F.E.A.R. 3

Please note that this review specifically pertains to the PC version of F.E.A.R. 3.  However, much of the information most likely applies to the other versions.   Opening   I still remember the first time I played the original F.E.A.R. The game pushed PC hardware of the time with its totally kickass graphics, it had one of the finest and most complete stories ever to grace an FPS, and the gameplay was a perfect blend of Jon Wu style action and Japanese style horror films; an excellent package that left me completely blown away, and that’s without even getting into how awesome the artificial intelligence was (for the time).   Fast forward a few years and we got F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin; not a bad game, but one that was not nearly on the same level as the original. The two biggest faults being the graphics – which were clearly developed with consoles in mind – and the story, which just didn’t pack the same punch as the original’s. Don’t get me wrong, I did like the game; just not nearly as much as the excellent game that came before it.   Well, fast forward a tad further and you get the series third installment; F.E.A.R. 3 (or, to be cool, F.3.A.R.). By enlisting the talents of John Carpenter and Steve Niles to help with the cinematics, giving the player the opportunity to play as Paxton Fettel, and including online cooperative multiplayer; it appeared as though the developers were going all out with this one. Did it pay off? Well, yes and no; and I’ll explain why.  

  Story and Presentation   For me, the reason my experience with the original F.E.A.R left such a strong lasting impression was because of how strong the story was; particularly the stellar “reveal” at the finale. The game was filled with all sorts of bizarre paranormal occurrences and strange flash backs that seemed random at first, but they all end up tying together beautifully in the end. It was fantastic, and something that only a handful of other FPS’s have been able to pull off.   F.3.A.R. (yeah, cuz I’m cool like that), unfortunately, sits snugly within the long list of shooters that have failed to present an excellent story. Is the story bad? No. It drives the action well; doing its best to describe why you are in each area, and why you should care. Beyond that, it really isn’t anything special.  

Why does Point man, one of the game’s playable characters, sort of look like Jesus?

  For me, this prosaic handling of the story is the most damning aspect of the package. What we end up getting is just another – though admittedly fun – shooter; something that a F.E.A.R. game shouldn’t be. The original set the bar too damn high for this series to be allowed to fall into the realm of mediocrity. It’s a shame that the story did not turn out to be better, especially since the previously mentioned talent was on board…   All that said, I want to remind everyone that I do not think that the story is bad. It’s just not nearly on the same brilliant level as the original. It does do some things pretty well, most notably the heavy focus on Paxton Fettel.   F.3.A.R. brings back the two stars of the original game; the unnamed “Point Man”, and the ferociously insane Paxton Fettel. I’d give you a spoiler warning, but if you’ve seen any preview for this game you should already know that Fettel and Point Man are brothers (I won’t ruin any more details beyond that). Bringing these two back was a great decision, and a definite service to the fans.  

Fettel makes a triumphant return!

 

The game takes place nine months after the events of the first games. Point Man has been captured by Armacham (the “evil” company behind the franchise’s atrocities) and is getting interrogated. Paxton Fettel helps his brother escape, and the two create a twisted alliance. Later, we learn that Alma (look her up on Google if you are new to the series) is pregnant; and it becomes the goal of the brothers – though with different motivations – to find her.   Fettel basically becomes the game’s primary narrative force, as Point Man is mute throughout. I can understand why a developer may want to leave its hero silent; and though it may work sometimes, it does not work here. Each cutscene becomes more awkward than the last as we watch Point Man stare silently at the people speaking to him. If they really wanted this approach to work, then they should have never taken the game outside of the first person perspective. Had they done that, we’d at least not have to watch Point Man constantly staring silently (with a half pissed look on his face) as people try to speak with him.   Mostly making up for the less than amazing story, the rest of F.3.A.R’s package is pretty solid. Everything you do (albeit in multiplayer or alone) earns you points that contribute to a global rank. As you progress through the ranks, you’ll earn new perks that will buff you up in both the campaign and the multiplayer modes. The whole system is pretty cool, and it is definitely a feature that adds nicely to the overall package.   Graphics   The original F.3.A.R. had graphics that really pushed hardware back in its time. On the other hand, F.3.A.R. looks like it could have come out a few years ago… The models are mostly decent, and some of the effects are nice; but nothing is really up to par with what is seen in most other current day shooters. In fact, I think F.E.A.R. 2 may have actually had better graphics than this one (I’ll have to replay it some time to confirm this).   Though I mentioned that some of the graphics are decent, there are others that are just plain ugly. This seems to be especially apparent in the multiplayer modes, where some of the textures seem to be majorly dumbed down. This is sort of mind boggling considering that the game only features four player multiplayer modes, which should definitely not be pushing hardware. I guess this is probably just a sign that the game was designed with consoles in mind, and the PC version was more of an afterthought. That said, a lot of the graphics in this game aren’t really even up to par with top tier console games either…   The weapon designs are fairly hit-or-miss as well. Where some are very nice, probably some of the best in the franchise; there are other that aren’t so great. Well, when I say “others”, I’m mostly talking about the pistol. It’s downright ugly, and you should avoid looking at it at all costs!  

