F.E.A.R.
- August 17, 2005 15:10 PM PST
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F.E.A.R. lives up to its title as a rocking, socking, frightening FPS experience that may very well be a classic in the making.
If the single-level demo of F.E.A.R. we played is a fair indication of the game to come, this may very well be a bar-setting title in the vein of Half-Life and Quake--something people are talking about for years to come.In F.E.A.R., you're an agent in the special ops force dubbed First Encounter Assault Recon, and you're sent to deal with an unidentified paramilitary force that has commandeered an aerospace compound. Seems on the up-and-up, and the first few minutes of your adventure consists of keyboard-rattling, but familiar, FPS action which includes a slightly clich? "bullet time" option to slow the action down.
Then the frights kick in.
Gut-rumbling scares intercut with the action in a nonstop flurry as you come to realize that there are supernatural forces at work. Just in the first few minutes, one hallway turns into a blood-soaked inferno as an ominous shape saunters toward you. A ghostly little girl treads on the ceiling, gazing at you with desire. And say hello to the hairs on your neck when you find an ethereal killer lovingly appraising his work before disappearing and leaving a very real, eviscerated and bloody victim.
F.E.A.R.'s visuals are so impressive that you may find yourself gazing at wall textures just to see how they reflect your flashlight. Add an eerie, unnerving audio package, nonstop frights and a solid interface, and it's clear that F.E.A.R. is a thoroughbred waiting to explode out of the gate.
