Fear Effect

"Full of originality, but just a so-so gaming experience overall..."

Fear Effect is one of those games that, while it plays well, has some interesting aspects and offers some thrills, it's still something not worth writing home about. Too many flaws bog down what could have been a great game.

Let me explain : I think the biggest flaw with this game is the characters -- all of them are uninspired mercenaries, out on a hunt for a rich man's daughter, to use her for ransom cash. Hana, the female character, is, sadly, almost nothing more than an excuse for sexual situations, and her story doesn't even begin to be told until the end of the game, in this case, Disc 4. Glas is just a testosterone-pumped jerk, and you can barely understand what the last character, Deke, is saying, because he sounds like his mouth is full of marbles. On top of that,just when you start to feel the smallest scrap of sympathy for these characters, the game is over, one of your characters is dead and you have to choose which one is going to be next to go. Go figure.

There are some strengths to this game, however, particularly the gameplay environments themselves. Example : At one point you're in a kitchen, cooks and all, and you must make it to the other end without being seen. You see the cooks tossing food to each other, talking, stomping on rats, etc. The depth is just amazing -- especially when you get to aim at a frying pan full of hot grease and it goes up in a guard's face -- ahhh, too good to be true. I really appreciated the realism and the detail put into these environments, and it was one of my main reasons for playing through this game. I especially loved the scenario for the second disc, because it reminded me of oh-so-many zombie flicks I have seen (especially Lucio Fulci's ''Zombie'') that take place in desolate jungle villages, packed with the bodies of the undead.

Another thing that I really liked about this game was the inclusion of stealth into the strategy of killing enemies. By pressing down the right button, Hana (or whoever you're playing as at the moment), crouches down and moves cautiously and noiselessly, creating the opportunity to kill enemies in one shot, as opposed to two,three or maybe even more shots. Hana comes equipped with a knife, which would be good for saving ammo while in stealth mode, except for the fact that if you screw up, you have are presented with the problem of trying to change weapons quickly. This makes the knife more trouble than it is really worth, unless you have played the game before, and know what enemies to expect ahead.

This brings me to the control scheme for Fear Effect, which I thought was a bit shoddy and usually resulted in some cheap deaths and lots of getting snagged and then running in place. The menu for equipping weapons and using items was also somewhat poorly put together. But really, all this nit-picking aside, the BIGGEST problems came when your character has to precisely stand in a specific spot to save, to use an item,etc -- and if you move at all, you have to circle around to find the right spot again. Extremely annoying and time consuming.

I should also add that the music for this game was practically non-existent, which I found to be a tremendous flaw -- unless you count the music for the opening screens, which really wasn't that great and was quite repetitive. It has always been my opinion that music helps a person remember and re-live the experience of playing a video game, and usually helps a person remember the game favorably. In the case of Fear Effect, which has at the most a forgettable soundtrack, this doesn't say much at all.

Overall -- there is no reason for me to recommend this game. You get stealth in Metal Gear Solid. You get a good plot and great characters in Metal Gear Solid. You get a great orchestrated score in Metal Gear Solid.If you still haven't gotten the point yet, let me put it blatantly -- GO PLAY METAL GEAR SOLID, especially if you haven't already. Save your six bucks (how much I bought this game for at Electronics Boutique) and put it towards one of the Metal Gear Solid games that are out (the first one, the second one, or Substance), because truly, you're not missing out on anything in Fear Effect except for a pixelated Hana wrapped in a towel. Pure and simple.

Pros --

1) great cinematic gameplay and graphics
2) great environments,interesting and full of surprises
3) stealth gameplay
4) some interesting enemies

Cons --

1) shallow, almost insulting characters
2) crappy story, seems like it's just pasted together
3) Hana is a horrible excuse for a woman
4) shoddy controls, will frustrate beyond belief

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/03