F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon

This is certainly the best First Person Shooter (FPS) that I've ever played. The AI is amazing. They do things you would never expect an AI to do. They do things like having one guy shoot suppressive fire over your head while another comes around behind you. There are very few places in the game where you can count on the fact that no one can come up behind you. As I've basically said, the game play alone makes this game worth playing. And, though I haven't yet beaten the game, the story seems to be entertaining also. There are some drawbacks, however. Because the majority of the game is so well put together, the flaws are fairly noticeable (but they are all very small and definitely don't detract from the the enjoyment). One of the flaws I've noticed is that vases don't seem to break. I've shot them and while they're not just scenery and they do fall to the floor, they still don't break. I don't know about you, but I've never seen a vase in real life that could take a shell full of buckshot and fall to the floor intact. The other major drawback is also one of the good things. The game looks amazing. Unfortuantly, this means that it takes a very powerful computer to play well. I know no one else who has a computer that can play the game. All in all, if you have a computer that can play the game, it is well worth the price (that is, I paid the $50 that most computer games are when they are first released).

Edit: I was wrong about the vases. The vases in single player do break. The vases in multiplayer do not. They are objects to be avoided otherwise you will kick them and give away your position more readily

I don't often play videogames these days, but I felt compelled to test out my new PC with this game after reading rave reviews. When it came out in 2005 it seemed to be an underdog - it received glowing comments from critics but didn't make a huge splash like Halo or Half-Life. Now, with its debut on XBox 360, it seems to be making more of a fuss; but this game is almost a year old (in its PC form) and I hadn't heard a thing about it until a few weeks ago.

I found it at Circuit City and brought it home. The packaging didn't look too promising because I'm not really into tactical shooters or Army combat games, but after installing the five discs (!) onto my hard drive and running the game I immediately realized it wasn't anything like what I had expected.

The storyline is effective even if it's a rip-off of the whole Asian horror cinema influence of recent years. It's basically just "The Grudge" with combat action as far as the story is concerned (although the actual gameplay differs from most combat shooters). You're a member of an elite squadron of marines known as "F.E.A.R." (it stands for something like First Encounter Action Recon, which is kind of contradictory since recon doesn't usually involve much action, but oh well).

FEAR traces supernatural occurrences and your first mission is to assassinate a man who has become possessed by the spirit of a young girl who is causing him to kill and cannibalize people.

The game moves through different terrain but I was surprised by how well it sets everything up. If this were a film no doubt its plot line would be sabotaged by critics but as an interactive game it works very well. It's a cinematic experience and the cut-scenes and dramatic action sequences work well - you can tell many of the high-profile action set-ups were developed extensively for the player to experience the full benefit of the "cinematic gameplay" advertised on the back of the box. This is the first time I've played a game and felt like almost every single level had been designed to flow in a very specific, cinematic way - Half-Life 2 was similar but a bit also enabled more free-range. FEAR kind of manipulates you into following a specific path to complete levels, but it works to this game's benefit because there are some spectacular sequences. When there's an explosion you don't just get the same effects used over and over. When you shoot someone they don't fall down the same way as every other person who falls does.

It's also the creepiest game I've ever played. "Doom 3" wasn't scary because there were too many monsters and it became too repetitive. But FEAR works well because you never know what to expect and they don't over-do the occurrences of the supernatural. One part of the game in particular that freaked me out was when I was crouching in a ventilation shaft, and as a pipe burst and steam hissed in front of the character, the ghost-girl appears out of nowhere scurrying towards you through the dark like the creatures at the end of "Aliens" (I think it was a purposeful reference to the film). Very nicely done.

The shift between action and supernatural works most of the time, although I think sometimes the balance is thrown off a bit. On one level in particular you spend about thirty minutes walking around an office building shooting at enemies, and suddenly the last ten minutes of the level turn into a supernatural thriller and suddenly it seems like all the "regular" villains have completely disappeared. And just as soon as the supernatural stuff vanishes the bad guys are back again. I think in the next game they should develop a better mix of action with supernatural in regards to integrating the enemies into the supernatural sequences as well; otherwise, it feels a bit wishy-washy.

This is a small complaint. The game kept me riveted. It also features some of the best gameplay and special effects I've ever seen in a game. It takes the cinematic integration of Half-Life 2 and takes it up a notch. The cut-scenes make it feel more like an actual movie at times and the enemy AI is the best I've seen in a game since Half-Life 2 - they react realistically to what you do in the game, and interact with each other over their radios.

Overall this is one of the most memorable games I've ever played and certainly following suit of Half-Life 2 as being one of the most revolutionary FPS games of the new millennium. These new game engines are changing the face of their genre and integrating cinema into the game universe in a way unlike ever before.

Since i bought this game, i am playing it over and over, because it's a very special game. Why? Because the effects...the horror this game has...it's almost as a combination of "The Ring" and a John Woo film. The Slow-Mo and the bullets flying through the air is almost as in The Matrix films, and the psychopath killing, and the weird story which is getting cleared minute by minute. I liked Fettel's crazy character...the one that slaughters people. And the so surprising story is making me jump off my chair. The game is so scary your fingers will start to twitch. Once you play it, you can't get your hands off it. Recommended.

