F.E.A.R. Review
(First Encounter Assault Recon)

(Contains Spoilers)

http://www.whatisfear.com/us/

I must say that First Person Shooters appear to dominate the market at the moment. It feels like every second game which is released is a shooter. Ultimately, with so much choice gamers can really take a good look at those games which are released and make a decision based on what they would believe to be a quality title. Let’s face it, if you have to spend $80 or $90 of your hard earned on a title every time it is released then you really want to be prudent about what you purchase. With this glut in the marketplace with FPSs there is a lot of repetition and second rate titles around. F.E.A.R. is a title which attempts to differ itself from other shooters by defining itself within the semi-horror genre has been growing in gaming over the last ten years. However, the horror genre is defined by far more frightening games than F.E.A.R. (Silent Hill to name just one and even Doom 3 had a better atmosphere). If you are buying F.E.A.R. hoping to have a title which will make you stain your shorts then you should think again about buying this game because it is a light weight horror title (if you could call it a horror at all). The good thing is that F.E.A.R. is a relatively solid shooter which will push your system with some of the best graphics and environments in a game released this year.

F.E.A.R. stands for First Encounter Assault Recon and is just another acronym which really means nothing. P.A.N.I.C.S. (the F.E.A.R.) parody is a far better use of an acronym (which stands for People Acting Normal In Crazy-arsed Situations and is definitely worth checking out). F.E.A.R. is an urban assault team which responds specifically to urban paranormal problems (a modern day version of Ghostbusters with a little bit more training and quite a few less laughs). The team is rallied because of a problem with a freak named Paxton Fettle who has an appetite for flesh and a desire for power (sounds like a politician really). To summarise the story you spend most of the game chasing this person down over a number of different levels. Considering this developer was responsible for Tron 2 I expected a little bit more from the game in the way of story. However, with some of the introductory scenes it is quite obvious what is going on in the game and what your relationship is within the story. The other thing I found was that through the use of telephone voicemail messages to tell the story rather than creating an ongoing process of realisation for the player the messages become frustrating, disjointed and ultimately a distraction to the general gameplay. Doom 3 and Tron 2 were far more effectively in using this as a narrative device.

There is something about the combat in F.E.A.R. which is very compelling. They have implemented a type of bullet time which is reminiscent of Max Payne and the Matrix. Once again you only have a limited use of this bullet time, however, you can get upgrades throughout the game to increase the time you have to use. It is not the bullet time which makes the combat. Combat in this game is very fast and the AI is excellent. It is good to go back and replay a set piece differently to see how the AI react. There is constant communication with the AI too. They talk to each other and give you an idea as to what they are doing. There is something satisfying about the weapons. The assault rifle and submachine gun have a very fast rate of fire and before you know it you’ve drained a clip. When your rounds hit the walls chunks come off like the awesome Lobby scene at the end of the Matrix. When you use bullet time the rounds which you fire have a wave affect which trails the bullet them and really does look awesome. You have to be careful through out the game as weapon choice and ammunition management are key factors in your success. You can only carry three weapons at any one time. Ammunition for some of the higher powered weapons is quite limited. So, you really have to choose the time and place in which you use them, or, trade them off for the submachine guns where ammunition is plentiful. Most of the set pieces in this game are excellent and my favourite is a scene where there is no combat. Towards the end of the game you go out on a street. As you walk up the street you see a large explosion a short distance away. Then you are hit with the shockwave from the detonation and then the wind. You try to walk against the wind (like the world famous mime), however, the wind is too strong and you find yourself moving backwards, eventually pinned against a fence until you pass out.

The sounds in game are excellent and if you are not in to a lot of swearing then you should give this game a miss. The voice acting is as good as it should be and the weapons sound authentic. Multiplayer is what may lift this game from being an above average first person shooter. The 1.2 patch has already contained an additional level for multiplay and the netcode has been somewhat improved since the multiplayer demo.

I didn’t want to write this review straight away. As far as I was concerned the jury was out with this game. I finished the game too quickly for my liking and I would have preferred a real horror experience rather than the light weight attempt at being scary that comes through in the game. The story in the game could have been fleshed out more and told in a far more conventional fashion rather than relying on the haphazard use of telephone messages. Needless to say they have left this game open for a sequel, so be prepared to shell out some more of your hard earned if they do what is common and release an expansion in the next six months. If you want a good laugh then check out P.A.N.I.C.S. It is by the guys who did the very successful Red Vs Blue and is an excellent continuation of their gaming satire.

Xtreme Gaming Network Score
Gameplay – 78%
Graphics – 90%
Multiplayer – 80%
Sound – 80%

Overall Score – 82% Rated!!!