Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3478 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sierra
• Released on: 2005-10-18
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• ESRB Rating: Adults Only
• Platforms: Windows 2000, Windows XP

Manufacturer's Description
A paramilitary force infiltrates a multi billion dollar aerospace compound taking hostages, but issuing no demands. The government responds by sending in its best special operations teams, only to have them obliterated. Live footage of the massacre is cut short by an unexpected wave of destruction that leaves military leaders stunned and in disbelief.

With U.S. Special Forces in over their heads, the Commander in Chief turns to his final option: you. You've been trained to handle the inexplicable, armed with experimental high tech weaponry, and given full executive authority to end the crisis by any means necessary.

Customer Reviews

Amazing gameplay, but a little contrived
First of all, I recommend playing this game. Has amazing graphics, and little touches that really engross the player in the game. These little touches take the game to the next level. Things like, seeing your own limbs as they move, hearing footsteps/breath, motion of objects when you walk into them (such as bookcases, they sometimes fall down as you walk into them). All these things make take the game to another perspective of gaming. I've played realistic games like COD2, which are amazing, but this game is a step above.

Due to the realism of the game, the twisted story, and creepy goings on make the game seems a hundred times more scary than it actually is, which is a credit to the programmers and writers of the game. They have turned a moderately scary game into a first class horror movie.

The game also involves enhanced AI features from computer opponents, enhanced realism during firefights, shrapne/dust/projectiles etc.

However, the firefights seem a bit too easy with the added "slo-mo" addition. I managed to complete the game of the extreme setting, in several sittings due to the horror of the game, while only dieing about twice. Things happen time and time again that set you back also. Was looking forward to having some guys on my side, but they get "mysteriously" killed, or I fall down a shaft or something?!?!


Conclusion:
Amazing game, but doesn't have much replay value, due to anxiety through knowing where scary bits are, or just the fact that things are too predictable!

contender for goty
FEAR expertly combines visceral, heartstopping firefights with stunning visuals, incredibly good AI and a fantastic creepy atmosphere to create what is both Monolith’s best game to date and a contender for first person shooter of the year. You play as a new member in the FEAR team, a top secret military team which explores the paranormal. A military commander goes crazy and takes control of a clone army who then go and occupy some American city. Your team’s job is to find out why, and to stop them. The plot carries the game well and is of the standard people expect from a modern shooter, it’s nice, but nothing special.

What’s the most important part of a first person shooter? The combat. And every element of FEAR is made with this in mind. The combat in FEAR is simply amazing. Firstly, every gun sounds real, when you pull the trigger, it feels and sounds like you’re shooting a real gun and every gun packs serious firepower, even the pistol (which can be dual wielded). The particle effects also play a huge part in making the combat feel great – when you shoot a wall, it breaks apart and chunks fly off, when you shoot a box, chips fly off and powder fills the air. Most things break apart realistically – you can’t blow holes through walls or anything like that, but it’s pretty amazing all the same – every single firefight in the whole game just feels fantastic.

There’s game also features bullet time and it’s completely perfect here. The justification for you having it is that you have ‘really good reflexes’, a little silly, perhaps, but it’s an explanation. But what matters is that it is incredibly cool. Activated at will and working on a recharge bar, you can go into slowmo any time you want and watch the bullets fly through the air, including a cool air-ripple thing which was absent in other games which have used slowmotion. It looks amazingly cool. But it’s not just a neat, great looking novelty, some of the later firefights are so intense, you simply need to use it to survive.

The enemies are also simply fantastic, as a clone army you are basically fighting the same enemy for almost all of the game, there is a little diversity, but not much. But that really doesn’t matter, because these guys are awesome. I can say unequivocally that this is the best FPS AI you will see this year. These guys do a ton of manoeuvring during combat. They portray something you rarely see in artificial intelligence in computer games – self preservation. They’ll duck, roll, take cover (make cover if there’s something to pull over and hide behind) and even perform diving rolls through windows and stuff. They can also ascend and descend ladders and leap over gantry railings. Wound them and they retreat, get too close and they melee you. They also talk to eachother and coordinate attacks, trying to suppress you, flank you or flush you out with grenades.

You also have melee abilities yourself, from the now-obligatory rifle-slap to the face to, amazingly, the ability to do flying drop kicks and scissor kicks. Lobbing a grenade and then leaping into the air, hitting slowmo and watching as your boot connects with a soldier’s face, he crumples as the grenade explodes down the hall, the blast visibly reverberating through the air, glass, debris and limbs flying all over. It’s hard to put into words how intense the experience of simply playing this game is.

Visually the game is top class. The textures are spot on and the character models, while not quite as good as some of the others about, are still fantastic. The lighting effects are also pretty incredible but on the whole, the game doesn’t look so much better than certain other games. The animations are generally fluid and the ragdolling is solid for the most part, but there are a few silly discrepancies, like a model falling backwards onto its lower leg, then the leg slides its way out from under the body for no reason. Running the game on a AMD 4200+, Geforce 7800gtx with 1GB ram, the frame rate did stutter a few times with the visuals maxed out, so it’s safe to say this game is a serious system hog. But it scales down to below the minimum specifications quite well, so it’s still well worth buying if you have a less than top of the line machine.

The FEAR sound is also fantastic, and used to excellent effect. All the weapons sound fantastic, but you often hear things behind you only to turn and see nothing. FEAR doesn’t quite pull off the ‘horror game’ feel, but it does a great job of creating a creepy atmosphere, and does a good job of making you afraid of nothing – which is a pleasant contrast to the crazy film style firefights. The multiplayer is also pretty great, especially with the slowmotion and melee moves you can perform, it makes for a pretty wild experience.

If I had to come up with a few complaints, I’d say there is too little diversity in the enemies, but they’re awesome so it’s really hard to push on that. The environments are also a little too samey throughout, but that’s not really a big deal. While perhaps not perfect, FEAR has managed to attain the holy grail of gaming – the game is pure adrenaline pumping fun from start to finish. Firefights are a pure joy, the atmosphere is fantastic, the game looks amazing, the AI is jawdropping and the multiplayer is a blast. It’s easily the best single player experience I’ve ever had with a first person shooter. Turn the lights down, turn the sound up and immerse yourself in one of the best games of 2005.

FEAR - ish
I have mixed feelings about this game and agree with many of the other reservations expressed in other reviews.
A few of my criticsms include the very linear (very linear) nature of the game - there is a path to follow and actions to take and you don't deviate. The game is basically a corridor, in location and in the way it is played. Actions are also very limited - there are times when the logical thing to do would be to climb through a window or clear an obstacle with a grenade, but if that isn't the route then you can't - with no explanation. Also you can't lie down and crawl, enemy soldiers can, you can't. The A.I. is reasonably good but doesn't progress with the game so you soon learn how to avoid flanking moves and grenades - or at least how to predict them. The sound and graphics are good if a little repetitive; first rule of ambush, don't yell to everyone else that you can see the target. My final criticsm concerns the length of the game - it just ended with little sense of climax, a sort of 'oh, is that the end?'. In fact I'm wondering if I've missed a big chunk out somehow......
Despite all the above I did enjoy the game, but it in no way matches the likes of Far Cry or Half Life. There are a couple of moments that get somewhat creepy, but I feel the games designers could have made a lot more of this element without going over the top. I have a feeling the game was released with a sequel in mind and I hope this builds on the slightly missed potential of this game.