Fear Effect

"Great game"

Story
When the daughter of a powerful Chinese Businessman disappears into the hedonistic and dangerous Shan Xi Protectorate under mysterious circumstances, your team of mercenaries, Hana, Glas and Deke, infiltrate the city and attempt to reach her first, hoping to leverage her safety for a sizable pile of cash. You will have to search, destroy and fire-fight your way through the chaos of an alternate reality of China and its inhabitants. Along the way, you will be constantly challenged by the henchmen of the girl's father who have no intention of letting you get to her first. Unfortunately, what begins as a mercenary snatch and grab to retrieve a young runaway instead becomes a mission more perilous and important than any you could have imagined. Taking control of your mercenaries, you must discover the truth behind the seemingly innocent girl, Wee Ming, who is hiding a secret so terrible that many will die before it is revealed. If you are to succeed you'll need to find Wee Ming and stay alive long enough to collect your reward. That's the plan. Whether things work out that way is another matter entirely. One thing is certain: You're gonna need plenty of skill, plenty of luck and plenty of ammunition. The story is great and has a lot of cool plot twists. There is also three endings which is really cool. The characters are very well developed and cool. I give story a 10/10

Control
The control is a lot like Resident Evil but harder. It takes a while to learn the controls but you will soon get the hang of it. Changing items and weapons is fast once you get the hang of the way it works but it does take a few seconds to get to the item you want. Sometimes you will have to hit the triangle button a couple times to open doors cause the hit detection is a little off in some places. I give control a 8/10

Voice Acting, Sound Effects and Music
Every character has a voice actor and they are all great. Each voice fits the character and Gras has the coolest voice ever! The sound effects are awesome, from the groans of the undead to the chanting voice in a burning village. The guns all sound like they should and the crunching of roaches and other things sound great. The music is great and fits the atmosphere very well. I give voice acting, sound effects and music a 10/10

Game Play
Each disc represents a new location. The locations are all different looking and very detailed. You don't have a health meter, instead you have a fear meter, the more intense situation the more fear your character will have and if the meter goes red then one hit can and probably will kill you. The puzzles are very well designed and not to hard but hard enough. There is a lot of instant death moments and you will probably see the Game Over screen a lot. Once you figure out what to do it becomes easier. The camera angels are real cool and feel like an action movie. I give game play a 9/10

Replay Value
The game is short and can be beat in around an hour and a half. There are three endings which adds a lot to replay value and the game is really fun. I wish it had a special mode after beating it but oh well. I give replay value a 7/10

Final Score
I give Fear Effect a 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/10/07

Game Release: Fear Effect (US, 01/31/00)