At first glance, F.E.A.R may seem like any other FPS with features that have "been done". Well its based on a modified Quake engine, "can't possibly be any better". "Nothing will be as creepy as Doom". "Bullet time, pfft…what is this Max Payne?"
Sure at first glance F.E.A.R has everything any other FPS has to offer; . F.E.A.R - First Encounter Assault Recon a secret military agency which you can probably guess by its name was assembled to deal with unexplained phenomenon situations.
It is extremely difficult not to spoil this game by describing the plot outline. The opening cutscene explains the game’s antagonist, Paxton Fettel loses his mind and takes control of hundreds of military cloned soldiers. (Why are they cloned? I have no idea). Fettel and his army of cloned soldiers go on a rampage through a small town killing dosens of civilians and seem to be looking for someone or something. Of course it is up to you, the player, to search the city, wipe out the cloned army and stop Fettel.
The kick to the story is sometimes Fettel will be talking to you from a ghostly apparition. He will appear suddenly at the end of the hallway, but disappear as soon as you turn the corner; there is also some strange connection between a small child in a red dress, creeping you out by appearing and disappearing in the strangest places while laughter and crying fills your ears.
The best feature of F.E.A.R is the weapon control and gameplay. Most FPS have a variety of weapons you can lug around throughout the game but usually do not distinguish recoil, change in ammo or a feel for power and weight. F.E.A.R's engine allows the player to feel all these features on every weapon. A simple right click on the mouse will allow the player to aim the weapon (much like Call of Duty) and at the same time change the speed of the character to a slow walk, becoming a silence killer. When an assault gun is fired, the recoil is felt, obviously not through the mouse, but on screen; the bullets penetrating plaster walls, wooden boxes, paper, fiberglass, tile ceiling, glass windows creating a cloud of dust and debris right in your face.
Among the series of weapons you can find during the course of the game including several assault weapons, dueling handguns, a nail gun, shotgun, rocket launcher and some sort of laser rifle, all carry very unique firing recoils and bullet wounds effects to your enemy. You cannot keep picking up weapon after weapon and continue your away through the game. F.E.A.R only allows three, including your handguns if you choose to carry them (I don't :)). You also carry along a series of grenades which all seem to come in handy at one point or another. A standard HE grenade, a proximity grenade and a very cool remote grenade. Use them wisely, they are scarce. If all these weapons and grenades weren't a lot to choose from, you are given the option of hand to hand combat. Whether it is the simple melee with your rifle, slide kick, punch or jump kick you can kick the crap out of your enemy instead of riddling them with bullets. However, be prepared to face well armored opponents who will not flinch to a weak kick to the face. I got a little jump kick happy and found myself falling out of a 50 story building because I thought I was jumping into the next office. Oops.
Aside from this enormous improvement in weapon control, F.E.A.R also gives the ability to the player to slow down time. Yes this is a beaten to death feature and can be seen in Max Payne 1 and 2 and The Matrix series, but when you combine the previous feature with slowing down time, you can almost see every single dust particle rendered by your video card. Also be very prepared when you use the time button and place your shotgun an inch away from your enemy for a giant red cloud of…well you know.
To go along with bullet time, F.E.A.R carries a great soundtrack with most impressive sound effects. How about hearing every single shell that hits the ground when you're firing your assault rifle while at the same time hearing the bullets pierce your enemy and the wall? Well that is exactly what you hear… but don't be freaked out by the whispers coming from the dark hallway when your flashlight goes dead and your radio hits a wave of static and your turn around to see a child crawling on the floor towards you.
The AI in F.E.A.R is not bad. Enemies will react to certain situations which I was very impressed with. If you throw a grenade, one of the enemies will call out. "Oh ♥♥♥♥ grenade." And the team will scatter. Same situation if an enemy throws a grenade, the rest of the team will prepare for a "fire in the hole". Also if they hear you running down the hall, they will turn towards the sound of your footsteps, but you can just as easily walk in a different direction, sneak up behind them and see them all staring at the original spot they heard you from.
The cons? Well there isn't much, but one thing is for sure, you better have AT LEAST an X800 to run this game on high. I've said this before about Doom 3 and HL2, if you're playing these games on low or medium quality; you are not getting much out of these games compared to what you see with a top of the line card, especially if you are turning off shadows. F.E.A.R is a CPU, memory and graphics HOG will truly test your system.
Bottom Line: F.E.A.R is quite easily one of the most unique, freaky, best looking games to date. With a combination of today's horror qualities most resembling the Ring, graphics that utilize today's best graphics cards and the best use of gameplay in FPS, F.E.A.R will fit in your collection with ease. I wish the surrounding environment changed more throughout the game like HL2; changing the time of day, or setting instead of the same warehouse, office building, sewer maps that even still look the same, but I hardly notice when I'm trying to figure out where those whispers are coming from.
