-Joe Louie’s Bitchin’ Games-
Staff Writer
With a myriad of first person shooters (FPS) out there, it’s difficult to find the best one for you. If you’re into World War 2, you have plenty of choices. If you want something different, well, you have 2 choices: Battlefield 2, and F.E.A.R. F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) has emerged as one of the best games I played last year.
The controls are very standard. If you’ve played one FPS, you can get into this. The learning curve is easy, as it should be.
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F.E.A.R. Released: 10/18/2005 Category: Shooters, Online Platform: PC ESRB Rating: Mature Publisher: Vivendi Universal Games Price: $49.99
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The system requirements for the game are some of the heftiest I’ve seen in any computer game thus far, but there is good reason for this. It is one of the most beautifully rendered games in the genre. Characters move smoothly, as does the camera, even when things are exploding all around you. The physics engine used is seamless. Bodies fly about with precision, and blood splatter lines the walls behind the shot targets.
The most impressive aspect of this game is a storyline that is actually engaging. A psychopath, Fatell, escapes his prison and uses mind control to take over a legion of cloned soldiers. You play a new recruit, and spend your time hunting down the escapee. You are the one picked because of your amazing speed, and, with a keystroke, you can enter into “bullettime.” This is definitely helpful. The screen goes red around the edges, and you are afforded the time to execute that well-placed headshot with ease as you, along with your enemies, suddenly slow down.
The twist in this game comes with how Fatell escaped. The ghost of a young girl, used in an earlier government project, and taken directly from “The Ring,” enters Fatell’s cell and lets him out. You encounter her periodically throughout the game, usually as she is killing your teammates, or pulling you into her hell. She, as well as Fatell, will talk to you in your head, or over the radio. It’s sometimes difficult to tell.
This game is scary. Not Resident Evil scary, because there’s not a whole lot of baddies jumping out from behind things, but more like decent horror flick scary. You spend most of the game not wanting your flashlight to go out, and being weary of coming around corners. You don’t want to play this game alone. You don’t want to play this in the dark. And you definitely do not want to play this in the middle of the night, or while you’re alone and tired.
I give this game a 9 out of 10. Available for the PC.
The game is rated mature, and for excellent reason. There is strong language, and a lot of gore.
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