F.E.A.R. Review

Brilliant firefights and a creepy, intriguing story make FEAR one of the best first person shooters on the market

Posted by Tim Reid on May 23, 2010 - 6:49am EST

There is also a rather basic multiplayer component to the game, but clearly the focus was on the singleplayer experience. Standard modes such as deathmatch and team deathmatch are present and accounted for, and the great gunplay makes for a bit of fun, but the maps are rather bland and the weapons aren’t very balanced. The online community is also very sparse, so if you are looking for a multiplayer shooter, look elsewhere.

The visual and audio presentation of FEAR is a big part of what makes the combat so impressive. Sparks and particle effects are especially important in making the firefights feel intense, and a great lighting engine and dynamic light sources go a long way to making the game look really incredible during the many shootouts. Character models are extremely detailed, as are many facial animations; the technical presentation of FEAR is simply top notch across the board, although the environments are a bit bland and repetitive for much of the game. The downside of the impressive visual presentation is that you need a fairly powerful rig to run the game with all the eye candy enabled. Sound is also very impressive, with the enemy soldiers sounding particularly cool; in addition weapon sounds and voice acting are also top notch. The presentation of FEAR is easily one of its biggest strengths.

Overall there isn’t a lot that FEAR’s singleplayer campaign doesn’t get right, the horror elements are well implemented, the story is very interesting and intelligent if not a bit poorly told at times through the use of phone messages, and the combat is some of the best pure fps combat seen in a shooter to date. If you are looking for a good first person shooter that will satisfy your craving for violence, FEAR is definitely the game for you.

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Our ratings for F.E.A.R. on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)

Presentation

Great voice acting, sound effects and music, technically impressive visuals although some environments are a big drab and repetitive until the combat begins.

Gameplay

Some of the best combat seen in any FPS - excellent gunplay and use of slow motion, great variety of weapons and brilliant enemy a.i.

Single Player

A very well paced and reasonably lengthy campaign at around 12 hours, excellent story and good replay value thanks to the excellent combat.

Multiplayer

Very slim and unexciting multiplayer component, bland level design and gametypes, gunplay is still pretty good but the focus is clearly on the singleplayer.

Performance

(Show PC Specs)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo e7200 @ 3.1ghz
GPU: Powercolor Radeon HD 5850 PCS+
RAM: 4GB DDR2
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

It scales well to older machines, but you need a very capable computer to see FEAR running on highest settings.

Overall

Some of the best firefights seen in a game combined with a fantastic story and great visuals make FEAR an outstanding horror FPS, despite its lacking multiplayer component.