F.E.A.R. (2005)

F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon), released in 2005 for PC, is a standout fusion of tactical (though not by much) first-person shooting and psychological horror. It combines intense, slow-motion gunfights with creepy, supernatural storytelling, driven by a mysterious little girl named Alma who haunts your every step.

The AI was advanced for its time, and in my opinion it surpassed ones such as Half-Life 2, which was an impressive feat at the time, making enemies feel smart and reactive. While the environments can get repetitive and the plot grows cryptic, the eerie atmosphere and thrilling combat make it a memorable and genre-defining experience.

The multiplayer was one of the most fun shooters that I've ever played, I really miss these kinds of multiplayer games nowadays, which are more focused on making a fun experience, rather than trying to make you addicted to grinding the ranks. I highly recommend not skipping this one if you are a fan of shooter games to any extend, it is truly one of the best the genre can provide, and I argue it is very good even if you don't like horror games, the shooting is amazingly satisfying.

Another standout is how the developers confidently blends horror pacing with explosive action set pieces. Quiet office corridors leads you into a false sense of security before erupting into chaotic firefights or unsettling visions of Alma that blur the line between reality and hallucination. The seamless transitions keep you constantly on edge, and even today, few shooters manage to balance atmosphere and mechanical satisfaction so effectively. It’s a game that understands its restraint, which is why it still holds up as a benchmark in FPS design.

I don't know if my standards for horror have dramatically shifted or what. I played this forever ago (probably around 2010) and liked it well enough. I recently decided to revisit it together with my partner and it really doesn't hold up well.

For a game called F.E.A.R. you'd think it could try a little harder than repeatedly leveraging the most overused horror movie tropes in existence. If I had a dime for every time I got to watch a sPoOky GuY walk across the far end of a hallway and disappear, I could probably buy myself a decent burger and fries. The atmosphere is neat from moment to moment but the game doesn't really do much to keep tension high so it loses its grip fast.

The gunplay is surprisingly solid despite the game's age, which is good because it makes up like 90%+ of the game's content. Guns feel punchy and satisfying even if the recoil making them bounce all over is a bit too much. Shootouts with the Replica Forces are wild and their AI is decent, if a little silly sometimes. I think in a much shorter game I could praise this point more, but combat at the beginning is virtually the same as 7 hours later so it gets stretched pretty thin.

The story similarly felt very thin. There's enough content here for something like maybe a bit less than half as long as it is. There are long segments where virtually nothing occurs save for minor detail reveals via missable interactable laptops. In fact after the game sets up the plot in the beginning the only things of note that occur over the next 6-7 hours are that you run into a hackerman dude and the daughter of the Armacham CEO-- they both run away from you. Then in the final hour and a half the game rapid fires actual plot at you and ends unceremoniously, leaving a bunch of questions only vaguely answered, if that.

I feel like I've been posting a lot of very negative horror game reviews lately and I'm starting to question if I'm just being too critical or something. Agh. Hopefully I'll play or replay a solid one soon.

I originally played this game when it came out on the Xbox 360 and I remember enjoying it, so I decided to give the PC version a try.

I'm glad that I did. While the game is a little dated, the visuals still largely hold up. The game provides a decently unsettling ambiance, but clearly gun play was the focus for this title and not really horror. Still, when you're crawling through an air duct and the something super natural happens, its still entertaining.

The real entertainment value is the combat. Enemies attempt to coordinate, outflank and flush you from cover. The AI isn't top notch, but its still pretty solid, especially for a game that's almost 20 years old.

There's a decent variety of weapons and all of them are fun to employ against your foe. Blood splatter, physics and semi-destructible environments make the missions a real joy to shoot your way through. F.E.A.R. doesn't give you complicated puzzles, or waste time with complex gameplay. They just place a gun in your hand and tell you to kill anything that moves, which provides an overall satisfying experience.

Bottom Line: Solid shooter that was a lot of fun to revisit.

PS: Ragdolling baddies in bullet-time never gets old.

When FEAR first came out, I wouldn't have given it much thought. I think I was in a phase where things like this I viewed as "not for me." I think it might have been kind of a part of my life where I was in a "not like other boys" kind of headspace. Not that any of my friends talked about this game, and I doubt any of us had a PC that could actually run the game. But the beauty of current digital distribution and my PC from almost two decades later, I can now play FEAR, and see what was going on.

I remember reading something, or maybe watching something, that sort of lamented the amount of bullet time effects in shooter games. That it was becoming too generic of a choice or something, but honestly, I can scarcely think of two mechanics that go as well together as first person shooting and bullet time effects. FEAR nails that so hard, too.

FEAR is a shooter through and through. There's no problem that can't be solved by going pew pew at the bad guys. Unless you have to flip a switch or press a button, but that in turn means that you will go pew pew at more bad guys.

The gunplay is absolutely the highlight of this game. When I learned that I could dual wield pistols I knew that the devs understood what made the game fun. This game is like some bizarre mishmash of a Hard Boiled and The Ring. If you like shooters, this is for you. The Point Man must look like a god of death running around, ducking behind crates, charging with a shotgun. It's so much fun. Some of the particle effects slightly hinder the gunplay, though. Dust clouds pop up and obscure vision a bit too easily for my taste. I would also recommend changing the color of the crosshair.

The environments can sometimes be a bit confusing to navigate also.

While FEAR is ostensibly an action-horror game, the horror never felt as big of a part of the game to me. There are some very good scares, though. Well framed through the first person eyes of the Point Man. One actually got me to jump a bit at one point.

