Don't fear FEAR 3

The FEAR series has always been an interesting concept to me that has just never seen its full potential and FEAR 3 is no different. One thing that fans of the series can agree on is that the story is kind of hard to follow and totally disturbing. These are two points that FEAR 3 hits many times throughout its campaign. FEAR 3, like its predecessors, is jam packed full of disgusting and violent imagery that is enough to keep you up at night and just enough to keep you interested in the game. It’s pretty standard by the way of first person shooters now days and isn’t likely to stand out in a much over saturated crowd, although FEAR has always been unique as to bring a survival horror quality to the genre. On the control side of things, FEAR 3 plays like any modern shooter but also features qualities not seen in many first person shooter games, such as a lean and shoot cover system much like in Killzone 2.

              

 The biggest factor in the FEAR franchise comes from the name itself. While FEAR 3 is a horror first person shooter I hardly ever found myself being scared. I never once jumped through the entire play through of the campaign but I will admit it takes a lot to scare me. People who are more sensitive to jump scares might find themselves slowly creeping around corners more often. FEAR 3 uses the same tactics to scare the player as the previous games did, using hallucinations and having enemies leap out of nowhere. There will also be several bloody scenes where bodies are usually thrown through doors at the player, though I will say this game did do a better job at a horror atmosphere than the other games. One of the appealing factors about FEAR 3 (and the previous FEAR games) is that the game takes place in very familiar environments. You are literally battling through suburban homes and department stores at one point in the game.

                The biggest downside to FEAR 3 is the lackluster content. The campaign was good enough to keep your interest but very short. I probably cleared it in about four or five hours. Another thing that was a big part of the first two games that is completely removed here was the picking up of data collectibles that gave the player more back story as to what was going on in the game. While this stuff was removed more dynamic cut scenes were added to give a more in-depth story telling experience but the collectibles still felt missed. You play as the character from the first game simply known as Point Man, and while he may not be a faceless character this time he still never speaks through the entire game. Instead all of the speaking comes from the Point Man’s dead ghost brother Paxton Fettel who you killed at the end of the first game. There are some co-op features where two players can play as both characters with Fettel having his own game play style. He can use psychic powers to damage enemies or posses their bodies and fight as them. The downside is if one player goes down the other has a short time to revive them. There are multiplayer elements to the game with some interesting concepts (one mode is actually called “Fucking Run”) but none of them are enough to drag anyone away from the bigger multiplayer shooters already out there.

                Overall FEAR 3 is defiantly one for the fans of the series but not much for anyone else. It’s a competent shooter that is fun to play through but you could probably get everything you want out of it from a weekend rental. It ties up the series nicely leaving just enough of a cliffhanger for a possible sequel if they were determined enough to make one. FEAR 3 is a title that could be passed on the self if you’re not into the horror genre but if you take the time to play it still is an enjoyable enough experience.