a cover-based idea to help keep you from harm’s way. As Point Man, you possess the ability to regenerate health and use the Slo-Mo ability, allowing you to slow down time for a few moments to get better shot. And you will need that if you are playing the PS3 version. The controller is inevitably a class inferior to the accurate PC keyboard, and your results will eventually suffer because of it. Each chapter award you for your skills, such as achieving a certain amount of headshots, melee kills, amount of kills with a certain gun, cover usage time, frag grenade kills, and other awards that if obtained award you points. With enough point you can gain a new level, giving you a small boost in health regeneration, Slo-Mo increase and others. Despite being of little use, the skill award system keeps things engaging aside from shooting your way through, though eventually it will grow painfully repetitive.
Beating a chapter (called Interval in the game) will unlock Fettel for that mission. Fettel has different abilities than his gun-toting brother. Fettel has ‘no body’ and he can shoot psychic blasts and strangle targets, and even possessing targets, plus he too regenerates health. When possessing targets, Fettel gains their attributes, such as shooting when possessing soldiers, reverting to how similarly it works with Point Man, excluding the Slo-Mo ability of course. Possessing lunatics allows you to use simple melee weapons such as a knife or a crowbar. Unfortunately you can’t possess the bizarre creatures that have been created by Alma’s mind, nor can you use the Phase Commanders ability to transport through walls.
There are creepy moments in the game, but not really of the standard of being called scary. Blood and corpses are scattered everywhere, and the store area and some houses are littered with creepy candle and ritual-like things that can make the atmosphere quite unsettling. There are some mech sections that you can take advantage of to unleash on helpless human foes or engage against other mechs. These sections are short, and thankfully few since they aren’t really as fun as they could have been. The AI composes of strong teamwork, always trying to flank you, and if cornered, they’d move closer and closer. If not, they’d throw grenades to flush you out. Their strategy is repetitive but always effective, keeping firefights tough and challenging.
Exploration is extremely limited to non-existent in F.3.A.R. That said, the only time you will be exploring is maybe checking behind the few occasional doors you can actually be opened, under stairs and some close section in search for a few extra rounds of ammunition, finding psychic links which award you 1500pts or finding the hard-to-find Alma Doll in each level, which award a hefty amount of points. Otherwise the game is extremely linear, and you can bet that in the next open area there will be a gunfight. There are some multiplayer options (you won’t find anyone today probably) who can join you in the campaign, playing as both Point Man and Fettel. Split screen multiplayer is also available, offering survival and plenty of enemy shooting. But there is no player vs. player.
The PS3 version of F.3.A.R. looks subpar. Some stages look better than others and at least every level looks better than the first level, which looks quite awful and gives a poor first impression. On a whole, the game makes it harder than it should to see opponents which successfully and realistically try to blend in with the environments, but some distant objects (and distant, in this case, just a few meters) look blurry. And even items up close don’t look particularly good. Sound on the other hands is quite better, consisting of constantly loud and powerful sound effects of gun blazing and enemy swearing.
After playing F.3.A.R. on PC, the PS3 is a much less enjoyable experience due to its controller’s obvious limitations. But even the high resolution seen on the PC effects. But if it can’t be helped, the PS3 version of F.3.A.R. is still a powerful and engaging shooter which offers challenging enemies and firefights with diminish psychological agony compared to its predecessor.
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Graphics = 6.6
Sound = 8.1
Presentation = 7.1
Gameplay = 7.8
Story = 7.0
Level of Difficulty = Hard
Quite a challenging shooter. Tough, plentiful and diverse enemies in all levels with smart AI. Multiple difficulties available though.
Recommendation Level = Low
It’s not as good as its predecessors, and the story is a bit weak ending the trilogy, but there is some fun to be had. But a first-person shooter isn’t at its best on a console, so it suffers quite a bit. Plus doesn’t look so good.
OVERALL = 72 / 100
The PS3 version looks below average and doesn’t control as good, but there is still a fun and frantic shooter to be found.