I am not the biggest shooter fan in the world. Normally, if I do play a shooter there has to be some sort of twist for it to be fun for me. In this one you have a supernatural presence throughout the game that appears here and there, usually in interludes between chapters. The story, a special missions force is sent to capture the leader of a mysterious army, an army that does whatever the leader says, a sort of clone army. Well there is more than there seems, as this little girl starts appearing here and there and really causing havoc. You spend the game trying to learn her secret and the connection between her and the military commander and even yourself. As far as shooters this one is pretty cool, I loved the shotgun weapon the best as everything else ran out of ammo a bit fast. The fighting is fast, and it is rather hard to be stealthy as the enemy soldiers lock on you rather quickly. Still, you get your shots in...there is a lot of tension too as you never know what will be thrown your way next. A few enemies are a pain even on easy level, but for the most part it was not that hard navigating through this game to the somewhat bizarre ending.

This review is of the Director's Cut(!) DVD version. I'll start with going over the bonus material. There is a well-made behind-the-scenes making-of documentary, a one hour commentary track(no, I swear, this isn't a movie) by a handful of the most important crew members, a short and excellent(though they overdid the lighting) live-action prequel, and what may only be episode 1(?) or something of the Machinima series, which is pretty funny. This FPS title has aspects of survival horror, and its marvelous atmosphere is the best part of it. The sound is especially vital to this; it is extremely carefully crafted to evoke pure psychological terror. It is not noisy, and it does not grate on the nerves. The unnerving audio, the well-composed music, not to mention the portions of this that are nearly silent all make this thoroughly creepy. Whether or not it ultimately pays off is depends on each individuals expectations. The voice acting is also immensely good, with no exceptions. Every now and then, apparitions and such show up before your eyes. This mood is frankly so effective that it successfully distracts you from the entirely linear(if well-designed and purty) levels. The replay value lies solely in the four difficulty(you can change it at any time) settings, and trying multi-player. It has a dozen maps and nine modes. A couple of them employ Reflex Time, the feature that allows you to slow down time. Now, I am compelled to point out... you are not Neo. In fact, you're not even Mouse. You can not dodge bullets. It can be useful to you, and in certain situations, necessary. And it definitely is pretty cool. I like it enables you to fire at a grenade after tossing it and, I kid you not, it will explode in mid-air. You also get to play with proximity mines and remote bombs, that you can pick up if you don't, you know, blow 'em up. Every weapon in this is unique, and has pros and cons to it. Apart from a pistol(that can be dual-wielded), an SMG, a shotgun and an assault rifle, the arsenal has stuff that is fairly sci-fi, such as the triple-barrel rocket launcher, and the particle-based thing, that either has enemies exploding in blood, or instantly burning off their skin, leaving their body as a charred skeleton. You can carry three at a time, so you have to be selective. Melee combat is an option, if it, in spite of being powerful, doesn't seem viable that often(I kinda wonder why they put that much effort into it as they clearly did... there's a nice assortment of moves). You can affect the environment to a reasonable extent. The physics engine is expertly done, you can really see the impact that you have on your surroundings. The graphics are impeccable; animations are smooth, and FX(water, reflection, etc.) are astonishing. The puffs of smoke and such if you hit other stuff than the foes can make it impossible to tell what's going on beyond the cloud; was this intentional? It is the only negative to the visual side of this. Well, apart from those red edges during RT that blur out whether or not you get attacked. And it is a tad awkward that you can activate some of the monitors you find, but not all of them, because you can't properly tell unless you point straight at them, and it'll either give the message that you can activate it or not. You may already know that this is similar to Half-Life. You always control the camera, and it remains bound to the first person perspective(that does mean that you have to look in the right directions to not miss anything). Cut-scenes often allow you to move around. Heck, you can see your arms, hands, legs and feet, if you're climbing, swimming or otherwise in a position to spot them in real life. And the AI is rather well-done. It is adaptive, and they will jump over railings to get to you, take cover, lay down suppressing fire, etc. They can hear you, see you, as well as spot you by the beam of your trusty flashlight(with batteries that die annoyingly fast... well, they recharge swiftly, too). It would be nice with a wider spectrum(gotta love that the majority of them let out a blood-curdling scream upon their demise), and for seeming imposing, this lacks one that stands out, in the "I don't wanna be fighting *that* guy!" way. Finally, this feels like you're in a film. Specifically, like The Ring meets Universal Soldier, as directed by John Woo. Yeah, let's be honest; this is not exactly original. It takes elements already done masterfully elsewhere, and puts them together. I'm not claiming it does a poor job of that, and it would be a shame if anyone reading this thought that I did not enjoy this, as, in both cases, nothing would be further from the truth. With that said, Max Payne did Bullet-Time, and it was better(and infinitely more helpful) there. And we've seen young, terrifying girls before. However, this might be the first VG to hold one(not to mention the adding of mind-controlled troopers to the mix, that's new), and again, it is done oh so well. The plot and the mystery are interesting(if one twist is *way* too excessively hinted at, and immediately figured out). I gotta admit, for a while, after it initially grabbed my attention(in a stranglehold), I wasn't sure why I was getting tired of it. Then I realized it: It's so repetitive. For as nifty the haunted kind of thing and the isolation is, the game-play usually consists of searching and battles against the handful of types of opposition. It grows stale. The ending isn't half bad. Not everyone will like it. The humor varies, it can make you laugh sometimes. There is disturbing content, violence(a bit of it brutal/gory), and gratuitous swearing in this. I recommend this to any fan of the concept. 8/10