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What makes this title stick in the pleasure centers of your brain, what almost makes the PS3 version's issues forgivable, are the glorious firefights. Rather than a range of weapon types, you have a bare handful. But each fills a real need in combat. And similar to Halo, you can only carry two rifles, some grenades, and a pistol. This is complemented by a selection of enemies that might sound limited on paper, but which you'll never actually bemoan; that's because just like in real combat, you'll be too busy scrambling to survive to care about what the shooter looks like. It's quality rather than quantity which defines F.E.A.R.'s enemy types and weapons. Even with your ability to slow time, you'll face AI that aggressively flanks, clears the way with grenades, uses combined arms tactics, and goes to investigate things like your flashlight beam in tactically sound numbers; it will be a real challenge. I can't overstate what a brilliant job the game does of insuring that you take your enemies seriously. And that, sadly, is where the positives end for this version of the game. It's quite possible that, PC-like, the issues I'm about to dive into will be patched at some later date. But as the game stands, shipped, there are simply too many bugs and issues to recommend it. Most importantly, there's a clear delay between the press of the trigger button and the accompanying gunfire. It doesn't matter if the Sixaxis is running wireless or connected by a cable; if you squeeze that trigger, bullets will start firing late and finish firing late. After I noticed that, I felt like the whole game was out of sync. And that's enough to not just irritate, but to cause cheap deaths, lost rounds of multiplayer, and to just suck you out of the gameplay experience at lightning speed.
Beyond the strange response lag, numerous other issues affect the PS3 game. Multiplayer is a fairly bland affair across all three systems, but the PS3 is the only version with no voice chat options (and no way to fake it, such as with a third-party program or a self-created Live chat). The game also looks less crisp than the 360 version, for no reason I can understand. And the controls force you to use the R2 and L2 buttons as your triggers. When I played Resistance, I wondered why the PS3's launch shooter didn't use the system's two trigger-shaped buttons, (R2 and L2) as the "fire weapon" buttons. The reason is that holding your fingers over those two for hours is incredibly bad ergonomics, and the convex shape of them means your finger can easily slip off mid-press. And, like the other versions, the level design goes from "slightly repetitive" to "the same cut-and-pasted, ridiculously maze-like office space" real fast. Unlike other elements of the game, this isn't a matter of quality beating out quantity. It's just sub-par level design.
Yes, the PS3 version comes with bonus single-player content. No, it isn't worth the aggravation. If you have a 360 or a beefy PC, buy those (cheaper) versions of this game. If you only have a PS3, Resistance is a better shooter for the system. Although the gunplay is as solid as ever, there is nothing to recommend F.E.A.R. on this platform if you have any other choice. Each individual issue is irritating, but taken as a whole they're arguably not worth the effort. If you don't have a decent gaming PC or a 360, and you just can't face playing any more Resistance, than give F.E.A.R. a try on your PS3. But don't say we didn't warn you. acdcrocknroll