If you’ve been reading any kind of videogame websites at all recently, it’s very likely that you’ve been advertised at regarding F.E.A.R. It is, you see, the latest big shooting game for the PC.

F.E.A.R., as you might infer from its ingenious acronymic title, is supposed to be a scary game. You can tell also by the scary young girl on the cover: if you’ve seen the Ring, or any of countless other young girl featuring horror films, you’ll know that mysterious young girls are not cute at all ... more >>

If you’ve been reading any kind of videogame websites at all recently, it’s very likely that you’ve been advertised at regarding F.E.A.R. It is, you see, the latest big shooting game for the PC.

F.E.A.R., as you might infer from its ingenious acronymic title, is supposed to be a scary game. You can tell also by the scary young girl on the cover: if you’ve seen the Ring, or any of countless other young girl featuring horror films, you’ll know that mysterious young girls are not cute at all, they are terrifying. Indeed the game sets out its stall as being of the survival horror genre, but in first person form. The title refers not to the emotion itself though, it merely alludes to it, and F.E.A.R. is the name of the elite squad of which you are a member. It stands for First Encounter Assault Reconnaissance. Clever, eh?

The premise goes thusly: an unknown paramilitary organisation captures an aerospace compound and takes hostages. Unlike most paramilitary groups, however, it issues no demands whatsoever. When a special forces squad is sent in to put the cheeky terrorists to the sword, however, they are all torn apart by an invisible force that attacks without warning. It is for this reason that the special F.E.A.R. team is put together.

Gameplay is your usual mix of high production value FPS gameplay (sparks and smoke everywhere, sophisticated AI), with the title’s horrific twists. From the outset you’ll learn to expect the unexpected, and there’s no hiding from the fact that you’re up against a paranormal terror of some sort. Successful FPS games are all about incorporating cool stuff and there’s plenty of that. You can execute any number of martial arts moves, with karate chops, jumps and scissor kicks all in your repertoire. You have access to some pretty exciting ordnance too, with handheld cannons and guns that evaporate people in your armoury. You also get a Max Payne style slow motion ability that makes all your enemies calm down a bit so you can take your time taking them out. All plenty of fun, and as you might expect the game includes a multiplayer mode which allows 16 people to duke it out online. Fearsome!
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