F.E.A.R. review

When you get down to it, the gun is the heartstandard fare of guns to play around with,
and soul of a first-person shooter. Even theincluding a pistol, submachine gun, assault rifle,
genre's name alludes to this fact. Yet whileshotgun, and rocket launcher. There's also a
shooters have been around for more than ascoped, burst-firing rifle that's a dead ringer for
decade, very few of them have actually capturedthe Master Chief's battle rifle in Halo 2; an
the visceral experience of firing a gun. It's anincredibly nasty particle weapon that sears the
intense and violent act, not to mention loud. Enterflesh off of opponents; and a few other special
F.E.A.R., the highly anticipated action game fromtoys. All of these weapons, even the pistols, pack
Vivendi Universal Games and developer Monolith.an incredibly satisfying punch and are capable of
F.E.A.R. is a shooter that captures the sensationputting down opponents quickly (you can even
of being in wild and desperate firefights like nodual-wield the pistols, for that extra John
other game before it, and it's an incredible, kinetic,Woo-style gunfight action). This goes against the
almost exhausting experience from start to finish.genre's convention, since most shooters usually
More than that, though, is the fact that it's alsoscale weapons on a curve, with the smaller and
one of the most atmospheric and creepy gameslighter ones being next to useless later on in the
ever made, as well as one of the most intensegame. That's not the case in F.E.A.R., and virtually
shooters that you'll play this year.every gun you use can tear up the place.
F.E.A.R. is easily one of the creepiest and mostCombat simply looks and feels spectacular,
atmospheric shooters ever made. You'll also battlebecause the environment looks like it's flying apart
some amazingly smart opponents.due to all the bullets.
The challenge in describing F.E.A.R. is trying toYou can't run around like a pack rat carrying
avoid any spoilers, because this is definitely aevery weapon, though, because F.E.A.R. limits you
game that you want to experience unspoiled.to only three weapons at a time. This is a familiar
What we can tell you is that you play as thegameplay mechanic, but it's a good one, as you
newest member of the First Encounter Assaulthave to weigh the pros and cons of each
Recon, the military's top-secret task forceweapon. Obviously, you'd like to have a
assigned to deal with paranormal situations. Andclose-range weapon, a decent long-range weapon,
the mission in F.E.A.R. certainly counts as aboveand a heavy weapon for those special
and beyond the regular call of duty. As explainedencounters, but it's tempting when the game
in the opening cinematic (which is also game's onlyoffers you a rocket launcher or a repeating
third-person cutscene), a military commandercannon that you weren't expecting. At that point,
named Paxton Fettel goes insane and takessomething has to be sacrificed. In addition to guns,
command of a secret army of cloned soldiersyou also have grenades in your arsenal. And unlike
that are telepathically linked to him. Fettel and themost shooters, in which you have to equip
battalion of elite soldiers then go on the rampagegrenades separately prior to using them, the
in a nondescript American city. They appear to begrenades in F.E.A.R. can be readily thrown at the
searching for something, though their objective ispress of a button. This eliminates the need to
a mystery. It's up to you and the rest of thefumble around with your inventory, and it opens
F.E.A.R. team, along with units of Delta Force, toup your tactical playbook, as you can toss a
find out what it is they're looking for and stopgrenade without a moment's hesitation and force
them.the enemy to react.
F.E.A.R. works because it elevates first-personF.E.A.R. is quite easily one of the most intense and
shooter combat to cinematic levels. And whileatmospheric games that you'll play, and it's a
we've certainly seen games with movie-qualityspectacular blend of horror and action. You can't
combat before, you've never seen anything quitehelp but get the feeling that this is a game that's
like this. Playing F.E.A.R. is like battling through athe spiritual successor to the original Half-Life,
John Woo movie like Face/Off, because whenbecause it's so obviously inspired by that classic
firefights happen in this game, they're downrightgame. Indeed, some of the locations and enemies
glorious to behold. Bullets tear chunks out ofare highly reminiscent of those in Half-Life. This is
concrete and wood; blinding clouds of dust anda game that will thrill you one moment and scare
debris fill the air; bodies are torn apart or slumpyou the next. F.E.A.R. features some of the
on the ground; and the deathly silence of thegreatest gunplay available in a first-person
aftermath contrasts so sharply with the sheershooter, and it elevates the art of firing a gun to
chaos that erupted only moments before.whole new levels. This alone makes it an incredibly
Gunfights in F.E.A.R. just feel right.intense game that must be experienced. The fact
Part of the reason for that is because thethat it's also one of the creepiest games ever
weapons that you have in the game feelmade is just icing on the cake.
powerful, like weapons should. You have the