 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Day 1 Studios |
| Publisher: | Vivendi Games | |
| Genre: | FPS | |
| ESRB: | Mature | |
| # Of Players: | 1-16 | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | PlayStation Network (online play) | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Most developers take the easy way out when creating first-person shooters; that is, load the game up with non-stop action, and hope to keep the gamer busy enough to not notice its shortcomings. If the goal is to scare the player, developers will often try to go for the “cheap” scares rather than building true fear. As a result, Monolith’s F.E.A.R. was a rare treat when it arrived on PC in the fall of 2005, and now it’s one of the best FPS titles on PS3.
What makes F.E.A.R. unique is that it truly lives up to its name. Sure, it goes for the cheap scare now and then, but it also builds up a spooky atmosphere throughout the game that instills in the player as close to a constant state of fear as any medium can offer. For example, one of my favorite scare moments occurs early on in the game. As the player starts to descend a ladder, as he has already done countless times before, he turns around to come face to waist with a ghostly little girl (more on her later) standing right beside the ladder. These sorts of moments occur frequently throughout the game, leading the player to often doubt whether what he’s seeing is indeed a threat or not. This is the same sort of approach some survival horror titles (notably Silent Hill) also take, leading many to accurately refer to F.E.A.R. as a sort of survival horror FPS.
As a new member of the elite First Encounter Assault Recon unit, you’ve been made point man and thus get to do all the dirty work. Despite being new to the team you’re up to the task, thanks to your unique set of super senses (I’ll leave it up to you to find out why you have them). As most FPS fans should be able to guess by now, this translates into good ol’ fashioned bullet time. SlowMo (as it’s known here) can be used throughout the game, based on a meter tracking how long it can be used and filling rather quickly over time. Reflex Boosters can be found throughout the game, increasing the size of the meter. Other collectibles include medkits, permanent health boosts, armor, and of course various weapons.
You’re assignment is to take down Paxton Fettel, a telepath with an army of super soldier Replica clones at his disposal. Oh yeah, and he also has an appetite for human flesh that allows him to absorb the memories of those he devours. For reasons unknown (initially at least), Fettel and his army take over various locales throughout the city, and it’s up to your team to stop him. Similar to the girl, Paxton will show up frequently in the distance throughout the game, distorting the player’s view and leaving a trail of horrors and dismembered bodies in his path. Speaking of the girl, she’s ultimately central to the overall storyline and exhibits incredible supernatural abilities. While most of the time her appearances are harmless (but downright spooky), she’s dangerous enough on occasion to be a force to be reckoned with.
Fettel’s team of super soldiers is also a force to be reckoned with, and has A.I. rivaling the best any FPS has to offer. The team will take cover, work together, and flank effectively. Most environments have multiple paths, and enemies will actually work together to cover them all well. In fact, I was surprised on several occasions by enemies that flanked me without me even knowing it until they opened fire. That being said, their one Achilles heel is that they talk too much, often repeating the same few phrases over and over again. While this is slightly annoying from a design standpoint (but makes sense given the fact that they’re clones), the real problem is that this often made it too easy to predict their next moves after you figure out what each phrase corresponds to.
Posted: 2007-08-22 21:02:38 PST