Retro|Spective 042: F.E.A.R

[Neon Ignition]

Can high paced action ever work well with an attempt at horrors tension? Kind of it seems with...





Mainline Entry 01 - F.E.A.R
Formats: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
A Special Ops team is sent to stop a paranormal threat but is met with more than they can deal with when they and you stumble across Alma. The AI of the enemies you faced along with the games use of both high paced action alongside the crawling corridor based horror imagery drew eyes to the game. It was a level of attention and reputation that only grew as the game saw supplementary expansions arrive in the form of Extraction Point (which charts the storyline directly on from the original ending with Point Man seeking to escape the city) and Perseus Mandate (that follows a second Ops team sent in to the city) though neither are canon to the story.

Mainline Entry 02 - F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin
Formats: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
The sequel mostly continued in the same fashion as the first game but skips out the events of the expansions, instead creating its own canonical series of events. Gameplay in the sequel is mostly a refinement with some mech based gameplay included also, the game was well received though it didn't add much to the experience of the original. It was mostly known by reputation created by its ending. Like the first game, an expansion was released titled Reborn (which is more focused on the antagonist of the original game) though it was only middlingly received.



Mainline Entry 03 - F.E.A.R 3
Formats: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
A change in developer occurred before the third game entered production and the end result was easily the weakest received entry of the three games. Players control either Point Man or Fettel with levels designed to incorporate co-op. The game wasn't well received though and was seen as a poor follow up to the first two with the horror elements in particular having been lost in favour of multiplayer options.



Spin Off Entry 01 - F.E.A.R Online
Formats: PC
Expanding on the multiplayer component of the third game, Warners attempted to cash in on the online craze with this side-release. New maps and content were added to flesh it out but the game was shut down after a few months. Since then the series has remained a one generation wonder.

Share your thoughts and memories of F.E.A.R

[Asura]

I seem to remember one of these had a really dark ending; something about how the player character...

->Open Spoiler<-

gets raped?

[Neon Ignition]

Yup, that's the second one.

[Team Andromeda]

Loved the 1st game, it featured the best firefighters and AI this side of HALO. In fact I think it was my fav FPS of last gen. Wasn't impressed with the sequels much though.

[wakka]

I only played the first in this series, on PC. In isolation, the special ops gunplay and creepy-little-kid horror tropes were hackneyed. But in combination, they felt pretty fresh.

I wouldn't mind playing it again, actually. The core gameplay was solid.

[Cepp]

Only played the first one but I loved it. It's still a good looking game as well.

[JazzFunk]

First one ONLY.

I used 360, PC will be waaaaay better. Don't bother with PS3 vers unless tis only tang ting can git.

It's shakier than Shakin' Stevens with advanced level Parkinson's.

[Neon Ignition]

The horror in FEAR 2 is a bit less effective but I always enjoyed that game too, it's a solid extension of the first game. I remember FEAR 3 being absolutely awful though. I definitely want to revisit the trilogy though

[BigDeadFreak]

I own the first but haven't played any of them.

I've got this kind of mental block where I only want to play horror games in the dead of winter. Consequently, despite this country's miserable weather, I've got a stack of them that I've never got round to playing. I'll give it a blast one day, though.

[JazzFunk]

F.E.A.R.2 is an excellent blaster but its refinements take away from the impact of the original and merely serve to serve up a slightly enhanced curry recipe of the same game.

I was happy with the orig and the DLC. I think that was F.E.A.R. done then, for me.

I still have great memories of that game, it was one of the cheap early titles I got for my 360, I bought the machine in 2009 so the game was years old by then but I loved its splendid, skilful, expert repetition of beautiful gunplay and sinister, dark atmos.

But I was done after that, 2 & 3 I finished but *that* feeling wasn't there. And I truly think the first game played WAY best, the ones after just weren't as fun.

[Neon Ignition]

Clue for the forty third thread:

Clue - Face the Nihilanth