Had it not been for that horribly designed pistol sitting right in the middle, this would have actually been a pretty nice shot…

  I can accept less than stellar graphics if they don’t take away from the experience, but that’s the problem with F.3.A.R.’s graphics; they do take away from the experience! Part of what made the original game so scary was the excellent use of dynamic lighting, which in many ways exceeded the lighting in Doom 3 (that “other” popular horror shooter of that generation). F.3.A.R, on the other hand, barely uses any dynamic lighting whatsoever. This is a fact that is instantly recognizable the first time you turn your flashlight on; a foolish graphical enhancement to dumb down in a horror game.   Aside from the poor use of lighting, the game also has the occasional graphical glitch. The worst of these was when a large section of the ground on a stage was not rendered. Nothing takes you out of an experience quicker than a f*cking broken texture!  

This shot doesn’t do justice to how much of this texture was actually missing…

  Like I mentioned before, it appears as though this game was designed with consoles in mind; and the PC platform gets the shaft just as it so often does. Like I emphasized in my Alice: Madness Returns review, this is a tragedy since the first game was originally designed as – and become popular as – a PC exclusive. The game has very limited graphical options and doesn’t take advantage of the hardware available to PC gamers.   Sound Design   Graphics are not the only aspect of this game where the developers dropped the ball; the sound design leaves much to be desired as well. Sure, it works; but this is a horror game! If you’re a developer and you want to scare the shit out of someone, the number one thing you need to perfect is your game’s atmosphere. A huge part of creating an excellent atmosphere is superb sound design. Average will not cut it.   Check out Amnesia: The Dark Descent; I dare you! And using the word “dare” is not an understatement; that game is seriously f*cking scary! It didn’t have super great “next gen” graphics, but what it did have worked perfectly. The lighting (unlike F.3.A.R.) was very good, and the other effects they used complimented the atmosphere very well. That said, beyond the graphics, the sound was phenomenal! It seriously left you feeling scared nervous to look around every corner. The developers did a great job, and it’s the perfect example of how the sound should be done in a good horror game.  

Ohs nos!

  On the other hand, F.3.A.R. barely leaves you feeling cautious. There are plenty of well designed areas that are just begging to be given the chance to scare you senseless; but without good sound effects helping to create a creepy atmosphere, the horror elements just don’t work. For a game with the word “fear” in the title, it’s almost ironic that there is really no horror to be seen here. If you’re looking for a scary game, you might want to look elsewhere (Amnesia would be a great place to start, if you haven’t already played it).   Beyond the lack of a great atmospheric sound design, the rest of the package is solid. Gun sounds do their job, and the voice acting is good throughout. This is especially true for Paxton Fettel’s character, voiced by Peter Lurie. As mentioned earlier, Fettel is basically the primary narrative force for the game; so it is good that the voice actor does an excellent job with the character.   Gameplay   I believe that I’ve made it very clear that this game has all but failed with the horror elements; but how does everything else stack up? Horror was always only one part of the story in the F.3.A.R. games, with balls to the walls action being the other part. Well, I’m pleased to say that the developers have delivered with the action gameplay elements. In fact, the gunplay is probably the best of the series.   One reason that the action elements play so well is that the controls have been tightened significantly. This isn’t saying that past games controlled bad; it’s just that F.3.A.R. controls better. This is especially true with the melee controls, which are now a lot more intuitive than what they were in past titles. They didn’t remove any of the oh-so-cool first person kungfu moves that you could use in past titles; they just made the controls for them a Hell of a lot more intuitive.  

