The game thrives off its atmosphere and slow-mo gimmick...but not much more.

User Rating: 6.9 | F.E.A.R. X360
I'm sorry to say F.E.A.R is not the game I was expecting. I was hyped about it ever since it's PC release, but only now, a couple of years after, was I able to play the game as it was intended. It's not so much that the game does anything wrong...more that it doesn't do enough right. After the initial few stealthy killings and the odd thrill at the abruptness of battle, the game has offered more or less everything it has. There's the contrived inclusion of slow-mo which does help during the trickier sections, but its a gimmick at best. There's the horror element of course, although this is never really integral to the gameplay. The final chapter has you fighting some enemies that aren't soldiers, but otherwise its wave after wave of clones with the odd robot thrown in. This isn't always a bad thing...the enemy AI is a joy (or a nightmare) to behold, but in harder sections this isn't necessarily a good thing.

Where the horror comes in, it comes in thick though. The final chapter is hellish, and throughout the game you'll be dreading the return of the evil little girl and the nightmarish scenarios that her presence signifies. A good story isn't enough to warrant the pricetag though - neither is the short length, despite the inclusion of an extra chapter.

If you find the PC game cheap go for it, but other than the visuals which still stand up (especially with revised lighting and fixed glitches), the xbox version offers nothing you can't find somewhere else.