Sure at first glance F.E.A.R has everything any other FPS has to offer; . F.E.A.R - First Encounter Assault Recon a secret military agency which you can probably guess by its name was assembled to deal with unexplained phenomenon situations.
It is extremely difficult not to spoil this game by describing the plot outline. The opening cutscene explains the game’s antagonist, Paxton Fettel loses his mind and takes control of hundreds of military cloned soldiers. (Why are they cloned? I have no idea). Fettel and his army of cloned soldiers go on a rampage through a small town killing dosens of civilians and seem to be looking for someone or something. Of course it is up to you, the player, to search the city, wipe out the cloned army and stop Fettel.
The kick to the story is sometimes Fettel will be talking to you from a ghostly apparition. He will appear suddenly at the end of the hallway, but disappear as soon as you turn the corner; there is also some strange connection between a small child in a red dress, creeping you out by appearing and disappearing in the strangest places while laughter and crying fills your ears.
The best feature of F.E.A.R is the weapon control and gameplay. Most FPS have a variety of weapons you can lug around throughout the game but usually do not distinguish recoil, change in ammo or a feel for power and weight. F.E.A.R's engine allows the player to feel all these features on every weapon. A simple right click on the mouse will allow the player to aim the weapon (much like Call of Duty) and at the same time change the speed of the character to a slow walk, becoming a silence killer. When an assault gun is fired, the recoil is felt, obviously not through the mouse, but on screen; the bullets penetrating plaster walls, wooden boxes, paper, fiberglass, tile ceiling, glass windows creating a cloud of dust and debris right in your face.
Among the series of weapons you can find during the course of the game including several assault weapons, dueling handguns, a nail gun, shotgun, rocket launcher and some sort of laser rifle, all carry very unique firing recoils and bullet wounds effects to your enemy. You cannot keep picking up weapon after weapon and continue your away through the game. F.E.A.R only allows three, including your handguns if you choose to carry them (I don't :)). You also carry along a series of grenades which all seem to come in handy at one point or another. A standard HE grenade, a proximity grenade and a very cool remote grenade. Use them wisely, they are scarce. If all these weapons and grenades weren't a lot to choose from, you are given the option of hand to hand combat. Whether it is the simple melee with your rifle, slide kick, punch or jump kick you can kick the crap out of your enemy instead of riddling them with bullets. However, be prepared to face well armored opponents who will not flinch to a weak kick to the face. I got a little jump kick happy and found myself falling out of a 50 story building because I thought I was jumping into the next office. Oops.
Aside from this enormous improvement in weapon control, F.E.A.R also gives the ability to the player to slow down time. Yes this is a beaten to death feature and can be seen in Max Payne 1 and 2 and The Matrix series, but when you combine the previous feature with slowing down time, you can almost see every single dust particle rendered by your video card. Also be very prepared when you use the time button and place your shotgun an inch away from your enemy for a giant red cloud of…well you know.
To go along with bullet time, F.E.A.R carries a great soundtrack with most impressive sound effects. How about hearing every single shell that hits the ground when you're firing your assault rifle while at the same time hearing the bullets pierce your enemy and the wall? Well that is exactly what you hear… but don't be freaked out by the whispers coming from the dark hallway when your flashlight goes dead and your radio hits a wave of static and your turn around to see a child crawling on the floor towards you.
The AI in F.E.A.R is not bad. Enemies will react to certain situations which I was very impressed with. If you throw a grenade, one of the enemies will call out. "Oh ♥♥♥♥ grenade." And the team will scatter. Same situation if an enemy throws a grenade, the rest of the team will prepare for a "fire in the hole". Also if they hear you running down the hall, they will turn towards the sound of your footsteps, but you can just as easily walk in a different direction, sneak up behind them and see them all staring at the original spot they heard you from.
The cons? Well there isn't much, but one thing is for sure, you better have AT LEAST an X800 to run this game on high. I've said this before about Doom 3 and HL2, if you're playing these games on low or medium quality; you are not getting much out of these games compared to what you see with a top of the line card, especially if you are turning off shadows. F.E.A.R is a CPU, memory and graphics HOG will truly test your system.
Bottom Line: F.E.A.R is quite easily one of the most unique, freaky, best looking games to date. With a combination of today's horror qualities most resembling the Ring, graphics that utilize today's best graphics cards and the best use of gameplay in FPS, F.E.A.R will fit in your collection with ease. I wish the surrounding environment changed more throughout the game like HL2; changing the time of day, or setting instead of the same warehouse, office building, sewer maps that even still look the same, but I hardly notice when I'm trying to figure out where those whispers are coming from.