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Half Life 2 is just a distant memory

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 85 / 114
Date: October 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is one terrific shooter. More involving than half life 2 and I swear the the graphics are at least as good if not better. Certainly, I have never seen better use of lighting or shadows in any game I have played.

FEAR is more linear then Far Cry but much less so then HL2. The story line is suspensfull. At times it can get downright chilling. The combat action is fierce. One of best shooters I have played in several years.

Some folks have complained that FEAR needs a super PC to run decent. I don't know what they are talking about. Yes, it needs a bit more power. I had to turn many of the graphic options to medium. However, I'm running on a rather old PC (slot A Athlon overclocked to 1.1ghz, 512mb of PC100 SDRAM, Radeon 9700Pro at AGP 1X - yes 1X!, 17" LCD monitor at 1024X768). No problem at all running FEAR on this rig and it has half the power of a low end PC today. I guess if your running this at max settings on a 50" monitor, you may have some issues.

There is some bad news. Like HL2, there are 5 CDs to install. Unlike HL2, once the last CD is loaded, you don't have to spend the next couple hours getting "steamed" before you can play.

The game itself runs flawlessly. I have encountered no problems whatsoever - how refreshing.

If you love shooters, I highly recommend FEAR. You will not be dissappointed.

Best FPS Combat I've Ever Seen!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 20
Date: June 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was lucky enough to get the chance to play this game at the E3 2005 conference and I must say that I was completely blown away! Everything positive you've heard about this game is TRUE. Many of the games at E3 were just movies of gameplay (some even pre-rendered movies - Killzone 2 anyone), but I actually PLAYED FEAR myself. Everything that I state below is from my first-hand experience PLAYING the game. No faked demo, just full on gaming goodness!

GRAPHICS:

Screen shots do not do this game justice. If you can find a video of the game, I highly recommend watching it. FEAR must be seen in real-time to be believed! The attention to detail is astounding. All the lights in the environment cast shadows in real time! If you shoot a light it either goes out or swings around realistically flickering on and off and casting MOVING shadows the whole time. This might sound like a small detail, but it really helps to make the environment feel real/dynamic and not static. Also, you can destroy almost all the glass (windows) you see and they shatter realistically (I had a blast just running around shooting the windows). Also the weapon effects are breathtaking! The muzzle flash lights up the world around you and sometimes even the bullet impacts create light flashes...dynamic lighting is very cool! The bullet holes created by shooting the environment are actual holes! Some of the weapons even create big holes in the walls/ceiling/etc.! Also, unlike most FPS there is a lot of smoke/sparks created by the gun fights which makes it very difficult to see the enemies sometimes. This adds a TON to the realistic feel of the combat (which I'll get to next).

Also, there is this very cool bullet-time like mode where you can slow down time. It works just like Max Payne except is WAY cooler as all the weapons create FX like the movie The Matrix so you can see where your bullets are going. This mode is something you just hit a button to activate and it gives you a big advantage over the extremely challenging AI (see below). When in this mode all of the sounds in the game slow down too! Also there is this cool effect where everything looks a little blurred...Hard to explain, but cool as hell!

The environments are very beautiful too. I'm so glad it's in a real-world location and not some lame space station. The level I played felt like a real place...this made the scary moments (encounter with the little girl...see below) all the more scary. The detail was incredible. The bricks on the walls didn't look flat like most games, you could actually see each individual brick had depth! Also the real-time shadows added a ton. You can even see your own shadow! (and legs...it's about time!). This added to the creepy factor a lot as I ran around every once in a while I'd get scared by my own shadow! But you actually get used to it pretty quick (it's hard for me to play Half Life 2 now as I feel like I'm just floating around as a body-less head and arms :)

In other words, this game's graphics engine is second to none, I hope more games make use of it!

COMBAT:

Definitely the thing that sets FEAR above and beyond any other FPS I've ever played (and I've played them all!). The AI is the best I've ever seen! It doesn't feel like you're playing against AI it feels like you're playing against real people! They call out to each other just like real soldiers. If you throw a grenade, the yell "grenade!" and take cover. If you try and circle around them, and one of them sees you they'll say "He's trying to flank." Also, they understand/use the environment in ways I've never seen before. They jump over railings / crawl under pipes, knock over things to give themselves cover, etc. Also, if you're hiding by something, they'll yell to their friends "he's by the pipe" or "he's behind the wall." It really helps to immerse you in the game. Also, they use real-world tactics against you. They won't just rush you like every other FPS AI, where you can just hide around a corner and wait for them to come one at a time into your aim. These guys will wait for YOU to come to them...Or if there's an alternative route (which there usually is) one of them will go around and attack you from behind (so you can't just play the waiting game). In other words, when it's 3 AI against you, just like in real-life you feel like you're a bad @$$ if you beat them all. However, saying all that you should realize FEAR isn't like a tactical-sim (Rainbow 6) game. It has elements of that, but it plays more like Call of Duty or Half Life 2. However, the combat is waaaaay better than either of those games. Seriously, if you like FPSs download the demo and give it a try...you won't be sorry!

