F.E.A.R.

"Just another FPS"

F.E.A.R. is one of the few PC games I really wanted. The idea of a supernatural shooter really got my attention. When I found out it was coming to the 360 I was very excited. Is it worth the time or not so much? Read on!

I'm sure F.E.A.R has an interesting story at some point but the cut scenes felt long winded and were too random in presentation to really amount to much early on so maybe the plot was just lost on me. Either way you're a member of some organization that hunts down supernatural things.

The graphics in the game are a mixed bag. On one hand we have good character models but they are over used and lacking severely in variety. The levels themselves look bland and while they aren't void of items in them, they just feel empty. The best thing is how awesome the lighting is and the mood it brings to the entire game. If they did get something right in this game, it's the mood.

Sound wise the game is pretty average. Guns sound good but that isn't hard. The music got the job done but it was nothing special. Voice work was average as well.

Control in the game is fairly simple. I have yet to figure out how to melee attack or if you can't do it at all. It's a downside for renting items on-line. My problem with the control is that X picks up items and opens doors. See, you need to hold it but I found it was only responsive half of the time. Other wise I had no control complaints.

If you've played a FPS before then you know what to expect in this one. The game is split up into 12 stages but some stages are up to 3 sections long so don't think this game is that short. Getting to chapter 4 takes about 40 minutes so don't get your hopes up on a long game either.

The game is your run of the mill run and gun game. You run along linear paths, opening doors, hitting switch and picking up guns and health packs. It really isn't much else. While it's not totally linear, if you take an alternate path you'll just find some goodies or an upgrade item.

It's weird but you can always tell when an enemy will attack. You'll have gone a while with nothing and then enter a wide area and you know the guys will suddenly walk into this area. It's kind of lame when you think about it. However, the AI is pretty good. They run, take cover and look for different paths. Hell, I even had one hide from me two corners away.

So, what about the supernatural stuff? Well, you can slow down time but that doesn't count. You do run into mutilated bodies and randomly see ghastly images flash on the screen or a creepy little girl crawl towards you but vanish. The game uses these scares to fit the mood and atmosphere instead of making this a unique gaming experience.

While the game does offer a some what decent line up of guns I found that I constantly ran out of ammo because the guys take too much damage and the aiming isn't all that good.

As for replay value we do have some interesting things this time around. We have some of the hardest and glitch filled achievements to date. Kill every enemy in the game; beat the game without dying and a number of other achievements so it isn't possible to get them in just two play through. It would take a lot more. We also have on-line play which has the typical modes but I found that the people who play, and for once I had no trouble getting into an on-line game, the people curse a lot and do the typical teenager stuff. But the biggest problem is that the guys on the losing team tend to abandon ship midway which really makes on-line boring.

I was really let down by F.E.A.R. Not that I was expecting that much from it but it didn't deliver anything that I thought it would. The experience is far from scary but it does create a nice mood. The game play itself is so bland that it isn't funny and the on-line community itself hurts the replay value.

Story - 7/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound - 7/10
Control - 6/10
Game Play - 6/10
Replay value - 5/10

Final Score - 6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/07