Warner Bros. Interactive and Day 1 Studios have released a trailer for F.E.A.R. 3, and, in doing so, have revealed two of the biggest departures from previous games in the franchise. Paxton Fettel, the psychic commander that controls the clone soldiers of the Armacham Corporation, and one of your antagonists in FEAR and FEAR 2, will be a playable character in the sequel. And I'm not talking about, "You get to play as the bad guys!" playable character. I'm talking, "You're teaming up with the good guys!" playable character.
Paxton Fettel wants your flesh!...but he's still a good guy somehow! The trailer shows Fettel working with the Point Man, the protagonist of FEAR 1 and the main character of this sequel, to take out Armacham's army of clones. You also get a good demonstration of Fettel's psychic powers in action, from possessing clone soldiers to turn them against each other, to immobilizing soldiers in the air so the Point Man can take them out. These are features of what Day 1 is calling the game's "divergent co-op," arming the Point Man and Fettel with different abilities and tactics to use against the weapons of Armacham Corp. It's Geist meets Gears, and it has me interested in what Day 1 wants to bring to the FEAR franchise.
But don't take my word for it; Here's that trailer I've been talking about.
If F.E.A.R. 3 features the same crazy, intense firefights as the previous games in the series, and those fights are tailored around this Co-Op mechanic, that could be a really cool gameplay experience, with players using their mix of different powers and skills to take enemies down. Of course, let's do our due diligence; Day 1 Studios is at the helm of this game, not original developer Monolith, and Day 1's previous work with the FEAR franchise has been...well, sloppy ports of bad F.E.A.R. expansions. Still, count me cautiously optimistic; I'm interested in seeing where Day 1 is going with FEAR 3.
Are you looking forward to Co-Op play in the next FEAR, Bombers? And what would you like to see Paxton Fettel possess to savagely murder clone soldiers? I'm thinking dog food.
