"How to take horror and FPS and do it almost flawlessly"

F.E.A.R. is the biggest FPS of 2005...too bad it took me until 2006 to beat it. This is a survival-horror/FPS that never strays away from being fun and creepy.

Story: 8/10

The basic premise of F.E.A.R. is that you are a member of a paranormal SWAT-esque team whose mission is to take down Paxton Fettel, a telepathic convict who has somehow been set free and taken control of a battalion of super clones (don't worry; they make fun of the cliche, too). However, it seems that Fettel is also being controlled, or at least being driven mad, by a mysterious little girl. You find out more about the past of these two characters as well as the player's character as the game progresses. The best way this information is shared is by areas where Fettel messes with your mind and creeps throws surprises at you. The other, less interesting presentation of the story is by answering machine messages and laptop computer files. If you miss these phones or laptops, you miss out on some of the story, but Monolith could have done a better job of making the player want to hear what they had to say.

Graphics: 9/10

Even a year later, this game still has some of the top graphics out there. The explosions are incredible and some of the effects that they put you through in first-person really add excitement to the game. A word to those with weaker computers: bad graphics can actually break this game. A lot of the suspense and difficulty comes from the graphics. There's actually an option to turn off the shadows, which actually sucks the fun right out of the game. When you run this game on max settings, you'll get a truly immersive experience. Physics also add some tactical advantages that can add to the gameplay, such as explosive objects and using movable objects for cover. It's basic compared to what you may see in other games, but physics are present. The only problem with the graphics is that the faces don't seem to make the characters feel alive. As a matter of fact, the only person whose face seems realistic is Paxton Fettel. Aside from that, incredible graphics.

Sound: 9/10

Ambiance is abound in this game. Every gun sounds like it looks like it should sound, every footstep sound crawls up your spine, and the creepy Hollywood-horror-movie "surprising scary thing" sound effect (you know, the short, high-pitched sound) is in effect. Voice acting is top notch, and radio commands given by the enemy can give you a good idea as to what strategies they're working out so that you can try to outsmart them. The only thing missing in this department is a main theme or even background combat music.

Gameplay: 9/10

Single Player: 9/10

The single player game is where the meat of F.E.A.R. lies. The game is basically broken into two segments: scare segments and combat segments. In the scare portions of the game, there isn't much actual difficulty. These are the portions where it's all about atmosphere and trying to creep the player out. I won't lie to you: they do a good job of it. Then there's the action segments. These portions tend to be the bulkier part of the game and they show off some impressive AI and interesting weapons. These two portions of the game are interlaced into the game to keep a flowing pace that works quite nicely. The biggest problem of the game is that you really only fight 7 types of enemies, one of which is far more abundant than the rest of them, and one only being in the last few levels. Some would say that the environments are too repetitive, and they're not entirely wrong. More diverse environments wouldn't hurt, but the game doesn't suffer from the environments either. As far as the actual combat goes, F.E.A.R. has a huge arsenal. You get to choose any three of about 10 different guns in the game, but what's really nice is how they incorporate other mechanics. You have leaning, crouching, slow motion reflexes, and a large array of melee moves. You could probably make a fighting game out of just the hand-to-hand combat in F.E.A.R. Of course, all of this is fully available in multiplayer, too...

Multiplayer: 7/10

You're not buying F.E.A.R. for its multiplayer (especially now that the multiplayer is a free download), but while it doesn't deliver in spades, it doesn't disappoint. All of the great combat mechanics are available in all of your traditional FPS modes. But that's not what makes the multiplayer good. For all of those normal game modes, there are also slow-mo versions of each one. In these modes, there is one slow-mo device that can be passed among teammates or taken from the enemy (by killing them). When in possession of the slow-mo device, you have marginally faster reflexes than everyone else in the game, giving you the ability to dish out more pain. If you're playing Capture the Flag, fighting for control of both the slow-mo device and the flag makes FPS multiplayer new again.

Overall: 9/10

This game does a lot right and only a little wrong. It's worth a buy, especially if you've got a beastly computer. If you want to show off good graphics, this is your game. If you want a FPS that does everything, this is your game. If you want a game that will scare the crap out of you, this is your game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/06