Story

First Encounter Assault Recon, an elite unit tasked with strange investigations, was created in 2002 by the US Army to combat paranormal threats. From the start of the game, the player, therefore, embodies a recruit assigned to the position of a scout. The mission seems simple; you need to move forward to open the way for your colleagues while eliminating enemy threats. Indeed, on the ground, it is quite different. We are the elite of the elite, a well-trained soldier capable of dealing, usually, in any situation. And yet, one of FEAR's great strengths is to succeed in bringing the character and at the same time the player, into a completely surreal universe. At all times, the masterfully produced staging makes us vacillate between two radically opposed worlds. While our mind tends to keep sanity, our eyes plunge us into a fantastic universe.

Gameplay

Even though the storyline is significant to the game, FEAR is first and foremost an FPS. As a result, it offers relatively classic but highly effective gameplay. Our agent can carry up to three different weapons and can use doubloons to increase his firepower. It is usual for a super-soldier like this to have the appropriate equipment. Finally, we can always notice that the torch we are equipped with goes out every thirty seconds. This little disappointment aside, we can take our inventory to see that the developers have kept their promise by incorporating a new weapon. Faced with enemies with sophisticated artificial intelligence, physical strength alone will no longer suffice, and our superhuman capacities can then return to action.

Equipped with a kind of bullet-time giving us greater speed, we have the power to "slow down time" to allow us to aim at the heads of our enemies. A strong useful capacity, even a little too much, which confers a definite advantage to pass more easily a zone at risk. Indeed, the bar serving as an indicator fills up too quickly. It then becomes much more comfortable to beat the bumps and the few enemies, little varied, ranging from the simple soldier to the sophisticated warrior (invisible and fast). All the same, must relativize since the difficulty is increased and only the truly experienced player can meet the challenge offered by the "extreme" campaign. This only masks the short lifespan of the FPS which ends in seven or eight hours depending on your level. But fans of the genre will quickly forget them since FEAR is above all a game that relies heavily on its atmosphere.

Graphics

While many games have been content to offer gloomy atmospheres in which everything ends in bloodbaths, and instils a real fear. Quite unspeakable, this strange sensation halfway between anxiety and fear plays on our senses to deceive us. First visually, evil is embodied by a demonic little girl. The player is the victim of kinds of hallucinations in which he rubs shoulders with death. The soldiers die in excruciating pain, and a lot of blood covers the walls without even being able to find a bullet mark. By accepting the position of scout, we, therefore, ventured into an intriguing universe that makes us doubt. Too bad that the technical realization very involved at the time, was not more work. The textures come directly from the PC episode, so the rendering is quite ugly. And yes, the developers did not understand that in one year the graphics engines evolve and that theirs was already far too old to be represented on a new generation console. Fortunately, all the same, that the effects of slow motion, the projections of particles and the plays of lights are of the most beautiful product. These, therefore, preserve the unique atmosphere of the software for complete immersion, or almost.

Conclusion

A real gaming experience, FEAR has all the qualities, but also, unfortunately, all the faults of the PC version. However, despite old textures, small flaws that take away a little credibility to the game and a new unnecessary mode, the title has lost none of its charm. With concrete gameplay and an incomparable atmosphere, FEAR is a real experience to live at least once in your life. Within addition, an artificial intelligence worthy of the name, it is important not to hesitate. Even though it's not the best FPS on the console, it's still an excellent title for anyone who has never finished the PC version. Here is finally a title which will give some cold sweats to the less fearful of us.