<div align="center"> F.E.A.R. Review</div> Developed By:Monolith Productions Published By: Sierra Platforms: PC, XBOX 360, PS3 Type: First Person Shooter I have always been a huge fan of horror & thriller games. I have played them all from Resident evil, Silent Hill, Condemned and even DOOM. But there was one game that really stuck in my mind, and that game was F.E.A.R or First Encounter Assault Recon. Gameplay F.E.A.R. follows much of the same characteristics as DOOM and half life, which stimulates combat from a first person point of view. Meaning the body is fully present, allowing the player to see his/her characters feet & torso . I feel this to be a pretty cool feature because in scripted sequences like rising from a lying position, climbing a ladder, or jumping from a helicopter. The hands and feet can be seen performing relevant actions, and in my opinion add a great deal of realism to the game. Another really cool characteristic of the game that isn’t found in many other is the use of "Reflex time” or SlowMo. In which gives the player the option of slowing down the game world, and in return it allows him/her to aim and react with pin point accuracy and precision. Reflex time in F.E.A.R. is represented by a stylized effect of blurred tunnel vision, much like if you were to cut the bottom off the end of a water bottle and look through it. Straight down the bottle it would be clear but around you would be slightly blurred. Some may think this feature sounds pretty stupid but just imagine this; You blow open a door with a grenade and are confronted with Seven heavily armed enemies. You use the reflex time effect to mow them all down before they even knew what hit them, pretty cool if you ask me. If your still not buying it just wait till you play the game and find yourself in a sticky situation, facing a superior enemy force and the only thing saving you butt from for sure annihilation, is the use of your SlowMo! Another remarkable aspect of this game is computers AI learning capability. In F.E.A.R. the computer controlled players will actually think and act like a real humans by copying actual human characteristics. As such as ducking to travel under crawlspaces, jumping through windows, over vaults or railings and even pushing over objects to create cover for themselves. In addition the computer players will also use flanking techniques to catch you off guard. That’s right, these computer generated pixels of mayhem will actually order a group of enemies to fire at you while another group quickly and quietly sneaks up behind you. I can honestly say there is nothing more frustrating then killing 10 guys just to turn around and find another 5 waiting to blast you to an oblivion. Atmosphere I would like to take a minute to talk about the atmosphere of F.E.A.R. and how it doesn't follow the traditional horror traits that can be found in other games with an in your face monster(s). But instead they decided to play a psychological mind game by subjecting you and your character to a series of hallucinations . Ultimately through these hallucinations you are finally exposed to the games main source of horror Alma, a ghostly little girl. As the game progresses these hallucinations become more vivid and real, ultimately telingl a story about your character and a bizarre connection to Alma. Setting In the game your playing a soldier that is highly trained in dealing with unusual situations. Him and his team are called in to confront and contain an unexplained, murderous and potentially life threatening paranormal phenomenon that has occurred on a secret military base. Plot When the game first begins your introduced to a cut screen, to which you witness a man named Paxton Fettle taking command of a small army of clone super soldiers. Which then seize control of the Armacham Technology Corporation and kill all it’s personnel. Your now called in to lead a small team of F.E.A.R. Operatives and Special Forces on a mission to eliminate Fettle. After a brief battle at the Auburn industrial district, Fettle eventually eludes you and the F.E.A.R. operatives. But is then relocated on a satellite tracking device at the docks. The Special Forces team decides to try to eliminate Fettle them selves but are wiped out by unexplained supernatural force. As you progress through the game you learn that Fettle was raised to be a telepathic military commander as part of this top secret government project named Origin. As you play through you unlock date found on laptops scattered throughout the levels that help you unearth a dark secret of Fettle. That he is actually a brother of Alma. In return this leads your F.E.A.R. commander to believe that Alma is controlling Fettle telepathically, forcing him to search for the Origin Facility in order to free her. As you continue to search for Fettle through the abandoned industrial compound, your character uncovers the hidden entrance that leads to the facility. As you enter the facility you are confronted with cloned soldiers and ATC personal, who have orders to ward off any unauthorized personnel. Once you make it past them you finally come face to face with Fettle, at which time you are drawn into an hallucination where you learn that your character is actually Alma’s first son (guess that explains on the superhuman stuff)! After the hallucination is over, you are finally able to kill Fettle and save the day! Ok not quite. Alma is eventually freed by ATC head researcher Harlan Wade. By doing this it now allows her to unleash all her paranormal destruction on you! At this point your commander gives you the order to sabotage the facilities reactor in a last ditch effort to end the mayhem and eliminate this supernatural being. If you successfully sabotage the reactor make it out alive and survive the nuclear explosion you might be in safe waters. I did say might right? Because as part of the games final cut screen you and the other survivors of the F.E.A.R. team are extracted by helicopter, and Alma makes one last appearance. Appearing to pull herself up from the bottom on the helicopter in to the cabin. The screen then cuts to black and the credits begin, leaving in the air for a possible sequel. Graphics To put it simply they are ok. I feel they could of put some more time and effort into making the characters seem more realistic. I mean you do such a good job on the thinking aspect of them game just to turn around and make the visual part mediocre. In some areas it seems a little rough and parts of the characters body seems too sharp and pointy. Sound I guess where they lack in visuals they make up for it in audios. The sounds in the game defiantly goes well with the title of the game. It really does keep you on the edge of your seat and on the tip of your toes. Gameplay The features this game offers like the AI learning capabilities and the use of the SlowMo features really separate it from others. Though for being a game based on supernatural occurrences why would they make it so you don’t fight Alma till almost near the end? Sort of defeats the whole purpose of the game in my opinion. Ranking Graphics 6/10 Sound 9/10 Gameplay 7/10 Overall Ranking 7/10 Final Thoughts I would rent it before you buy it, there really is no gain from buying the game. Once you beat the story mode the only thing you can do is play multiplayer. But with the amount of cheats and glitches that are found it’s not even worth it. It’s a good game but the novelty of it wears off too quick for me. I like it better on the PC then I do for the PS3.
Lovely Review. I never really liked the franchise or the game itself. Thought that the game would be more aggressive and more condemned towards the FEAR factor, but honestly it has nothing to do with Fear at all. Untill I read the words on my box: First Encounter Assault Recon. Almost like Ghost Recon, but I did not like this game. I bought it for PS3, played the story, was a bit impressed with the gameplay and sounds, etc. but it did not impress me to the place where I would recommend this game to anyone. It basically depends on what your Genre of games is like. And I agree before buying rent it and try it out, so you don't turn out like me who has the game for no reason...lol.. Zain
Ty zain ^_^ so true it really does depend on the persons likes and dislikes in games. as is the ps3 :tongue:
Me too lol ps3 was good but idk why i found the computer version to a tad more intense maybe because i was expecting what was coming LOL
Havent played any games on computer except Warcraft last year and a little bit of crysis but yeah it always depends on the user's preference Z
I just love this game. Its soo scary lmao iam a big fan when it comes to games like these. There was this one lvl were you go on a ladder and u see the girl, i almost ---- my pants. Lol good review
