puts max payne to shame with how explosive 9mm bullets are in this game. bullets leave craters in walls, bodies turn into red mist, the least powerful electronics burst into miniature lightning storms. that's f.e.a.r. for you, baby, slow-mo destructive theatrics accompanied by some fantastic horror atmosphere. for a game with such a reputation, what else can i say about its cathartically obliterating combat and the gorgeous lighting? as many a f.e.a.r. fan will tell you: the lighting still holds up. it's better indoors, where it can showcase great dramatic shadows to not only make rooms visually impressive but also heighten tension. outdoors the lighting can be pretty flat, f.e.a.r.'s engine wasn't made for large outdoor environments. the other selling point of the lighting is how dynamic it is. there are so many hanging lights in this game that the room will turn into a dance floor when they get shot or shaken by explosions. the hanging lights become strobe lights with how they flicker from combat, making the scenes more hectic. one of my favorite instances of the lighting was a working projector that would have the image it's projecting move if you slapped the thing. replaying f.e.a.r. had me thinking about one thing: how the hell do AAA games today not manage to have good lighting? somehow the industry nailed good lighting already with f.e.a.r., obviously, and doom 3. the only recent AAA game i can think of where the lighting was insanely good (and wasnt some rtx gimmick farce) was alien isolation.

tangent aside: it's f.e.a.r. it's awesome. it's REALLY awesome. go play it if you havent and if youre into fps games, especially ones that are similar to half-life.