In the end, FEAR is just short of becoming that absolutely outstanding game which everyone has been talking about.
Let me begin by saying that FEAR truly was (and still is) a technological marvel. It runs on Monolith's own "Lithtech Jupiter Ex", whilst using the well-known "Havok" engine for physics. Most of the stuff you get to see in this game looks quite incredible for 2005. Sharp textures, volumetric soft shadows, surprisingly detailed character models, realistic environments (with displacement mapped environmental destructibility) and its beautiful slo-mo bullet mode, which allows you to shred enemies to pieces in some disturbingly bloody & satisfying ways. Also, the amount of mayhem that can be caused in each place is astounding - FEAR really did create a wholly new definition for the term "dynamic environment", back in the day, and it even puts some modern games to shame.
Then again, there always has to be a disadvantage, hasn't there? In this case, FEAR's graphics are no exception. While they are every bit as technologically stunning as they have been described, they simply lack their own artistic style to be described as anything more than "realistic" (for the time of the game's release). Furthermore, FEAR suffers from another problem on the visual side: the recycling of environments. Whilst this isn't a major flaw because it doesn't occur often enough to have a significant impact on the whole experience, it remains a minor annoyance that could have been easily dealt with by the developers.
Many critics praised this game for its interesting plot and story. With this, I can agree completely. Most of FEAR's good points, in this area, come from its overwhelming mystery. At the beginning, the character which you play as is described only as "Point Man" of F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon), a secret spec ops group commanded by the US government and well-trained to deal with paranormal threats. The protagonist is said to have unbelievably fast reflexes (thus the slo-mo option during combat is available). He and his squad are tasked with the termination of Paxton Fettel, a man who has telepathically taken control of a whole battalion of super soldiers. As the game progresses (and the villain eludes your squad numerous times), the Point Man is plagued with visions and sometimes life-threatening hallucinations of a little girl dressed in red.
Questions like "who is this girl?", "what happened to her?", "where is she now?", "is she real?", "what is Fettel's main goal?" and many others haunt the player throughout the game - as the unknown is gradually explained (though never in full) by the game's clever plot devices. Moreover, these visions put a spin on the otherwise quite standard shooter, turning it into a scary horror game every now and then. Unfortunately, the terror is dropped in favour of a more action-oriented experience later on in the game - only to return once in a while, with more expectable outcomes. The fact that FEAR's terrifying potential is never fully realized in the game is even more disappointing. However - overall - everything that is supposed to be scary and is in the game has the intended effect on the player and succeeds in making the experience even more fascinating than it already is.
In terms of gameplay, FEAR is quite like Aliens Versus Predator 2 - Monolith's previous flagship, from 2001. The structure feels very familiar: the plot is mysterious, nothing is ever fully explained, the characters are likeable, there is some humour for those who wait around a bit longer to listen to conversations, and messages which expand upon the backstory can be found throughout the game. These similarities are by no means a bad thing. If anything, they may enhance the experience for those who played AvP2 earlier. However, there is one major difference: the construction of each environment.
Unlike in AvP2, where there were some quite open spaces from time to time - allowing the player plenty of freedom to wander around, FEAR is much more like a corridor shooter. This gives place for some spectacular scripted events and very clever level design, but also limits exploration and replay value by quite a bit. Is it a good change? Yes and no. It has its advantages and disadvantages, but in the end, it's about what each player prefers.
Something that has also been taken into consideration is the impact that each weapon has on your enemies, and their generally shifting tactics. Their behaviour changes as you pick off the members of each hostile squad one by one. They try to adapt in order to survive the situation for as long as possible. Each opponent shows some very realistic AI packages, making the whole of the singleplayer campaign even more immersive, atmospheric and entertaining (as if it wasn't fun enough, with FEAR's large arsenal of cool weaponry available to the player).
Speaking of which, FEAR offers you plenty of awesome guns to use. The collection is surprisingly quite big and varied; from dual pistols to SMGs, assault rifles to shotguns, multi-rocket launchers to plasma rifles - and more. In addition, most of these weapons have some nasty impact on the flesh of your enemies. This gives you the disturbing sensation that it may feel similar to shooting real meat.
In order to fill FEAR with extra content, Monolith has included online multiplayer modes for those who are hungry for more… but unluckily, this is what they failed at the most. Although playing this game with others can be fun for a while as it offers some mindlessly chaotic entertainment, it really doesn't have anything to offer for those who are looking for a deeper, more unique and original online experience. FEAR offers you the basic deathmatch-based game modes that have been used by countless games before and after it, giving anyone with better things to do little reason to stick around for longer to play this game's multiplayer more than a few times - unless they are a hardcore fan of its gameplay.
Now that we have covered pretty much everything that needs to be said about the game, let's summarize all of FEAR's features:
GAMEPLAY - 9/10 (Outstanding)
The game offers a very nice mix of shooting, horror and atmosphere; all packed into a cunningly designed, linear, FPS singleplayer campaign.
STABILITY - 9/10 (Outstanding)
Apart from the odd glitch or two and the occasional inconsistency in frame rate, all of FEAR's bugs have been ironed out with patches.
STORY - 8.5/10 (Great)
Clever use of great plot devices and mysterious vibes, along with likeable characters and believable personalities, creates an interesting story.
GRAPHICS - 8.5/10 (Great)
Back in 2005, most PCs couldn't handle running this game even on medium settings and it shows even today… as does its lack of artistic development.
SOUND - 8/10 (Impressive)
Some of the voice acting is average and the music is good but nothing extraordinary; other than that, everything else in the sound department is great.
LONGEVITY - 6/10 (Light on content)
The singleplayer is too scripted for more than a maximum of two playthroughs for the average gamer, the multiplayer is really quite disappointing when compared to the quality of the core game and there's pretty much nothing to make you come back to this game.
In the end, FEAR is just short of becoming that absolutely outstanding game which everyone has been talking about. It doesn't use its potential to the fullest and isn't quite as worthy of the praise it gets as some of Monolith's previous titles should be getting. On the whole, though, it's still a great game. It was definitely an ambitious project that had an impact on the FPS genre that no one can deny, and it should still be enjoyed by all the shooter fans who missed the opportunity to play it back in 2005.
OVERALL RATING - 8/10 (Impressive)