The F.E.A.R game series has always been a polarizing one and while it has built up a cult like following it also seems to have a vocal detractor with each fan that it has. The latest instalment to the series is by far the best one but it is also the worst game in the series as well.

The game takes place months after the first game where the Point man has been captured by Armacham and is being tortured for information. Point man manages to escape thanks to an unlikely accomplice — his cannibal brother Paxton Fettel who had been killed by the Point man in the first game. It would appear that Paxton’s psychic link between his brother and Alma (scary girl, test subject, telekinetic rapist) was so strong he was unable to die and is now a wraith like spirit bonded to his brother with his own twisted agenda for him and Alma’s unborn baby.

The game is designed to be a co-op game and as such those who decide to play it alone will miss out on a lot of the game since the second player will be removed from the game entirely not even able to be used as an AI partner. The game is also going to be harder for single player as most of the combat is designed for one player to distract or flank the enemies as they come at you. The Point man method to game play is largely the same from previous titles as he is the human he is able to pick up any gun lying around and use reflexes (slows down time) in order to beat down his enemies. Fettel on the other hand is a demonic power house that a true Sadist will love to play as. The fact he is a spirit means he can possess enemies physical body, telekinetically fling grenades, shoot energy bolts, fling enemies into the air with ghostly threads and make unfortunate enemies explode.

The game itself takes modern day military shooters such as Call of Duty and drapes a nice horror vibe over them to give it the same sense of fear that the previous games had which is some what lost due to the co-op playthrough which adds more action. The game also does a very good job on visuals and story; even better than the previous instalments but this is where all the good stuff for the game ends. The game is so focused on co-op that it really detracts from the game and it also seems the story is over before it really has a chance to actually begin. Speaking of the co-op feature it is insanely stunted as the game offers no ability to change between the characters the first player is always the Point man and there is no chance to switch between levels; on top of that there is no drop in/drop out feature which is just bad thinking for games of this nature.

The developers also decided to add an element of competition between the players to see who will become Alma’s “favorite son” however no one bothers to explain how points are awarded and the best way to complete objectives in order to win and due to Fettel having so many powers it is easy for him to always win. Another major flop to the game is the multiplayer feature which is so poorly designed that there is no reason for it to be in there especially since it seems that in order for it to be added they had to cut back on the main campaign which is what F.E.A.R is all about to begin with. The quick match option never seems to work and the only way to get out of it is to exit the game entirely and then the match making feature is glitched as well; players have apparently been able to get into matches but for most they get the unable to join or slot full message then are booted right back to the main menu meaning you have to go through several menus to get to the match making screen again.

The multiplayer game modes have some pretty cool features to them and can be fun in their own right; for starters there is the contractions mode which is a horde style game where four players fight wave after wave of increasingly difficult enemies and have the chance between waves to gather supplies and rebuild barricades. Next is soul survivor which is an elimination game style where one player is the wraith and he has to corrupt downed players which can be kinda boring for the player that is playing the wraith until he manages to get some teammates. F**king run is a panic inducing game where four players are constantly on the run being chased by a wall of darkness and if one player is caught they will be consumed by it and then it is game over, which is in my opinion as shame as this game mode could last longer if it was elimination style rather than one lost player ends it but it at least fosters team work rather than the standard run and screw the other players approach. The final game mode is soul king where each player is a wraith and they fight against AI enemies that when killed drop a soul you collect for points but players can kill each other for massive soul rewards and this keeps things unpredictable until the end of the match which is a nice change of pace.

All in all this game is a 9/10 however that score is hidden beneath a lot of annoying crap that developers should have dealt with from the start but didn’t. Due to all the half assed finishing touches and majorly glitched out multiplayer feature the real score I give this game is a 6/10 and even if the glitches are fixed in later patches the bulk of the game is still flawed.

Nova out!

 

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