F.E.A.R. Series

[Ayen]

http://i.imgur.com/BF2II8t.gif

I'm almost certain I made this topic before, but it's been ages and I have since played F.E.A.R. 3 and F.E.A.R. Online, so I figured that was more than enough reason to remake this topic. For those who don't know F.E.A.R. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.E.A.R.) stands for "First Encounter Action Recon" and is a first-person shooter, horror game available on the PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. Created by Monolith Productions who are also known for their work on Condemned, and more recently "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor."

I first heard about the series through a friend of mine who used the games as part of his inspiration for his writing. Out of curiosity I got the first game on Xbox from eBay (or was it Amazon?) for ten bucks and instantly fell in love with it. It scared the crap out of me and the only horror game that I've played that has managed to beat it so far has been Amnesia. I have the second game on Xbox as well, but got the third game on the PS3. I recently downloaded the free-2-play online game that came out last month. I'd recommend the first two games if you're interested. Although, the second game isn't as scary as the first.

I did not like F.E.A.R. 3, as some of you already know from my review of it last September. To me 3 is to F.E.A.R. what FFXIII is to Final Fantasy. If you follow the fanbase enough you can probably see what I mean. Alma Wade was completely wasted and it just wasn't scary. I was able to finally play the co-op mode thanks to my brother playing it with me. The split-screen is complete crap and I want to punch the person who designed it. Whoever thought leaving all that black space there deserves a punch in the face. The overall experience actually wasn't that bad, though. We discovered there's a cool move Fettel could do when I activated slow mo as Point Man. You can also get injured pretty badly and require your partner to come heal you or you die. My brother fell during stage three with all the ladders and stuff and got stuck in some boxes. We had to start the level over because he couldn't get out. That was funny.

The tutorial for F.E.A.R. Online was pretty scary, and felt more like a F.E.A.R. game than 3, but after that it kind of goes down hill. The only real customization has to do with psychic abilities and weapons. You can't modify your character's appearance at all. When I tried playing on one of the maps it was very laggy. I'm not sure if that's the game's fault or my own, but I can't understand why it would be my computer. I managed to play Star Trek, Star Wars, and several other MMOs just fine without so much lag and I can't imagine F.E.A.R. Online needing more specs than them.

Has anyone else here played any of the games? What did you think?

Discuss.

[Shauna]

I have literally just finished F.E.A.R.. xD

It was pretty good. The difficulty got pretty brutal within the last few levels though. ._. Not enough ammo or health kits anywhere for me! But I managed to get through. Wasn't that scerreh though, too much shootan' for it to get to that level. Tense atmosphere though.

[Ayen]

Yeah, it's the tense atmosphere and buildups to the hallucinations that makes the first game scary. I never found the actual super soldiers you fight scary, and I don't think they're meant to be. At least not compared to when Alma is screwing with your head and making you waste bullets. I love the mystery of the game, too, and how it more or less throws you into the action learning the rest of the story as you move along.

The Slow Mo often reminded me of the Matrix game.

[Shauna]

It never got to like Silent Hill levels of tense for me - because it was so quickly broken down by HUNDREDS OF GUARDS TO BLOW UP. Walking down an empty hallway I was never concerned about what could be at the end. Eh. x}

[escobert]

the first F.E.A.R. is one of the last console games I beat. I remember having a blast playing it with my friend one weekend.

[Ayen]

It never got to like Silent Hill levels of tense for me - because it was so quickly broken down by HUNDREDS OF GUARDS TO BLOW UP. Walking down an empty hallway I was never concerned about what could be at the end. Eh. x}

I can see that. Silent Hill I kept putting the game on pause and had to force myself to play some more. With F.E.A.R. I just ran around dreading the next Alma encounter, and then dreading having to learn how to aim so I don't get shot at. Did you play it on consoles or PC? Because there are two expansion packs you can look into for it if you have the PC version.


the first F.E.A.R. is one of the last console games I beat. I remember having a blast playing it with my friend one weekend.

I only made it to level four. That game can be very draining. The first three levels felt like a lifetime just went by.

What were some of your guys favorite moments? Whether they scared you or not. Here are some of mine in gif form:

http://i.imgur.com/cAUEdHo.gif
http://i.imgur.com/U9J0Iax.gif

I also have to share this just because:

http://i.imgur.com/LBLYdIV.png

And to cap off this blatant moment of fangasm, who here has watched this?

zQ8LEnmWacY

I think The Man would do a better job interviewing her, personally.

[Shauna]

I have the whole FEAR set on PC, gonna be getting the next one on the go... after Deux Ex.

But yes, when you catch her at the top of the ladder, that was the only part that legit freaked me out. xD I was wary of all ladders after that.

[Ayen]

The ladder scene is iconic. One of the few things I like about 3 is that they pay homage to it.

What did you think of the expansion packs? Would they be worth buying the first game again to play? I know they have two different timelines going because of one of them.

I don't know how you feel about QTEs, but Project Origin does have them. Only thing I really didn't like about it. I was all excited to fight that one army guy just for his boss battle to be a QTE. I tweeted the hell out of that game, though.

[Shauna]

I haven't played the expansions. x} I'll get to them.

[Bolivar]

Two of my favorite PC games of all time. I enjoy horror games but I don't seek them out, so FEAR having such incredible shooting mechanics was the spoonfull of sugar to make that horror medicine go down. I guess I'm a scaredy-cat compared to you guys but my analysis on the first two goes like this:

I had to stop playing the first one after dark because it was too scary. I couldn't stop playing the second after dark because the gameplay was just that incredible.

As a shooter guy, I do prefer Project Origin, it also had much more level variety, as the first was just LONG repeats of the same 3-4 locales. I've heard bad things about the exansions for the first game (they were developed by a different team) but I can vouch for F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn - it's an excellent 'short but sweet' slice of gameplay/story and sets up what F.3.A.R. should have been.

F.3.A.R. was a great shooter but a bad fear game. Shadow of Mordor, interestingly, has the Focus system (with the same name) for arrow shooting, even with the same depleting HUD meter next to the cross-hairs! A lot of that game actually has some very fear-esque moments, especially the ending. I really hope Monolith takes the success they had with Mordor to make F.E.4.R.!

[Ayen]

I was the opposite. I don't usually like FPS games all that much, but the horror elements is what convinced me to give it a try. Which is weird because I usually shy away from horror. I'm a scaredy-cat, too, and refuse to watch any horror related films but I'll play games like this...

Everyone kept telling me I should play it with the lights out and I was like "Smurf that!"