Ultimately, it's an decent, but overrated shooter that does nothing really new.
Gameplay: 5.5/10
- F.E.A.R. seems to suffer from double personality disorder. The other side of F.E.A.R. tries to be kickass ownage ala Doom. The other side tries to be scary, atmospheric horror. Let me tell you, that won't work. How do you expect me (the player) to be *scared*, if all I do is shoot hundreds of heavily armed enemies? And the worst part is, during the "scary cutscenes", I CAN'T EVEN FRIGGIN DIE. How is that scary? That is equivalent of putting on God Mode and then try to scare you with 10 soldiers. It just does not work. However, if you take the FPS side of F.E.A.R., it's pretty decent for an FPS. But the AI is mostly following scripted orders, so it's not really that good at all.
Atmosphere & Immersion: 4/10
- I already covered this above, but *sigh*, oh well. It's not scary, it's *trying* to be scary. And fails. IMO, they should've made two games. One would be yet another Doom-copy. The other would be atmospheric horror-adventure game ala Penumbra: Overture. They would've even made more money that way. But noooooo, "hai guyz lets put all diz stuff liek together u nou?! im shur it makes a great game ^_^" Sucks, but there's nothing anyone can do about it anymore.
Graphics: 8/10
- F.E.A.R. does have some quite impressive graphics and effects. Very good for a 2005 game. Especially with soft shadows. The bullet holes look quite good too.
Sound: 8.5/10
- F.E.A.R. gets this right, too. Especially during the "scary cutscenes". Very atmospheric ambient sounds in some places.
Physics: 7/10
- Mostly your run-of-the-mill ragdoll. They are decent though.
Replay value: 2/10
- Really, none. When you know when the "scary cutscenes" occur, you know everything about this game. There isn't really anything more to do since the game is very linear. You could have fun just pwning enemies though, if you like it. But other games have that too.
Value for money: 5/10
- I wouldn't pay full price for this. Maybe 15-20 €. Or if you like all FPS's then it would probably be worth the full 50 €.
Bugs, Stability & Performance: 8/10
- No major bugs. Generally works very well. Nothing to complain here.
Will this game be remembered by old school gamers as a classic after 10 years?:
- Don't think so. It's "just another FPS".
Who would I recommend to buy the game?:
- FPS fans. People who like horror and don't get annoyed by mandatory shooting sequences between horror.
Final score (not necessarily an average): 6.5