F.E.A.R (First Encounter Assault Recon) Review (PC)

Age Rating: 18+

What is it?

A first person shooter with spooky bits (sorry, paranormal events) and a plot!

Is it fun?

Oh yes, but it will scare the pants off you.

Is it worth the money? (£26.99 from play.com)

Yes, yes, yes!

Why?

The underlying creepy ambience to the whole game which makes even walking down an innocent looking corridor a most unnerving experience as frequent “paranormal events” mess with the lights and manipulate doors at will.
Also the use of flashbacks, showing some very gory cut scenes, further heightens the general sense of unease you experience whilst playing. Let’s also not forget the ghosts who wander about the levels, behaving in some quite disturbing ways and disintegrating before your very eyes.

The game looks spectacular as well, after you’ve done a bit of tweaking at the start to get the best out of your setup as F.E.A.R is a bit of PC killer. This takes about 15-20 mins and then you’re away.

You get to cause mayhem with a whole host of guns, grenades and remote timed mines. This is an 18-rated game so it contains a lot of gore. For example, you are treated to a fountain of blood when you blow someone’s head clean off or get to watch as soldiers turn into a fine blood red mist when blown up by a well placed mine. There is also a lot of graphic swearing, especially when people get shot and wounded.

Also the enemy AI is at least vaguely intelligent, with units communicating with each other and using boxes, furniture and anything else around to give them some cover during the fantastic firefights which occur throughout the game.

You also have your “bullet time” ability at your disposal to slow everything down, making firefights even more spectacular and very Matrix-like!

Tense, violent, beautiful, disturbing, gory and damn enjoyable.

Screenshots:

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