Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Solid"

If you haven't played the first two F.E.A.R. games you might be relatively lost with the story jumping right into F.E.A.R. 3. It isn't a hard series to follow or figure out, but what exactly is going might not only seem odd but borderline insanity. This is a good thing.

The story of F.E.A.R. 3 is by no means award winning or amazingly breathtaking but what it is, is original. The scare factor from the first two games (or rather, the scare factor from the first and the tension from the second) isn't really here this time. Quiet, "what's going to happen next" moments are all but gone and the game substitutes this for pulse pounding gun fights with loud music complimented with even louder gunfights. The music in F.E.A.R. was usually more ambience, adding to the creep factor, which is substituted for a more Hollywood approach.

The missing or changed elements from previous titles do not serve as a demerit here, however. IF you've been following the story since the beginning and know what's happening, the race against time action movie feel works out rather nicely. You quickly learn what's at stake and the fast pace works well to stop Alma from, well no spoilers here. Alma, the antagonist throughout the series, still has a few moments where she pops up to get jump scares out of the player, but they're not prominent or unsettling, but more nostalgic. The designers created creepy aesthetics and disturbing set pieces, but they're often overshadowed by fighting for your life. Example: You'll come across a typical, middle-class American suburban home with walls covered in blood, dead bodies hanging from the ceiling, and cryptic messages written everywhere and while it is a cool visual you'll be more concerned with fighting off the crazed cultists than paying attention to the creepy rooms the developers designed.

For long time F.E.A.R. fans there are a few changes that are a bit disappointing, but in no way game breaking. First, the gunplay is pretty different. The visceral and breathtaking firefights from the first game have never quite been topped, but the recoil and power of the guns still transferred over to F.E.A.R. 2 and it was a definite highlight of the game. In F.E.A.R. 3, the guns don't feel quite as powerful and firefights don't have the same devastation. Monolith, the developers of the first two games, did a good job of putting stuff in your way. Meaning, a lot of fights took place in areas packed with random junk. For instance, a huge fight in a storage room meant random boxes, crates, pots, and other inanimate objects would be shot and flying around the room. If there was glass anywhere nearby, it would be blown away. Day 1, the studio in charge of F.E.A.R. 3, didn't quite use the same design lay out. Most fights take place in large areas, so they never feel as personal or as exciting. Enemies also soak more damage. Some monsters can take entire clips, and there are parts where you're fighting crazed, unarmored normal-humans that can take 3 shots to the chest with the (bizarre looking) shotgun.

However, when compared to other First Person Shooters on the market, F.E.A.R. 3 is still solid. The Artificial Intelligence is worth a mention, as opponents will use cover, flank you, throw grenades (and throw them accurately), notice your flashlight, panic when they're team is dying, hide until you find them, and react appropriately when shot. If you shoot them in the leg, not only will they topple over, but also yell an obscenity as if they just took a bullet to the knee cap. The A.I. is dynamic and non-scripted, so multiple playthroughs mean you won't see them doing the same thing over and over.
You also have the ability to slow down time from past games, which is still awesome. Slowing time and running between bullets, pulling off three head shots and then jump kicking the last enemy in the face is satisfying and splendid. If you want to stab the last enemy, or slide kick him instead, you can do that too.

The main campaign is over quickly, and although the bizarre story is a breath of fresh air and there are some absolutely solid set pieces, it can be underwhelming. Luckily, you have two options once you're done playing the game as Point Man, the protagonist of the first game, and the character that can slow time. First, you can play the game as Paxton Fettel, a psychic, sadistic character capable of levitating enemies or possessing them and using their guns. Playing as Fettel really changes the feel of the game, and as a bonus you get to see an alternate ending. Another cool thing is the game has co-op, one person as Point Man and the other as Fettel. This makes for some interesting cooperative play, mixing things up. You can levitate an enemy with Fettel while Point Man jump kicks him, for instance. Also, at the end of the game it ranks each player and depending on whomever "won" you'll see that character's ending, which makes for some fun rivalry.

The F.E.A.R. series has never had strong multiplayer. It wasn't bad, exactly, but in this generation most FPS titles offer Team Deathmatch and variations of Team Deathmatch. In F.E.A.R. 3, you get a few multiplayer modes that spice things up. In Contractions, you play with a team and defend off waves of enemy AI similar to the Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Since the enemies shoot back and maintain the same level of AI as the game, it makes it pretty fun. Alma also walks around the map and if you look at her, you'll take a penalty for doing so such as slower speed or your entire screen going blank for a few seconds. In another mode, called "F**ing Run!" the objective is to progressively move forward before the Wall of Death consumes you. Essentially, you turn around and see a giant cloud emitting an ominous sound getting closer and you run forward while fighting off enemies trying to stop you. If you stop, you might die, and it becomes an addictive and fun mode to play. There are a few other modes, such as Soul King, where you compete with other players to see who can collect the most souls. There's a solid mix of interesting ideas here.

Outside of opinions and on to a technical scale, F.E.A.R. 3 runs great. The game runs at a solid frame rate and even during intense fights it doesn't slow down. Day 1 Studios was in charge of porting the original F.E.A.R. to the PS3, and it wasn't a very great port. They learned, however, as F.E.A.R. 3 is optimized extremely well for the PS3. The graphics aren't award winning or anything, but they do the job. There are very few noticeable glitches, screen tearing, sound problems, and again: the game just runs great.

F.E.A.R. 3 doesn't reinvent the wheel, and it loses the creep/mystery factor of the first two games while making the gunplay a bit more "mainstream". Furthermore, the absence of the Replica soldiers' assassin and the specters from F.E.A.R. 2 defines the word "disappointment". Gunplay, the A.I., Alma herself aren't as great as the predecessors, but that doesn't make them bad by any means. Plus, it offers a lot of replayability, new and interesting multiplayer modes, and plays superbly.