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4.5 stars
"Project F.E.A.R."
Pros: Horror theme
Cons: system requirement
Summary: F.E.A.R. is a first person shooter/horror game developed by Monolith Production for PC and Day One Studios for XBOX 360 and PS 3. The game is published by Vivendi Universal. It was released on 18th October, 2005 after its production was formally announced in 2004. ESRB gave it a ?mature? rating citing the excessive bloodshed and extreme gore portrayed in the game. The game is launched on PC, XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3. The PC version rated the best.
FEAR requires 1.7 GHz processing speed, a minimum of 512 MB RAM and 64 MB video cards equivalent to nVidia GeForce 4 or Radeon 9000. The game runs fine on Windows XP, 2000 and Vista.
1. Storyline:
the story begins with the First Encounter Assault Recon, a US based secret service specialized to crush paranormal threats, getting the information about a Paxton Fettel forcibly taking over Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC) with the help of a brigade of super soldier clones, Replica Forces, killing all of its workers. The player assumes the identity of a FEAR point man. Apparently, this is yr first run as a FEAR operative but yr exceptional reflexes have allowed u to enter such delicate situation. Your ultimate goal is to neutralize Fettel. The super soldiers are telepathically controlled by Fettel; hence killing Fettel will render them useless. As the player goes deeper into the game, he learns about a project named Origin started by Harlan Wade, an elderly scientist working for ATC, to created super-humans with incredible psyche abilities. But this project backfired, threatening the very existence of ATC. Hence, the vault was closed. Apparently, the president of ATC Genevieve Aristide jumped the gun when she decided to resurrect Origin. The operatives sent to re-open the vault did not return. Realizing her mistake, she sent another operative to ?clean-up-the-mess?. What happened next, it?s for u to discover.
also, the player is haunted by a ghostly figure, an eight year old girl in a red dress, her face somewhat covered by her long hair. The girl has very powerful psychic powers, one of them allows her to melt the flesh of her enemies. Her major powers are seen in the later stages of the game. It so appears that she doesn?t try to kill u but continues to scare u throughout the game.
the conclusion of the game is perfect. Every unnatural activity in the game is explained in the ending.
2.Game play:
a.FPS: FEAR keeps the basics of first person shooter intact. The player can sprint, jump, aim, strafe, lean, perform head-shots etc. The strafe-shooting style isn?t recommended due to heavy recoil of the rapid-firing arms and the good accuracy of the Replica Forces. A lot of emphasis has been laid on ?leaning and shooting? and the SlowMo.
b. Hand-to-hand: FEAR enhances hand-to-hand combat skills. Apart from the regular melee attacks, u can perform bicycle kicks and slide kicks. If executed properly, these moves will instantly kill yr opponent.
c. Weapons: there are 9 different types of firearms and three different types of grenades in the game. The weapons are categorized on the basis of rate of fire, accuracy, range and damage. All the weapons can be viewed in the option menu of the game. Also, the option menu allows u to set the priority of firearms. U can keep up to three weapons at a time. The brighter side is there is no restriction on the type of weapon u keep.
d.SlowMo: termed as the reflexes of the player, SlowMo slows down the time for u, thereby allowing u to react faster to the situation. As the time slows down, it becomes a lot easier to aim at the head of yr opponent. But u can stay in this mode for a very short period of time, the reflex meter drains out very quickly. Therefore, clever usage is required. Monolith website states that the protagonist reflexes as 5 times faster than a normal human, thereby indicating that the SlowMo slows down the time by a factor of 5. Impressive, huh?
e. Upgrades: regular heath and reflex upgrades are provided in the game. They are usually kept in the ?out-of-way? areas. The player starts with maximum health of 100, each health upgrades adds 5 to yr overall health. The final health, after taking all the upgrades, is 200.
f. AI: gamespot.com gave FEAR the ?Best AI award?. Without doubt, the game deserves this reward. The enemies strafe and shoot, find alternate paths to carry out surprise attacks, use suppressive fire, take cover when under heavy fire, jump railings, communicate etc.
g. Horror theme: the horror theme has been very cleverly worked upon. The developers new that the present generation is full of ?smart? people and using a normal sequence of spooky stuff isn?t gonna scare them. FEAR uses an impressive combination of sound effects, situation and lights moulded into a one scary atmosphere. The game uses a lot of ?unexpected encounters? with Alma, the girl in the red dress. The sequences force the player to keep their eyes open all the time. ?Fear is the consequence of an alert mind? and this is what the game is trying to hit throughout.
3. Graphics:
my meagre vocabulary is definitely in short of words while describing the graphics of this game. Blood, marks on the wall, effects of an explosive are remarkable. If u have a good graphic card or own a ps or Xbox, u are in for a great gaming experience. The real beauty of the graphics are seen while in SlowMo, the bullet travelling in the air, hitting yr opponent etc are just too cool. The surroundings are designed to suit the scary atmosphere. U have to play it to get the picture of what I am trying to say.
4. Difficulty:
the game is considerably difficult. The player will require some time to understand the combat style used in the game. The game doesn?t quite use the real-life shooting system, but the accuracy and well planned shooting techniques used by yr enemies tend to make things difficult for u, sometimes annoying. I would recommend using ?moderate difficulty? from the start.
5.Shortcomings:
the huge system requirements seem to be the only demerit of this game. Game play, graphics, difficulty, music etc are up to the mark. One website mentioned that the overuse the same environment kinda spoils the fun. Well, I will leave the assessment of this statement to the player.
Overall, this game is a must play for FPS lovers and gamers aching for some really horror sequences. I give this game 9.4 (out of 10 ofcourse).
A sequel, Project Origin, is under construction and probably will be released in 2008.
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