STORY:

Everything I stated above is more than enough of a reason to buy this game. However, the thing that I think will make FEAR an instant classic is that it has a very interesting story as well! In the demo I played at E3 not much of the story was explained, but if you look around the web you can find out more about the story. Basically you're part of a group of highly specialized soldiers that is only called in when the situation gets really bad (somewhere I read it's sort of like an X-files SWAT team...or something). In other words when something extra-ordinary (supernatural?) is involved they call in your unit. As far as I can tell the premise of FEAR is that there is some type of super-powerful little girl (sort of like the movie The Ring) that is killing lots of people. However, she seems to appear out of nowhere and can move quickly from place to place, walk on the ceiling, etc....very creepy! Also there is some sort of army of super-soldiers that either she controls or some 3rd group controls (not sure about this one as the information is somewhat sketchy). Anyway, I'm totally convinced the story will be awesome! Monolith (the developer of the game) has always made games with outstanding stories (like No One Lives Forever and Aliens VS Predator 2).

BOTTOM LINE:

BUY THIS GAME! If you like FPS you will be glad you did

This thing is awesome. Needs good hardware though

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: November 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

So I am a pathological upgrader. And FEAR was a great excuse to buy yet more hot hardware. The good news is that FEAR is incredible. The less than good news is that on lesser machines, you might not get to see why it is simply so amazing. Even according to the highest end video card manufacturers, this game really pushes the limits of the technology

So now that I've spent way too much on new hardware, FEAR simply blows me away. The behavior of the AI (the enemy soldiers) is simply not to be believed. The developers have made huge strides in creating natural bahavior in software. The guns...my goodness, the guns are simply awesome. Once you get the hang of the slow motion, and decide which of the weapons are your favorites, the weapons are unparalleled with the possible exception of Half Life (Doom 3 has good weapons, but they are slow and always out of ammo). The way the AI react and interact, you feel like you are there sometimes.

As far as the story goes, I didn't totally get it until the second time through. Its a good SciFi yarn actually, would make a decent movie. Now the game isn't exactly frightening, at least not to me. There were a couple of a eerie sequences for sure, and a couple uncomfortable surprises, but basically that was it for me.

However, the action is what its all about. The firefights, the bad guys, the weapons, learning the subtlties of the storyline, more bad guys. I can't say I've enjoyed many games as much as this. Half Life 2 and FarCry are up there as well with games I keep playing and playing. But this one is so organic feeling, like you're in the action with these wierd AI characters.

FYI, when I moved from a Nvidia Geforce 6800 to a 7800GT, the game became totally different. A couple of patches, a bios or 2, and the thing now runs so well, it feels like an alternative world, and less like a game.

FEAR. Truly moving the art form to a new level. Totally awesome

The Best Game of the year by far.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: December 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Believe the hype, F.E.A.R. is the best game of the year hands down. It is enthralling mix of adventure, horror, and action not only makes it in a league with Half Life 2, it sets the bar high for future 3D shooters to aspire to. Players take on the persona of the point main for an elite team know as First Encounter Assault Recon or F.E.A.R. Tasked with locating and eliminating a dangerous killer know as Paxton Fettel who is controlling a very large force of clone super soldiers in an office complex.

With the assistance of your team leader via radio link, players enter an industrial complex and soon find themselves in a pitched and sustained series of encounters against the soldiers under Fettel's command. Further complicating the mission is the appearance of a spectral vision of a young girl who often leaves a path of carnage in her wake. The eerie visions that appear only to vanish throughout the game only adds to the tension which really helps immerse players into the action. The weaponry of the game includes the standard machine guns, nailguns, shotgun, pistol, rocket launcher and energy weapon which are common in shooters, but F.E.A.R. decides to give it a nice twist. Aside from grenades and medkits, players can only carry three weapons at a time. So, while you may locate powerful weapons in game such as the energy weapon and rocket launcher, players must decide if they want to hold onto them when the ammo runs out, or forgo other weapons in the hope of locating more ammunition. I addressed this by saving two powerful weapons and swapping out my other weapon as was needed. For example, when my machine gun ran dry, I dropped it in favor of the shotgun or other class of machine gun that was plentiful. This was often determined by what my enemies were armed with as after dispatching them, I found it a good idea to stock up with whichever ammunition and weapons were most plentiful. While your array of weaponry is impressive, it is your ability to briefly slow down time and move at an increased rate of speed that is often vital to winning a battle against overwhelming odds. This is a very important feature as the game is at times a real challenge and the enemy A.I. is the best in any shooter to date. In one segment, I decided to bounce a grenade off the wall and take out a group of enemy soldiers.

