Fear Effect

"Sexy Espionage Action? I’ll have some of that."

When I first picked this game up in my local video rental, it was because all of the ‘good’ games were checked-out. Little did I know that this game would quickly become to be one of the greatest discs to ever spin under my Playstation’s hood.

Gameplay: 10/10
This game has exactly what I’ve been wanting in terms of gameplay for a long time now: the action never slows down! The latest batch of ‘good’ games has virtually become text-based games, leaving the player to swim through tons and tons of over-necessary text. Luckily, FE is light on the text, but still heavy on the plot, leaving plenty of room open for action. The Resident Evil-inspired puzzles can leave the player stumped for hours at a time with no clue as to what should be done. While this may be the game’s only downside, the upside to this is the extreme reward and satisfaction you feel when you overcome your obstacle. Another great part of this game is the espionage-element that is involved. Since the success of Metal Gear and it’s sneaky-espionage action, too many other games have tried to capitalize with a ‘sneaky’ game of their own, only to fail miserably. Fortunately, FE can pull off the espionage area of the game with near-perfect success.

Graphics: 10/10
The crystal clear in-game graphics along with the anime-inspired cut-scenes make some pretty impressive sights. You’ll get lost just looking at the beauty of the image in front of you. It may not look realistic, but that’s not what the creators were shooting for. They have created one of the most original graphic engines and made it work perfectly with the top-notch action.

Audio: 9/10
The audio is always right there with you, following along with every thing that happens in the game. The highs, lows, and flowing tunes are set just perfect with this game. That adds a whole new dimension of depth to the action genre, improving upon what Metal Gear Solid layed down.

Replay Value: 8/10
For some reason, I found myself not wanting to play through this game again, despite the multiple endings, which usually have me coming back for more. Maybe it was that the difficulty was just a bit much at times, maybe it was the other games I was aching to play. I don’t exactly know why, though. This may be different with you though.

Overall Score: 9/10 (not an average)

This is one of the finest overall packages to hit the shelves in a while. I recommend you run out and get it right now. I will definetley be one of the first in line to pick-up the sequel.

~Gilgarash (gilgarash@hotmail.com) – 3 July, 2000

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/04/00, Updated 07/04/00