One of the best FPS games of all time!

Every once in a while a game comes along that changes the way games are made. Whether it's games that establish a new genre, or just games the redefine them, some games not only are good but challenge the standards of how games are made. The FPS genre is one of the most forefront genres to constantly be in need of a challenge. But the ones that have changed the genre are far and few between. There's Doom, which essentially defined it, Half Life, which turned it into a truly legitimate and leading genre of game, and now we have F.E.A.R., which not only brings the FPS genre into the modern era, but redefines it with an incredible balance of atmosphere, action, and technical aspects that will long be the talk of people for many years to come.

FEAR places you in the shoes of a point man for First Encounter Assault Recon, a group designed to take on unexplainable and supernatural threats to US security. In this particular case you find yourself taking on a rogue soldier of sorts who has telepathically taken control of an army of clone soldiers. Your job is to infiltrate the building he has taken hostage and find out what it is they want. Naturally, this is not so easy as you must make your way through a labryth of hallways, shafts, and offices. The story isn't terribly deep, but it is mysterious enough to keep you interested in finding out what the answer to everything is. The characters aren't terribly interesting, but many of them are creepy enough to keep you on your toes. Heck, what other game could have you afraid of a little girl (and believe me, she is very creepy). The story does get better as you go on, so if it seems to be a bit slow at first, you simply have to bear with it.

However, the story isn't this games strong points. It's strongest point is what every FPS should have as their strong point: the action. And if you were worried about the action, fear not (pun intended), it's here in abundance. In fact, the action is so good in this game, most recent FPS's will seem second rate in this aspect. The enemies are smarter than any FPS has been in a long time and make the action challenging, forcing you to use tactics to fight them. Often times, you will find yourself pinned in a corner, forced to take cover, or forced to make a temporary retreat. And don't think that they will just let this go. Your enemies will make cover out of furniture, will retreat, distract you so that their buddies can flank you, and flush you out with grenades. While they aren't terribly hard to take out, those uninitiated with FPS's will find it harder as this is a game that you cannot run n gun. You will also find yourself using more tactics than usual, not out of want, but out of necessity. Essentially, it will feel like you are facing enemies of equal caliber, ones who you have to outsmart to defeat.

The weapons are also very responsive, and for once, they feel like actual weapons, with great response and realistic kick. To handle the guns capably will take some learning, but you will eventually find nearly every weapon to be useful in it's own way, whether it's the close quarters shotgun, the long range auto rifle, or the heavy plasma rifle, which is also one of the cooler weapons of the game. You will find these weapons fun to fire, and in most cases, will want to try them all out.

Very fun, go buy it yourself to find out!

Creepy Long Haired Children!!!

Pros
+ Creepy atmosphere with random scary occurrences to keep you on your toes!!!
+ Gorgeous visuals.
+ Awesome effects like slowing down time.

Cons
- Major online issues. Host advantage, terrible melee, weak weapons, weapon placement, weak weapons, no guest option, etc.
- Feels a lot like shooting plastic people.
- Some minor control issues. Feels a lot like 'Doom'. Camera tends to wiggle a little bit as you walk. Crappy melee needs improvement.

Comments
This game does a nice job of messing with your head. You will find yourself shooting at stuff that is not really there just like an idiot in a scary movie. But you have the power to fight back. Use your special powers to solve this mystery and find out just whose side this strange little girl is on. The biggest problem is the multiplayer. There's only online play, no co-op or splitscreen and the online suffers from the same problems as many others in its genre but at least they keep it creepy with lighting effects.

Verdict
Great addition for horror fans or anyone who like 'Condemned'. A must play in the least. Remember to try before you buy. 4/5

F.E.A.R. for the PC

Great game, nonstop action with really cool guns. Lots of strategy needed to figure out how to get past certain sections of the game. Great graphics, and intense actions sequences. Can get scary at some points because of things popping out of no where but it's still really fun. Music is matched up perfectly with the pace of the game which makes it more intense. Just make sure you have a good graphics card and enough RAM to run it nicely, or you won't appreciate the full potential of the game, and it won't be as fun.

F.E.A.R. Action/Creepy

F.E.A.R. is one of those hugely hyped games that could end up being your favorite game of all time or could end up on a "list" several years from now. Fortunately I think that the game slides more toward the former category. I was a little concerned about the balance of the game. Were you going to be walking around for hours getting little jump-out-of-the-closet-and-sca​re-the-bejeezus-out-of-you moments or was there going to be a non stop avalanche of foes to blow up. My fears were unwaranted however because the game is very nicely balanced.

The action sections have you battling well trained "special" forces whose constant com chatter is informative and entertaining! The creepy sections with the "Ring" girl are well done and at one point when the bad guy you've been chasing kills off a character I actually felt a sense of loss! Whenever a game can get that level of immersion out of me it's a good sign.

On the other side I am always a little disappointed by the length of games. I was running away from an explosion and all of the sudden the game was over! A little abrupt for my liking.

Possibly the best FPS ever....if you have the system.

This is more of a hardware warnign than an actual review of the game (which is awesome, by the way.)

I'm sure you've heard it all before. This game is a resource-eating monster. I built my system as a gaming system a year and a half ago. The important features are:

3.2 Gig Pentium Hyper Threading chip
1 GB DDR RAM
128 MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro core clocked to 378MHz and memory clocked to 338MHz

finally (and this is important)

a Zalman Fatal1ty video card heat sink.

Before installing the cooler I had to underclock my video card to 300 MHz or it would lock up due to overheating. The stock heat sink is worthless and this game will test your card!

I'm sure the new 256MB and 512MB cards will fare better. But this game can be run, even on a slightly older system as long at your system can be safely run near 100% capacity for extended periods of time.

This game is well worth it. The the visual and audial aura is absolutely outstanding.