Eat lead, bitch!

  They’ve also thrown in a first person cover system, which is new to the series. This is a cool feature; and something that is seen often in third person titles, but rarely in first person games. Like the melee combat, this cover system controls very tightly; and you’ll quickly be wondering why more first person shooters haven’t adopted a similar system.   It’s good that the controls are sharp, because the combat in this game is intense. From start to finish, you’re thrown into one over-the-top combat sequence after another; making F.3.A.R. feel more like a Call of Duty game than a true F.3.A.R. title. This is amplified even further when playing the game cooperatively.   As mentioned in the opening of this review, F.3.A.R. can be played cooperatively, with one of the players controlling each of the brothers. This actually works pretty well, and it’s refreshing that they made Fettel play completely differently than Point Man by making him more of a support character. That said, Fettel still is capable of dishing out plenty of hurt when used properly.   Co-op isn’t the only mode in which you can use Fettel; he also can be used in single player when you replay a mission that you’ve completed. This is nice, because playing as Fettel is a much different experience than playing through as Point Man; making a second play through a bit more refreshing than what it would have been otherwise.   When you’ve had your feel of the campaign mode, F.3.A.R. offers four unique 4-player multiplayer modes: F*cking Run , Contractions, Soul Survivor, and Soul King. In F*cking Run, you and your team are chased by an always-encroaching wall of death. To make matters worse; if a single member of the team is hit by the wall, it’s game over for everyone. Of course, you’re not just running away from an impending wall of death; you’ll also be fighting off hordes of enemies as you try to escape.   Contractions, the game’s other team-focused multiplayer mode, plays very much like the popular Gears of Wars inspired horde modes that have become popular in games. In it, you and three other players must survive 20 progressively difficult waves of enemies. If everyone is killed in one of the waves, it’s all over and you’ll have to restart at wave number 1.  

The first person cover system is a nice addition.

  In Soul Survivor, you initially start as a four man team; but this quickly is turned into a free-for-all. At the start of the match, Alma will corrupt one of the players; turning him into a specter. As a specter, you will fight along hordes of enemies in an attempt to pick off the other players. Each player that is killed also becomes a specter, until there is only one “soul survivor.”   In Soul King, the game’s final multiplayer mode, all players start as a specter with the ability to possess human enemies. As you kill off the AI human enemies, and other players, you collect souls which add to your points. If you’re killed, you are penalized by losing half of the souls you’ve collected. The player with the highest score, once the timed round ends, is the winner.   Longevity   Though the campaign isn’t particularly long (you’ll beat it in 8 hours, or less), the cooperative modes and the ability to replay as Paxton Fettel give it a lot of replay value. Factor in the multiplayer, and you’ve got a pretty meaty experience.   This experience is stretched even further with the previously mentioned ranking system. This system, as mentioned, is persistent in both single and multiplayer. Though it’s cool that it is featured in both, it would have probably helped to provide even more life to the game had they featured a separate ranking system in multiplayer from the one that is in the campaign.  

The persistent ranking system is pretty cool.

  I will admit, finding multiplayer games in F.3.A.R. isn’t always an easy task. Like many games that were developed with console in mind, F.3.A.R. lack’s dedicated servers; making you completely dependent on finding user hosted matches. This can also become problematic if the host decides to be a douche and quit out of the game, causing everyone else to be dropped from the match. If you are a developer and you wish to release a game on PC; please, for the love of God, do not release it with console style matchmaking!   As it stands, the easiest way to get into a good match is to play with friends. If you don’t have any friends that own the game, you can always jump on to the Steam forums and find a couple of people to play with; there are plenty of players on there that are just as hungry for good matches.   If you don’t feel like taking the above steps to find a good match, you can always create your own and hope that others jump on. This has typically worked for me, though sometimes you’ll have to wait for a bit to get a full set of four players.   Closing   F.3.A.R. had some fantastic ideas and some big talent backing it up, but failed to become something spectacular. The fact that some elements play so damn well, makes the portions that fall short all the more upsetting. F.3.A.R. had every reason in the world to be a great title, but failed to be so. Beyond that, there is really nothing more for me to say…   Bottom Line  

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 6th, 2011 at 10:32 PM and is filed under Featured, Reviews, RokIntroScroller, RokNewsPager. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.