Fear is one of those loaded words, the kind that sears itself straight into the subconscious and conjures powerful imagery and emotional responses the moment it’s articulated. In 2005, utterance of the four-letter word ceased to bring on the standard, recoil-worthy visions of assorted creepy-crawlies, boogie-men, falling, or being chased for PC gamers, and instead triggered adrenaline-drenched memories of blisteringly intense combat. Rightfully hailed as the first person shooter is years and one of the scariest games ever made, FEAR combined the suspense and terror of the survival-horror genre with the fast-paced, visceral thrills of first-person shooters, added relentlessly crafty AI and wrapped the whole package in gorgeous visuals. Console gamers, understandably green with envy, wanted a taste.

One official confirmation, a few months and thousands of jubilant console gamers later, F.E.A.R. has made a smooth transition from the PC to the Xbox 360 courtesy of Day1 studios. There’s not enough new content to warrant a second purchase for those who already own the PC version and many of the admittedly minor flaws from the original version are still present, but all of the elements that made F.E.A.R. a stand-out title last year –- the immersive atmosphere, the gorgeous graphics, the ruthless AI –- are here, and still make for an incredibly gripping first-person shooter. No doubt, the scariest thing about F.E.A.R. is the prospect of missing the chance to play it.


Storyline & Atmosphere

F.E.A.R. is more than a power-packed word, in the case of the game it’s also an acronym: First Encounter Assault Recon, a top-secret military outfit designed to take down paranormal threats. The player takes on the role of the unit’s newest member and is quickly assigned to a squad tasked with locating and subduing Paxton Fettel, a former commander with the ability to psychically control legions of soldiers and read his victim’s memories by consuming their flesh. The majority of the F.E.A.R. squad is butchered by an unknown paranormal third party at the onset of the first mission, leaving the player and a handful of other soldiers to complete the objective, and hopefully figure out what the hell is going on.

The storyline may be paper thin, but the delivery is very well done. F.E.A.R. borrows quite a bit from the new wave of Japanese horror films that are currently enjoying a wave of popularity thanks to remakes made here in North America. As in those films, the pretense of a meaningful plot is a secondary priority to the establishment of a terrifying atmosphere by providing ambiguous-yet-disturbing imagery and letting the audience’s imagination fill in the gaps, a feat that has been soundly accomplished by the game’s developers. Like many first-person shooters since Half-Life the action in F.E.A.R. is always presented via the first-person perspective, so immersion is never compromised.





Players are essentially dropped into the storyline mid-way through and can collect details of prior events via recorded messages on phones and computers -- the content of which ranges from desperate families calling for loved ones and near-death confessions to business dealings. All of the messages are performed well, and are quite effective at generating an emotional response, be it pity for the victim on the other end of the line, or fear of whatever it was that killed him in such a brutal fashion. Not every message contains pertinent information, and only a few of them must be heard in order to progress, but most players will likely seek them out, not only to flesh out the story, but for the added tension they bring to the atmosphere.

There are also major scripted events strewn throughout the campaign that serve to push the story forward. One example early in the game has the player entering a room to see a creepy visage of a ten year old girl standing at the other end in front of a large window. Upon approaching the girl, the entire room –- including the wall with the door the player entered through –- erupts into flames. At this point, the only way out is through the window and as the player charges for it, the girl will dissolve into ash in the wind just as he touches her, after which he will dive through the window. All of this occurs in real-time, at the player's control –- the player can even manipulate their body as they fall through the air, twisting to look back up at the room engulfed in flames. Suffice to say, these playable scripted events a pretty freaking slick.





Finally the tense atmosphere is maintained and enhanced over the course of each level through terrifyingly effective use of light and sound, great pacing and well-timed scares. Less is more with horror, and the developers were intelligent enough to keep the cheap scares to a minimum, while maximizing the build-up towards them. The front-end of the game is loaded with a few startling moments as ascending up a ladder to find the aforementioned creepy 10 year old girl inches away, but the quick succession of jump-inducing moments soon gives way to an absence of activity and most players will find themselves filling with dread before turning each corner. The dread is intensified by the fact that the environment is constantly filled with hints of movement, be it the silhouette of a small girl moving across the pane of light, or the sounds of objects shuffling or clanging against each other. Thankfully, the game provides frequent release for that built up tension through outstanding bouts of combat.


Gameplay

F.E.A.R. has bar none, the best fire-fights of any first-person shooter, ever. Several elements contribute to the intensity of the combat, all of which have been implemented beautifully, but the feature that stands out most is the amazingly sophisticated enemy AI. Enemies in F.E.A.R. have a downright intimating ability to analyze the situation and react accordingly. They react to both visual and auditory alerts, such as shadows, the beam of the player’s flashlight, and the sounds of footsteps, so maintaining an element of surprise at the onset of combat is difficult, but also extremely satisfying when successfully pulled off. The damage model is reminiscent of most modern tactical shooters, wherein it takes relatively few shots for the player to go down. Players will find health packs littered throughout the levels, and can carry up to ten of them, but it won’t take long for careless players to find their newly restored health meter back in the red-zone. Therefore, using cover is integral to surviving combat.





Enemies are also keenly aware of their surroundings and use the environment to their advantage, particularly when it comes to the use of cover. They’ll press their backs to columns and spin out to shoot, duck behind crates and assorted items strewn throughout the environment, and position themselves around corners to stay out of the line of fire. They’ll move from cover to cover when they’re pushing forward and scatter to the nearest pieces of cover if they’re on the retreat, so players will rarely catch any enemies in the open for an easy kill. Enemies will also create their own cover on the fly by pushing over objects like bookshelves or tables. They’re also capable of navigating the environments in creative and unexpected fashions, such as skipping the flight of stairs and jumping over the banister to a covered position instead. Enemies are able to determine when they have the advantage or are at a disadvantage. If the player is succeeding at cutting down troops, the remainder of the squad will fall back and request reinforcements. If the player is falling back to re-evaluate their strategy or find an alternate means of attack, the enemies will push forward aggressively in efforts to snuff him out before he gets a second wind.