This plan worked great until one of the soldiers pulled a metal cabinet from the wall and used it as a shield against the grenade blast. As the game continued, A.I. controlled soldiers knocked over desks and tables as shields, jumped through street level windows, as well as ducked behind walls to avoid incoming fire. As if this was not enough of a challenge, they would also reach their weapons over objects and fire without presenting a clear target for me to engage.
As the game progressed, the enemy became increasingly crafty and the story became deeper and deeper. Various ethereal segments also arose where in the midst of a dream like state; I had to battle demons mid segment. This was a different touch as I am sure many players would be caught off guard watching the segments rather than preparing to fight. The game is broken down into 11 Intervals or chapters though certain intervals had more than one segment to them. The variety of locales was also impressive as everything from office complexes, to labs, parking lots, and apartments were present and the games physics engine allowed me to interact with numerous map objects from security gun mounts, power switches, valves, phones and much more. A nice touch were the news reports that came in as my players passed radios that informed him of what was happening in the world around him and how the media was covering the events that were occurring in game.

Graphically the game is amazing. From the most luxurious of offices to the slums of an abandoned building complex, the detail level was accurate giving the illusion of being in the game. The smoke and warping effects from grenades as well as the tracer rounds from weapons gave a nice sense of realism. It was tempting at times to just stop and look at the surroundings to take in the splendor. A nice touch was the spackle lines in a room under construction as well as the hardwood floors and artwork in a high end office complex as well as the lab complex.

The sound quality in the game shines as with my Creative X-FI card I was able to really enjoy the creepy sound effects and the surround sound features. It is unnerving to have a voice originate behind you only to vanish to be replaced by a sound elsewhere. The communication between the soldiers is also a key as good listening skills are key to successful engagements and being aware of potential dangers around the next corner.

As good as the solo play portion of the game is F.E.A.R. also shines in the multiplay arena. From Deathmatch to Capture the Flag to name but a few of the variations there are numerous servers where players will find an endless supply of options and opponents to play with and against. The game runs very smoothly online and the action is fast and furious.

F.E.A.R. is a winner and looks to be the first in a hopefully long line of titles in the series. The game has it all, and delivers on the hype and promise. Here is hoping the next segment is not to far off as legions of gamers will be waiting.

Better Have a Good Video Card!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: August 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is simply the BEST PC game, that I've ever played...PERIOD!! I've only enjoyed Resident Evil 4 on my Gamecube more than this. Since I own games on the Dreamcast, Xbox 180 and 360, Gamecube, and pc, that is saying a lot. This is the most gripping game I've played, but it is a system hog. You better have a great video card, and plenty of system memory. The graphics, sound, and gameplay is fun and fast. It has a great story, as others have mentioned in detail in there reviews. This game messes with your mind a little, and I often got chills playing late at night. It's not scarey, but very creepy at times. The game took me about 20 hours to complete, but I'm a below average gamer. The online play has tons of replay value, and I'm still playing this game today. My review has been vague, but this game is simply the best pc game I've ever played. It's better than Doom, Far Cry, and Half2. On top of that, an expansion pack is coming out later this year. You won't be disappointed in this game. I'll finish my review the way I started, by saying you better exceed the minimum requirement for your system. BE SURE TO CLICK ON THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS LINK listed under game information at the top of the page. Even if you have to add a stick of memory you won't be disappointed.

Best PC Game to Date (next to Quake 4)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 14
Date: October 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

To say this game rocks would be an understatement. Sure you need a high end video card (GeForce 6800 - 7800 or Radeon X800+) but isn't that what makes us PC gamers? The Graffix are off the hook and the gameplay is amazingly fun. It deos get repetitive but what FPS doesn't? This game will scare you, this game will thrill you, what the hell else do you want!? If you don't buy this game then sell your PC, you don't deserve it!

Immersive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: November 03, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Quite a game. Interestin Plot fuels the Action. Great game design with many interesting effects and gameplay phenomena. I'm not sorry i bought this game.

Wow - Excellent Game Play

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am an avid player of first person shooters. F.E.A.R. is the first game to ever give me goose bumps and chills. The action is great and the story line was creepy in a good way. This at the top of my list for FPS games.

Fun with fear

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Easy to see why this was voted best shooter in 2005.
This game had great graphics and a good story.
Most fun I've had from a game in a long time-
Weapon selections are a crack-up!

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I just got this game a while ago, and I have to say, this game is non-stop fun. The enemy A.I. is very impressive and very hard to out smart at some times. The graphics are incredible and the sound is amazing. The horror moments arent as scary as everyone says they are, but they can be somewhat disturbing. This game is awesome in every way, I definetly recommend this.

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