I paid pretty good attention and I think the story made sense. It involves a bit of "because I say so" style logic, but I think that kind of fits the kind of conspiratorial tone of the game. One point on the story side that kind of shocked me, was that this may have beaten Bioshock to the punch about the silent protagonist thing. That got me to cock my head and go "huh." While the story isn't as central of a part of the experience as it is with Bioshock, it stood out to me.

In total, FEAR is wildly fun. It might be a good transition into October, where we are bound by law to play spooky games.

F.E.A.R. is an exceptionally good game in every possible way. It got a great story line, horror elements, a perfect AI, intense action and beautiful graphics and sound, even to this day.

Back in 2008, when I first bought this game, I did not know what to expect. I thought it would be a horror game in which you need to run constantly from some girl. I was half right. When I first played it, I immediately got a sense of dread and discomfort and when the first horror elements came to play, I pooped my pants. I could not play this game without someone sitting next to me. It was just to damn scary, and for that it will always have my deepest respect.

The story is powerful and interesting, I am not going to spoil it, this is something you need to experience for yourself. It has kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole game and made an impression on me that lasts forever.

The graphics in F.E.A.R. are beautiful. They are dark and gloomy and gives a nonstop sense that something is going horribly wrong the whole game. The fact that you need to use a flashlight constantly and risking that you see something ungodly afterwards keeps you shivering.

The sound is also perfect, the sound of bullet impacts, gun shots, explosions, and the bone screeching sound effect when you see something straight out of a nightmare really enhanced the experience. When you shoot a pistol or shotgun the blast sounds legit and really makes you feel that you are shooting a freaking gun instead of a pea shooter. The sounds enemies make when you kill their asses or blast them out of existence is also really, really satisfying.

F.E.A.R. has some of the best AI I have ever seen in a video game, even to this day. The AI is simply perfect. Enemies communicate with each other; they react to your every move and adapt their strategy on it. Also, when you encounter a squad of four enemies and obliterate three of their buddies, the fourth one panics and his accuracy and will to fight drops instantly. Comments like “We can’t stop him” gives you a feeling of power, you are in control of this fight. Enemies can lose sight of you in a battle, giving you back your edge. They are definitely not the bullet sponges in games today.

The slow-motion feature in F.E.A.R. was also unique for its time and really helps you in your fights. If you are flanked by the smart AI Replica soldiers you use your slow motion to take back control of the situation. The only downside of this, is that the game is quite easy because of it. If you are having trouble with a certain part, just use your slow motion and everything will be fine. Especially when you upgraded its bar to the max.

The game has a perfect balance between intense action and horror and sometimes both at the same time. I never had to change so many diapers on myself as with this game. Nowadays I played F.E.A.R. so much I know every jump scare, every horror scene and fight so it is nothing special anymore but still it gets me sometimes.

I cannot think of anything bad about this game. It is just perfection.

F.E.A.R. has a special place in my black heart and will always be one of the games that I can play anytime, anywhere. The replay value is high for me. In my opinion, it is a masterpiece.

I recommend F.E.A.R. in every way. You must have played it at least once before you grow old and senile.

I've been meaning to replay F.E.A.R. for quite a while and I'm glad that I enjoyed it just as much as I did, back when I first played. While it didn't age VERY well, it still plays like a charm, owing a lot to the first Half Life.

Love it or hate it, F.E.A.R., alongside RE4, is one of the best games to blend horror and action together. It's a little more action oriented than it should, but its suffocating creepy atmosphere and ominous pacing keeps you on your toes. You never know if you're going to get jumpscared by a terrifying little girl or shot by a dozen heavy armored replica soldiers. It seems weird and it kinda is, but it works! I believe that half of the reason why it works is due to its strange story. It's a mystery told in 11 chapters that still grips me to this day. It's not INCREDIBLY well-written, but it's engaging. It made me want to get to the ending and uncover whatever the hell was happening in the Origin project. Alma, Fettel and even you, the silent protagonist, are driving forces in a quiet story that, in my opinion, did not disappoint.

Gameplay is also quite competent. Weapon variety is good, using SlowMo gives you a huge boost in combat, guns are impactful and the action is way more tactical than I remembered. Enemy variety sucks, but the AI compensates, since they constantly try to flank you, react to your actions and force you to play smart to get to the next area. And while the game might be challenging, it plays so nice that I love how accessible it is for anybody to just pick up and shoot. One other thing that I LOVE is the sound design. Horror games usually nails this, but F.E.A.R. took it to another level. Do play this with a headset, please!

F.E.A.R.'s biggest enemy is the level design. I usually prefer linear games than sandbox/open-world ones, but this is a perfect example of linear design gone terribly wrong. Levels are a repetitive, unimaginative and bland hallway fest. Some corridors feel like labyrinths. I got lost so many times on some areas that I just got bored! The pacing is not bad, but its straightforward nature hurts how well the game could hold up nowadays. I may love the story, but MY GOD does it take its time to unfold. You're basically left in the dark for the first 7 chapters, with minimal information and the same objective. And It's not like they did not have anything to reveal, they just decided to wait and rush it by the end. I love the final chapters, but if the game just focused in telling the story and frightening you more than throwing more enemies in the way, it would be much better.

Also, whose idea was to make the flashlight so annoying? And why are there MECHS in the game? They feel so out of place...

F.E.A.R.'s problems did not break the game in any way for me. This is still an amazing hair-raising experience. It's easy to recommend this to anyone, since it works so well as an fps and as a horror game. Sure, it didn't age like a fine wine, but it does its job of keeping you hooked and terrified.