OUR PANTS ARE STILL WET !!!!
Game Informer Rank 8.5
If I can only say one thing about F.E.A.R. it would be that it earns its name. The game is filled with tons of “what the hell,” jump-out-of-your-seat terrifying moments that would be right at home in the best Japanese horror flick. One instant you’re shooting bad guys and the next you are falling into a room filled waist-high with blood, the torturous sounds of a science experiment gone wrong ringing in your ear. Later you’re diving through a window to avoid a freaky little girl with a striking resemblance to Samara from The Ring who is causing the air around you to explode.
As cool as the horror bits are, they are somewhat counterbalanced by the story, which adds nothing to the experience. Because these horror elements worked so well, I wished all the more that a compelling story were there to complement them. Instead, I got a vague tale about a failed government project and some creepy psychic/psychotic antagonists.
On the gameplay side, you have a pretty standard FPS, with one exception. In F.E.A.R. you can slow down time. While it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, it is the crucial gameplay element that elevates this FPS above average. Slow-mo does two things. First, it lets you revel in the gorgeous destruction you cause, like cutting guys in half with your shotgun. Second, it makes the game playable – without slow-mo, F.E.A.R. is brutally hard. Not that this is a bad thing; the challenging enemy AI and fast gameplay speed merely solidify your reliance on this power. I sat through the whole game with my finger poised over the slow-mo button, and enjoyed every minute of it. This feature truly makes your anticipation for the next shootout all the more thrilling.
However, given my score, you already know this game isn’t flawless. It drags a little in the middle. The wicked-cool horror bits all but disappear until the end, when they resurface. This middle section is also where the action falters; there is more switch throwing and level backtracking here than anywhere else in the game, and it just isn’t as fun. Plus, the firefights are more spread out – and by that I mean poorly paced.
F.E.A.R. also gives off an interesting illusion that you can take multiple paths through the levels, but this is not the case as every fork is just a different bend that leads to the next open area. This ends up being a problem when navigating the levels, and the lack of a map feature doesn’t help things. Many of the areas look very similar, and you’ll quickly tire of wandering through warehouses and office buildings through most of the game. All these complaints seem more forgivable once you take over a turret and gun down a dozen foes. So, if you are looking for a shooter with some teeth to play in the dark, F.E.A.R. is definitely worth a try.
-BEN REEVES