F.E.A.R. is a first person shooter with elements of Japanese horror developed by Monolith Productions and Published by Vivendi. On the surface F.E.A.R. may look and seem like futuristic FPS with elements of Japanese horror type movies like "The Ring", but in the inside F.E.A.R. is a futuristic FPS with elements of Japanese horror type movies like "The Ring"… did I mention you can use slow motion?
*****INTRODUCTION*****
THE POSITIVES
- Killing enemies in slow motion
- It has it's fair share of horror elements
- great game-play
- nice visuals
awesome sound effects
THE NEGATIVES
- Poor online multiplayer
- minor frame rate problems and graphic glitches
*****REVIEW*****
A story of supernatural terror brought to life.
You are an elite soldier trained to handle the most unusual and shocking situations. Called in to confront a murderous force with paranormal abilities, you must contain a crisis spiralling quickly out of control. Discover the true meaning of F.E.A.R.
Armacham Technology Corporation has a secret. But it's about to get out. An event is unfolding in Auburn. A hostage situation has erupted at Armacham headquarters, led by a man intelligence has identified as Paxton Fettel. Fettel is not just a mere man, though he is an instrument of pure destruction. Armacham, a defense contractor with the United States military, has been working on a classified project that has undergone many names: Origin, Icarus and Perseus. The exact meaning of those names is still unknown, but the end result is frightening. Fettel is the psychic commander of a battalion of clone troopers known as Replica. Each trooper has a psychic link to Fettel and will unflaggingly obey his every order, even to the death. The goal of the program is to develop armies of clone troopers that will one day replace the traditional soldier, as well as change the way that intel is gathered during battle. The sights and sounds each trooper experiences in the field are instantly relayed to Fettel, allowing the commander to constantly adapt strategy to deal with ever-changing combat situations. Something has happened to Fettel, though. Fettel may have a psychic link to the clone troopers, but his own mental state has been brought into question. In the blink ot an eye, he has taken control of the Replica battalion for his own murderous purposes, which have not yet been discerned-only witnessed. He has taken over Armacham headquarters and gathered hostages (without issuing demands, which leads F.E.A.R. to assume the worst), mobilized his battalion into action near the waterfront, and gone in search of a buried secret that deserves to remain buried.
Psychic commanders? Clone armies? That's how F.E.A.R. operators earn their pay. F.E.A.R. Team Coordinator Rowdy Betters has been briefed on the situation at Armacham and has called together his finest operatives, including you. You are to be sent into the field with teammates Spen Jankowski and Jin Sun-Kwon. Jankowski has his reservations about you-after all, you are a new recruit and the severity of the mission demands experience- but Betters believes there is something about you that makes you perfect for this operation. In fact, you are to serve as point man with orders to determine the extent of the situation and apprehend Fettel. Armacham has revealed that if Fettel is taken out, the replica army will cease operations. With only video footage of Fettel's spree at Armacham, which shows the brutal nature of his attack and the lengths of Fettel's new-found rage to go on, you must head for Auburn and bring him down. While Fettel's motives and ultimate intentions are still unknown, considering the gruesomeness of the video footage, it can be assumed that he means the world ill will.
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F.E.A.R. OPERATIVES AND ALLIES.
Rowdy Betters, Team Coordinator:
Rowdy Betters is the F.E.A.R. team coordinator. While he is not field-active, Betters maintains constant control of field operatives. From an off-site position, Betters is in constant contact with his operatives, receiving intel and advising his field agents on any situation updates. It is Betters who believes you are the perfect operative for this mission, citing your off-the-charts performance in weapons and reflex tests.
Spen Jankowski, F.E.A.R. Point Man:
There are two point men for this mission against Paxton Fettel. You are one, and Spen Jankowski is the other. And he doesn't exactly seem too happy about that. Jankowski fully believes in his mission with F.E.A.R., even though he is sometimes incredulous of the encounters that he has on the job. You team up with him during your initial insertion in Auburn.
Jin Sun-Kwon, F.E.A.R. Medical Specialist:
Jin Sun-Kwon is the F.E.A.R. medical specialist. While she is combat-trained, Sun-Kwon is more of an analyst than a fighter. After point men have cleared the area of enemy targets, she often remains at scenes and investigate the situation. Whenever you get in trouble, you can count on Jin to be there, backing you up and offering any needed medical attention.
