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The only thing we have to fear is...nothing at all
Time is a funny thing. Days can become a blur, while moments may seem to linger forever. Try as we might, those moments are lost to us as time marches forward. Memories dull, legends change, and even pictures never tell the full story. Somehow, as I played through F.E.A.R., I felt as if I had been transported to a different time altogether. In this way, I was able to experience a moment in time as my fully-realized adult self.
See, I’ve never actually played F.E.A.R. – my only knowledge of it being ads in old gaming magazines I would collect. The usual force of fond remembrance – nostalgia – has no power over me here. I get to experience what some have called the best horror game ever with clear eyes and a clear mind. Despite all its time-slowing shenanigans, it felt no more than a blip on the radar.
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment Developer: Monolith Productions Platform: Played on PC Availability: October 16, 2005 for Windows |
Following the exploits of the First Encounter Assault Recon team, F.E.A.R. is a first-person shooter with some minor exploration aspects in the levels, and a heavy focus on a time-slow mechanic during shootouts. The basic premise is that your team is looking for Paxton Fettel, the commander of a battalion of psychically manipulated clone troopers. As the troops and Fettel cause havoc across the city, you’ll find yourself party to increasingly strange events – including being stalked by a ghostly young girl with long black hair, à la The Ring.
In many ways, it’s hard to make an accurate assessment of the way this game feels and plays when compared to its contemporaries – I have not played them in over a decade – and it feels unfair to stack it up against more modern shooters. So, all I’m left with is what I felt in the moment, and it’s…fine. Controls work as they need to, and everything moves at a fast pace, until you start your time slow ability. That slowing ability basically trivializes every fight in the game, as headshots obliterate most enemies instantly, and it’s easy to line up your shots here.
Almost none of the guns feel particularly unique, as every encounter amounts to a simple point and click. The only real variance between the weapons being how fast the fire rate is and how the bullets spread when fired. I ended up using pistols or single fire weapons in most instances for their ammo efficiency, but I had an automatic rifle for whenever I was in a pinch. There’s also a melee attack which could be very powerful, but I rarely used it. The AI kind of wanders about the room aimlessly, taking occasional potshots at you while you massacre the field. It’s all dreadfully uninteresting, and quickly becomes repetitive.
Most of the miscellaneous systems in play are carbon copies of its predecessor shooters: Health packs to heal, armor that you can collect as a pick-up, and so on. It’s all very Goldeneye or DOOM inspired. Even as others moved on to self-regenerating systems, or ditched power-up pickups in favor of equipment loadouts, F.E.A.R. hung on to those systems. Another thing it clung to was a lack of any really interesting level design. Endless square rooms with a walkway or two (if they’re feeling generous) make up the bulk of the experience, and you’re mostly facing the same cloned enemies in the process. There are some set-piece fights or unique layouts scattered throughout the several hour experience, but they were too few for my liking.
The story might be the most interesting part of the game, but I'm not jumping for joy about it.
So, what would make F.E.A.R. stand out as an exemplary horror game? I’m still not sure. There are horror elements in the game: A little girl in red who stalks you, flashing images on screen, and creepy guys crawling after you in dream sequences. These elements are surprisingly sparse, with most of the game being those gunfights we talked about earlier. In fact, the horror elements themselves are just plainly boring. The game outright refuses to do anything interesting with its premise, instead opting for jumpscare after jumpscare. Climbing down the ladder or in a hallway? There’s the girl! Sadly, she will just go away. Walking into a new room? Boom! Low-res JPG of a dead guy!
Throughout the game there are rooms filled with blood and broken bodies, voicemails describing the events, and objects clanging in the background unprompted. There is certainly a buildup in the story to where the plot threads take us, and while the narrative might be a bit loose, it’s engaging enough to keep things moving. Sometimes, that’s all you can really ask for. The most interesting aspect of the plot revolves around increasingly more frequent and lengthy flashback sequences, but I became tired of even that as the game progressed.
That isn’t to say the game is devoid of any merit. There are certainly memorable moments scattered across F.E.A.R.’s runtime. There are neat chase sequences and some interesting flashbacks that tie right into the real-time experience. I just wish the game had either pared down the boring aspects or put in some more interesting moments in between all the monotony. Perhaps the most disappointing thing for me is the fact that the game didn’t manage to make me feel much of anything at all as I played. For a game that has such a large focus on time, it’s a shame that it felt like such a waste of mine.
Verdict F.E.A.R. is a clear product of its time aesthetically, but doesn’t really hold up in any other department, either. Repetitive combat and dull, washed-out level design make a bulk of the horror shooter a chore, rather than an engaging romp. The plot is paper-thin, and never makes good use of the horror elements scattered throughout the game. Any semblance of horror amounts to simple jumpscares, so if those don’t work for you, it’s not a functional horror game in any other aspect. I mostly come away from playing this game feeling a bit sad. I’m sad I didn’t have a chance to experience it during its release period and I’m sad that I feel like I wasted my time. It feels wrong to judge a game so harshly that hasn’t been relevant in over a decade, but I can pick up so many other old games and still have fun. I just never will with this one.  |
Image Credits: Taylor Rioux
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