FEAR (pc) Game Review

Monolith hit this one out of the park. Fast, Fun, Spooky.

The challenge in describing F.E.A.R. is trying to avoid any spoilers, because this is definitely a game that you want to experience unspoiled. What we can tell you is that you play as the newest member of the First Encounter Assault Recon, the military's top-secret task force assigned to deal with paranormal situations. And the mission in F.E.A.R. certainly counts as above and beyond the regular call of duty. As explained in the opening cinematic (which is also game's only third-person cutscene), a military commander named Paxton Fettel goes insane and takes command of a secret army of cloned soldiers that are telepathically linked to him. Fettel and the battalion of elite soldiers then go on the rampage in a nondescript American city. They appear to be searching for something, though their objective is a mystery. It's up to you and the rest of the F.E.A.R. team, along with units of Delta Force, to find out what it is they're looking for and stop them.

F.E.A.R. works because it elevates first-person shooter combat to cinematic levels. And while we've certainly seen games with movie-quality combat before, you've never seen anything quite like this. Playing F.E.A.R. is like battling through a John Woo movie like Face/Off, because when firefights happen in this game, they're downright glorious to behold. Bullets tear chunks out of concrete and wood; blinding clouds of dust and debris fill the air; bodies are torn apart or slump on the ground; and the deathly silence of the aftermath contrasts so sharply with the sheer chaos that erupted only moments before. Gunfights in F.E.A.R. just feel right. - Gamespot Reviews