DISCLAIMER - I really liked the original FEAR, as in it is one of my top 5 games of all time kind of liked. As a result I do expect its sequels to be at least equally good and will be covering how I think FEAR 3 stacks up against its predesessor.
DISCLAIMER 2 - I only played the game in single player mode as none of my usual gaming buddies bought the game, and also only played a few levels as Paxton Fettel, in addition I didn't try the multiplayer because that's not what I like the FEAR series for. If I have missed the 'best bits' of the game as a result then tough luck FEAR3, you have missed the point of this series.
THE REVIEW:
FEAR3, like both previous FEAR games, is essentially a script based corridor shooter that offers few options to the player but a head on assault though waves of enemies. That said, it does a reasonable job within those limitations, although not as polished as games like Call of Duty 4 or Modern Warfare 2, the gameplay is very similar.
The weapons feel powerful and each has its role to play in the game. I find it a little frustrating that the really interesting weapons are only available during short sections of certain levels and are usually only provided for use on a specific target. Where both previous games allowed you much more access to the more exotic weapons, you will spend most of FEAR3 looking down the sights of the SMG.
THE SMG - get used it it, you will use it A LOT
I played though the game on the third highest of the four difficulty settings and for the most part found the game quite easy. The addition of regenerating health removed the previous games really tough moments where you had no life, no med kits and 30 guys to kill before the next heath boost.
The AI grunts were as clever as ever for a FEAR game, making good use of cover, suppressing fire, and able use coordinated flanking maneuvers and grenades to flush you out of cover and catch you in crossfires. Sadly though the boss enemies were far more stupid, forgetting how cover works and taking the most direct route to you at all times, even when you have a rocket launcher that can seriously ruin their day. As a result, the bosses are generally the easiest foes you fight, this is especialy true of the painfully easy final boss who I defeated on the first attempt using nothing but the pistol. The hardest fight of the whole game is not even half way though the game when you get stuck in a small area with a mech the shoots rockets and laser beams, while you have only a depressingly ineffective beam gun and the standard issue SMG.
One last point relating to difficulty. The shield + SMG weapon is perhaps the most overpowered thing I have seen in an FPS since the pistol from Halo 1. It makes you immune to damage of any kind from the front while allowing a powerful melee attack and SMG fire. I defeated all but one of the phase commander bosses with the shield bash (even 2 at once can't hurt you with this baby)
The ultimate super weapon!...no really.
You play the game first time though as point man, psychic super soldier and son of Alma, also the player character from the original game which means that bullet time is back. This was one of the main features of the original game that I loved so much and it remains as effective as ever allowing you to mow down whole rooms full of enemies before they can react. The down side is that compared to the original I felt like I had much less slow mo time which left me using it less often so it was available for tougher sections. Other than that, playing as point man, the game is a competent shooter with some interesting and clever enemies. Melee combat returns as well but apart from the sliding kick, it is not one shot lethal so is often more risky than rewarding as a tactic, something that is particularly annoying in sequences that leave you mobbed by close combat enemies with no escape route and no room to slide kick.
The biggest difference between FEAR 3 and the earlier incarnations is that once you have completed a level as point man, you unlock an alternate character to play the level as. Paxton Fettel - point man's deceased brother. Paxton initialy appears to play very differently to point man, he has no slow mo ability and can't pick up weapons, however, he can telekinetic lift enemies (and explosive scenery for throwing), throw fireballs from his hand and possess enemy troops.
To possess or not to possess?
Paxton Fettel offers a new way to play FEAR
The problem with this is that the fireball proves to be inadequate for taking on the mobs of enemies that attack you, forcing you to possess the enemy. Sounds fun right, it is until you realize that playing as a possessed enemy is EXACTLY the same as playing point man just without slow mo.
Playing as a possessed enemy
notice the similarity to the point man pictures above
In short, playing Fettel offers only a few new tricks rather than a truly unique playing experience. Fettel is also outclassed by his brother, the entire game is clearly designed for co op play, and the number of enemies faced is designed around that, while bullet time allows point man to even the odds, Fettel is left looking vulnerable and outgunned, frequently having to cower in a corner until his spirit power regenerates enough to possess a new victim.
I didn't like the direction that FEAR2 took with the franchises story, and FEAR3 follows directly on from it, but the biggest problem is that the game fails to convey the story with any clarity. While the players short term goals are clear and quite logical for most of the game, the overarching reasons for your actions and the state the world is in are vague and never properly explained. I also dislike the cut scene heavy approach to the storytelling. FEAR 1 conveyed almost the entire story half life style without resorting to cut scenes. The events that were unfolding were given meaning and context by little touches like voice mail messages that could be picked up by the player, sometimes these would be incriminating calls from the people who had caused the disaster, but were equally often were worried relatives trying to get in touch with the clearly dead former occupant of the office you were in. FEAR 3 lacks anything like this to give the story a grounding in the real world and your actions feel more pointless for it.
The game completely looses the plot near the end, with you abruptly switching location and changing objectives with no warning and no explanation. This baffling section leads on to one of the most frustrating endings I have played since CoD4. I wont give too much away but the final fight is determined by which of the 2 players got the highest gamer score throughout the game, fine for co op perhaps (if a bit bland) but for single player it is nothing more than a boring, predetermined cut scene. The lack of player input in the outcome of the game is a slap in the face to those of us who bought into the pre release hype that you would have to chose between the mission and 'family'. I would have much preferred to see a proper final fight that allowed you to determine your actions either during or after. Instead we get a lazy set up for another sequel that I for one would rather not see.
My single biggest complaint against the game has to be the graphics. FEAR1 had crisp, clear graphics and stunning explosions and bullet trails in slow mo, but regrettably. the sequels have both abandoned this. FEAR2 had an irritating grainy filter over the 'camera lens' but that was nothing to the horrible mess of FEAR3s graphics. The overall look of the game is good, models for weapons, characters and environments are solid and real looking, some sections are also much more colourful and engaging than the grey/brown of most current generation shooters, and in cut scenes the texture quality is high. In game though, absolutely everything is blurry and out of focus looking, a quality that is made all the worse by motion blur and additional vision blurring when in slow mo or taking damage. I can only assume that point man has either taken one blow to the head too many or he forgot to put his specs on before the game began.
The new 'blurry brick'
designed by opticians to bring in more customers
More likely though, is that this is a result of the cross platform nature of the game. FEAR1 was PC exclusive and was a bit of a beast graphically at release. FEAR3 on the other hand is a console game ported (lazily if the menu functionality is anything to go by) to PC.
FEAR is of course, supposed to be a horror FPS. This element, along with slow mo, sent the original game into the lofty heights of my personal favorite games, FEAR was genuinely scary at times, with moments that had me firing whole clips into air in a panic and spine chilling sections that were reminiscent of early levels of Alien vs Predator 2 in the way they built tension and paranoia. By FEAR3, these elements are all but gone. the sections designed to be scary fall flat, and the monster that hunts you from time to time is easy bested by liberal use of slow mo. I can only imagine that the 'tension' is broken even more playing with a friend. I miss the days of being haunted by a little girl in a red dress who scared the crap out of me more than any missile toting mech.
Ultimately the graphical failings overshadow everything else about the game, the game play is good and the story was just about engaging enough to play though to the end even if it does go fruit loopy at the end, but I could only play an hour or so at a time because the blurry graphics gave me a shocking headache if I played any longer.
