F.E.A.R. 3

So nobody on Fear 3 has reinvented the wheel, but they've sure gussied it up.

Fear 3 is just good shooter – more thriller than horror game. Duels are almost perfect so you'll be satisfied with them even when they are the only contents this game offers. [Issue#207]

Less tactical, less scary, all nonsense. Yet it's still great fun with your mates. [Sept 2011, p.]

Aside from these few relatively minor negatives, F.E.A.R. 3 is a very solid shooter that covers a lot of the right bases -- I just wish the developers had put as much imagination and creativity into the single-player campaign as they did into coming up with new multiplayer modes. And, you know, actually made it a bit more scary.

The game makes no major missteps, but neither does it surprise, innovate or evolve the genre in any significant way.

Maybe if it inspired loss of bladder control in the same way the original did - or, better still, how Monolith's Condemned did - it might have been slightly more memorable. FEAR 3 is sadly lacking in the fear department, and has subsequently lost its defining characteristic.

The game still kind of works because of the KI and the good controls, but that doesn't make up for bad level design and presentation. Alma doesn't cause fear anymore, she's just annoying.

The first F.E.A.R. was scary and good. The second one was scary-ish and good-ish. The third one is... well, indistinct. F.E.A.R. 3 is a generic shooter devoid of atmosphere, built correctly step by step but lacking any quality that could prevent you from forgetting this game. [August 2011, p.52]

This probably won't be the end of the Fear franchise, but if the developer does decide to keep it with a trilogy, they drove it home on a strong, if belabored, horrifying note.

There's no doubt that F.E.A.R. 3 should have been a better game, as it fails to live up to both its predecessors and much of what else is on offer in the genre these days. The overall experience is still worthy of approval, and there are some fun co-op modes. Whether you're into horror, action or a combination of the two you might want to take a look at F.E.A.R. 3. Just don´t expect a scary wonder-ride like the first installment.

While neither innovative in its gameplay mechanics or its fright-fests, F.E.A.R. 3's solo outing is still a better-than-average experience that is made all the more entertaining with another player. Its multiplayer offerings are on the opposite side of the spectrum, featuring interesting and fun new gameplay modes that deserve to be imitated by future FPS titles. Unfortunately, the current netcode issues keeps gamers from discovering this for themselves, as if Alma's vengeful spirit lingers as a ghost in the machine.

Long before the events of the original F.E.A.R., scientists of Armacham Corporation put Alma Wade into medically-induced coma and enclosed her in a sarcophagus to suppress her psionic abilities. While trying to create an army of clones with superhuman abilities, they twice artificially inseminated her body, but in the end paid the ultimate price for cruelty and greed. Replace Armacham with Warner Bros., Alma – with F.E.A.R., and this make-believe story will become real.