The story is somewhat creepy. The player takes control of the newest member of the F.E.A.R. team – an acronym for First Encounter Assault Recon. Yes, that is a blatant contradiction. Anyway, F.E.A.R. is a crack team of military types, specializing in dealing with those paranormal situations. Sort of like the Ghostbusters, expect with more guns. And less vacuum cleaners. And less humour. And much more violence. Ok, so nothing like the Ghostbusters, then. Digressing, an army of clone soldiers, led by a somewhat eccentric commander Fettel, have taken over a facility, searching for… Something. It’s up to F.E.A.R. to discover just what it is they are up to, and put a stop to it. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that, but there’s no need to spoil it here.
Ok, you hide, and I’ll count to 10
F.E.A.R. creates an atmosphere not like any game before it. ‘Horror’ elements have been employed – expect to see apparitions appear in the distance, mutter something, then crumble to dust. Alone, they aren’t especially scary – just a bit creepy, and help draw you into the story. Who are they? What do they want? But, there’s a lot more to it than just weird apparitions. Occasionally, the HUD starts to shudder in and out of view, usually accompanied by either an apparition or some vague message from an evil voice. Then there are the long periods of no fighting, which is more terrifying than actual combat – you just know there is going to be a bad guy around the next corner… And when there isn’t you just get a little more edgy. And then there’s the artificial intelligence.
The AI plays a huge role in F.E.A.R. – largely because it’s some of the best we’ve ever encountered. These soldiers actually think and communicate –quite effectively, too. Unlike most enemies these days, they are constantly on the move. They rarely hide behind the same cover for more than a few seconds, as they are always trying to find a better position. You think you might have one pinned down behind a box and attempt to ambush them – only to find they aren’t where you thought they were. They also do a great job of pinning you down, and attempting to flank – sometimes from BOTH sides, if the level design allows for it. The AI is extremely devious and intelligent, truly adding an awful lot to the experience.
The biggest new element F.E.A.R. brings to the FPS genre are somewhat advanced melee attacks. Right-clicking will produce the usual bash attack with your gun, but, impressively, jumping and right-clicking produces an impressive scissors kick – very useful when you run out of ammo up close. Crouching and right-clicking will also produce a sliding kick, which can also be used to dive behind cover in tight situations.
Like a deer in headlights
But aside from the melee combat, as far as gameplay goes, F.E.A.R. controls just like pretty much every FPS game out there. WSAD controls movement, mouse the crosshair, blah, blah, blah. Notable is the Max Payne-style bullet-time that has been implemented – and it’s just as fun as it ever was here. In fact, it’s actually quite imperative – often you will be overwhelmed by hordes of clones, and the four or five you can shoot down while the bullet-time meter depletes can make the opposition manageable. Your weapons collection is limited to only three at a time, adding a nice element of strategy. Thankfully, most of the weapons are actually quite good, with the weakest being the initial machine gun the player starts the game with. Most players will quickly upgrade to the standard clone machine gun (far more accurate) the ever-present shotgun, and even the rather useful dual pistols, as well as some other goodies.
Despite all this though, F.E.A.R. does have a couple of issues. Most annoyingly is the level design. Time and time again you will find yourself battling through either a pseudo-industrial facility or an office building. As if these repetitive locations weren’t enough, each room inside them also seems exactly the same – same grey walls, bland desks, etc. Also adding to the been-there, done-that feel are the enemies. For the majority of the game, that’s all you will face, barring the odd super soldier or stealthy ninja. Yes, they are clones, but some sort of variety between them would have been much appreciated.
Typical of most shooters, F.E.A.R. clocks in at around the nine to twelve hour mark, depending on just how talented the player is, and the difficulty level chosen (which can be changed mid game should things get too hard, by the way). Then there’s the multiplayer. The usual game types are all present – deathmatch, team deathmatch, and so on. Bullet-time also surfaces in this multiplayer – one player can control it at a time, and the person who kills them gets to use it, and so on. Surprisingly, multiplayer manages to capture the same tension of the single player game, and will keep most players busy for quite a while. If there is a problem with the multiplayer, it’s that servers aren’t especially busy, unfortunately.
Bullet-holes, dust, blood – all staples of the F.E.A.R. visual experience. F.E.A.R. is gorgeous, especially in the effects department. Bullets create craters in walls, bullet-time shows the bullet spiral in the air, and some of the special weapons look absolutely stunning – even the mess they leave after use. But, the environments and character models are depressingly repetitive, putting a bit of a dampener on the visuals. On top of that, it requires a beast of a PC to run at anything resembling the high settings. A 9800pro is the absolute minimum you will want to run this with, and you’ll want a lot more.
How’s it hangin’?
It was mentioned earlier that F.E.A.R. has a really thick atmosphere – and a lot of the credit for that should go right to the audio department. It is, in every sense of the world, stunning. The score is extraordinarily unnerving – as can be evidenced right from the first title screen. The slow, constant pace in areas with no enemies pushes the player right to the edge of the seat, making them more and more anxious with each passing moment. You can also hear everything the soldiers do, too – sudden sounds like cans on the ground being kicked will send you into a blind panic. Firefights too sound quite insane, with bullets rattling in every direction, breaking glass, walls and even bones – it really is intense stuff, and something the developer deserves recognition for.
F.E.A.R. does not revolutionize the stagnant FPS genre – it doesn’t try to – but, it is an incredibly intense experience. The artificial intelligence is right out of the top draw. It is one of the best examples of an audio experience on the PC. The graphical effects are quite stellar. And, the atmosphere is indescribable – the creepy apparitions and story make the game a somewhat disturbing experience. Then there’s the multiplayer, which manages to be just as intense as the main game. Its faults – namely extremely repetitive environments and enemies, and fact it’s a resource hog, to name the important ones – are few, and don’t effect the game too much. All in all, F.E.A.R. is arguably the best single-player shooter this year.
Doesn't come anywhere near HL2 for gameplay though, but I suppose that was to be expected.
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