Douglas Holiday, SFOD-D Unit Leader:
Unit Leader Douglas Holiday is not a F.E.A.R. operative, but rather a member of the elite Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. His duty is to assist and protect F.E.A.R. agents while they investigate the situation in Auburn, and he will not let you down. Holiday fancies himself as something of a ladies man, and he won't hesitate to use his silver tongue even in the bleakest situations if he thinks it will score him a little post-mission action.
PRIME TARGETS.
Paxton Fettel:
Paxton Fettel is the psychic commander of the Replica troop's battalion-part of a military program developed by Armcham Technology Corporation in Auburn. Fettel's true origins are unknown. F.E.A.R. has very little background information on him, save for the few scant facts that could be pried from Armacham employee's lips and the shocking video footage of his initial assault on the Armacham office complex. Alma: F.E.A.R. has little intel on this mysterious factor. It is believed that she is somehow involved in the program that created the psychic clone battalion, but Armacham has not divulged that Alma is a small girl and that she does not have any eyes. When F.E.A.R. operatives encounter her in the field, they should be extremely cautions, as it is rumoured that she possesses inexplicable power.
ARMACHAM EMPLOYEES.
Harlan Wade:
Harlan Wade, father of Alice Wade, is one of Armacham's most senior employees. He has been with the company for many years and has been involved in several of its most classified projects, including the Replica cloning operation.
Alice Wade:
Alice Wade is Harlan Wade's daughter. She is also an Armacham employee, working with Aldus Bishop on a project studying potential environmental hazards in the Auburn area. Alice believes that there is something happening in the area a contamination of sorts that has caused Auburn to fall into decay.
Norton Mapes:
The portly Norton Maps is an engineer at Armacham, working closely on the Replica project under the direction of Armacham's president, Genevieve Aristide. Mapes has somehow survived the initial attack on Armacham headquarters by Fettel's Replica army, but he is disinclined to agree with your rescue attempts.
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The graphics in F.E.A.R. are awesome, amazing character design and model textures, fantastic background design and real time lighting effects, beautifully done slow motion effect and an amazing disturbing, scary look and feel done in the game.
F.E.A.R. consists of intense brute force action and an amazing game-play feel, great enemy A.I. system, a great experience for any 1st person shooter/horror fan. You have a whole variety of weapon to choose from i.e. grenades to remote control mines, twin pistols, machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers and you can even use a needle gun which uses metal slugs long enough to actually "nail" an enemy to the wall, plus a lot more of other cool weapons. The best thing about the game-play is not just the crazy intense action, but also the feeling you get at crazy intense action in slow motion. Shooting enemy's in slow motion is just freaking COOL! Even watching a grenade explode in slow motion is just amazing. F.E.A.R. is a mixture of intense action and Japanese type horror elements that make F.E.A.R. one of the best first person shooter, as well as being one of the scariest games on the PC.
The sound effects are brilliant, amazing slow motion effect, good voice acting, great music that fits the tone of the game and atmosphere that just right in setting the mood in game-play, as well as the tone of fear, brilliant background sound effect that will totally freak you out etc.
F.E.A.R. will probably take you about 10 to 15 hours to finish. Maybe longer if you can't handle the fear. But it's SO worth it.
Overall F.E.A.R. truly is a great game, highly recommended to any 1st person shooter fan or to anyone who likes getting the crap scared out of them (Like me).
I'm a sucker for horror games and films. I like physiological horror and F.E.A.R. did have me at times. You could be walking down a hallway not really expecting anything to happen when suddenly the light go out, or your walking toward a door the it slams in your face. You hear and see lots of weird things. The one thing that really gets me is a baby cry. Baby's crying in a horror game really freaks me out.
Overall F.E.A.R. was (is) a great game that I for one really enjoyed, and I'm looking forward for more F.E.A.R. games in the future.
If you like first person shooters, Japanese horror, The Ring Movie… F.E.A.R. is a game you should check out. Comfortable mentioning
*****FINAL OVERALL SCORE*****
- Story – 8/10
- Online Multiplayer – 3/10
- Life Value – 5/10
- My Thought Score – 9/10
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- Presentation – 7/10
- Graphics – 9/10
- Game-Play – 9/10
- Sound Design – 10/10
- Originality – 8/10
*****EDITOR'S OVERALL THOUGHT SCORE – 9/10 *****
F.E.A.R. Review by Simon a.k.a. [TheDevilDweller]