FEAR is a First Person Shooter that puts us in the shoes of a nameless recruit to the paranormal task force dubbed as the First Encounter Assault Recon. Their latest mission is to take down a telepathic, psychic commander that has taken control of an entire battalion of mindless clone soldiers for purposes unknown. As we are sent in to deal with the situation, the title chooses to take it slow and allow the tension to build as we follow the aftermath of physic Paxton Fettel’s actions. The grim atmosphere, the eerie soundscape, and above all else, this title’s excellent lighting are strong points of its horror theme. Not only do you feel the ever-looming threat of a battalion of super-soldiers, there are also supernatural aspects that hint that you truly don’t know what you are up against.
The story is a slow burner, and most of the crucial pieces of background information are found either via laptops or recordings on answering machines. Both of them are entirely optional, allowing you to solely focus on getting through a level while rewarding those that go out of their way with added context to the events unfolding around them in an organic way. It won’t be long until your mission’s danger quickly escalates, and you find yourself putting any weapon you can get your hands on to good use. Chances are that you may have heard of this title’s much-touted AI. If not, you are in for quite a surprise when you get a taste of combat. Your foes are not superhuman. They will quickly go down under your gunfire but possess intelligence in self-preservation, teamwork, and tactics that far exceed most games to date.
These mindless soldiers, known as Replicas, will do all they can to take you down efficiently. They will lay down suppressive fire to keep you pinned and flank you, flush you out of an advantageous position with a grenade, and reposition themselves when you get too close, among many other things. Facing just a small squad can be quite the challenge if you don’t learn to adapt and respond as dynamically as them in a fight. It is nearly mesmerizing seeing them in action. They have such a wide array of abilities that dying in a fight and heading right back into it can lead to entirely different things happening. No two battles feel the same. You are not simply shooting at one another until either side loses, you are actively trying to outsmart them and keep your nerves in check during the unpredictability the next moment may bring. One moment you may be making a dash towards an enemy only for him to drop a bookshelf between you, only to jump over it just in time, jump kicking him, and blasting his panicked partner with a shotgun.
In the case of that bookshelf scenario, that could have ended very differently. Getting stuck out in the open for whatever reason can quickly spell your end. You can not withstand much damage and can be gunned down in the blink of an eye on higher difficulties. It is not a cover shooter, yet you want to have a good solid object between you and the bullets flying towards your direction. Staying in one place for too long is equally as deadly thanks to the formidable AI we are up against in where we can quickly go from the hunter to the hunted. There is no regenerating health; instead, we can carry up to ten med-kits to make use of when we see fit. They can be found all over the place in great abundance. It does make the game easier than it otherwise would have been if given more sparingly but also encourages bolder actions by the player. Why use your shotgun when you can go in there barehanded and make good use of the surprisingly varied melee moveset. The over-the-top rag-doll physics is just icing on the cake.
Speaking of physics, the environments are quite intractable. From jump-kicking a monitor off a table to messing around with a phone cord, it is filled with small details like these that will massively pay off during a gunfight. The destruction that occurs in a battle is a sight to behold. Chunks being shot right out of a wall, a stack of papers exploding into the air from a stray bullet, and sparks clamoring off metal surfaces. As the dust kicks up from prolonged fighting, it can start to become challenging to see. It complements the urgency to move when you are being suppressed by gunfire in cover perfectly. While the environments are not fully destructible, meaning that your cover can not be broken through despite the chunks falling off, it certainly does become a real struggle to see from all the dust hanging in the air nearby.
One of the most, if not the most important thing to make note of in combat is the enemy chatter. They do not just spout lines randomly. Everything they say has meaning, and they will act upon it. Small things like hearing one of them say they see a flashlight and another saying to go check it out lets you know that they are wary, but have not spotted you yet. If you hear the words “grenade out”, you will soon learn to haul it right out of there. A more subtle line is when they start asking for reinforcements. That clues you in that they are low on numbers and hearing them freak out as more bite the dust is a real power trip. You will always be alone and outnumbered throughout your journey. There is, however, an ace in your sleeve that can turn the tide of a fight towards your favor. It is the ability to activate slow motion. It does not let you move any faster nor increases your fire rate, the benefit it provides is that you can calmly analyze the situation and pull off stunts that would otherwise require split-second timing. That is in addition to being able to admire all of the effects like environment debris, bullets whirring through the air, and an enemy slowly flying through the air from the force of your shotgun.
I keep bringing up the shotgun, but it is honestly nothing special. It is the slow-motion, impact damage, and environmental effects from bullets that elevates it into something I get hyped about just talking of. It is a rather poor weapon when more than a couple of feet away from your target. You can carry up to three weapons at any one time. They range from your typical choice of SMG, Machinegun, and Shotgun, to more hi-tech such as a railgun or a triple-burst rocket launcher. All are viable options to take with you, though the more powerful weapons need ammo that are far more difficult to come across. Exploring a level’s nook and crannies can reward you with not just ammo, but with permanent boosts to either your health or slow-motion length. Your slow motion meter refills rapidly, though the few extra seconds gained from this pickup can save you and become invaluable the more you find. After all, this is a supernatural task force you are in, so soldiers will not be all you face.
In truth, this isn’t that scary a game. It does have its cool moments, and it may cause you to jump a few times, yet the supernatural aspects are mostly visual & completely harmless. The vast majority of the enemies are earthly beings or machines. Not helping matters is how repetitive the environments are. Most of what you will be seeing are dull gray office buildings or drab gray warehouses. It is definitely an action title first and foremost, you will likely end up being disappointed if you go in expecting gut-clenching dread. On the topic of flaws, while the story is interesting, most characters themselves are not. You will find yourself wanting to drop kick most of these people even if you sadly can not damage them. The only good characters are the “villains,” and surprisingly enough, your mute self becomes an equally interesting focal point. Last but not least is the multiplayer, or lack of one. Fear did ship with a multiplayer I remember being quite fun, though is sadly inaccessible now. You will need to download a separate free fan-made program to play it.
Fear’s campaign will last you a good nine or so hours, and despite the repetitive environments, it remains fun all the way through. Its combat is a top-notch, unique feeling experience that hasn’t been replicated since. The audio, level design, and AI work together to create dynamic battles that can play out completely differently each time you replay it. Most of this game’s attention seems to have been in things relating to its gunplay, sadly leaving the horror aspects to the side, with only the rare sparks of inspiration on that front. You’d be forgiven if you forgot that it even has a horror theme as you make good use of your triple-burst rocket launcher and paint the office complex red from the poor blokes that thought a cubicle was sufficient cover. Finding telephones and laptops to slowly piece together the story is equally enjoyable due to the lore actually being interesting. FEAR is a title that is halfway modern and halfway old school, it is a game that blends many elements such as horror and action, to create a unique experience. Beneath its bland-looking gray exterior lays an interior that beckons FPS fans to give it a go.
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