Yes, I know this game came out years ago, but I recently attempted to play it because I was bored and it was nearby. I remember when this game came out, people said it was some of the scariest shit they played. Being a horror game fanatic, I was all too eager to pick it up and give it a spin. But if I were forced to summarize this glamorized tedium in a bullet point summary, it would look something like this:

*Poor level design

*dull graphics

*cliche villain

*boring jump scares

So here's the story in a nutshell: Some bitch with psychic powers has her kid taken away from her when she gives birth, her kid also has psychic powers or something. This kid grows up, eats people, and becomes a terrorist or something. To be honest, I could not focus on the details of the story because I was distracted by how poor the rest of the aspects of the game were.

Gameplay- F.E.A.R is a first person shooter and in its defense, the gun play is pretty standard run-of-the-mill stuff. So while it's not bad, it doesn't really stand out much either. The biggest thing it brings to the table is the mechanic that enables you to slow down time, allowing your characters reflexes to dodge enemy attacks and make precise shots. You can melee enemies, but your melee attack depends on which gun you are holding, since you attack with the gun's stock. The bigger the gun, the more damage you inflict.

Enemies- While the A.I. in F.E.A.R. is pretty sophisticated, (enemies communicate to each other your position and they are quick to flank you), they are lacking in variety and are boring as hell to fight. This is because they are supposedly all clones that are controlled by the cannibal guy. This means you hear the same voices shouting at you, you hear the same screams as you slaughter them, and you fight against the same tactics. There are some enemies which take you by surprise, such as these guys who can climb on the walls and turn invisible, but they are way too easy to kill.

Level design- This game takes a minimalist approach to level design. In other words, they don't put much color or many details to convince you it's a real place. The levels you are in do not seem to have any logical layout either. I can not tell you how many times I got lost because I did not know I had to jump over a railing at an odd angle or because I was supposed to jump off a few cardboard boxes that looked like part of the scenery. Everything is so drab, gray, and depressing. I don't mean depressing as in the atmosphere, I mean it looks as though little thought went into the aesthetics. A lot of the game had me feeling claustrophobic, and not in the good way either. I didn't feel trapped as much as I felt the game was poorly designed, so there was no way I could find a way to get out of the corridor I was stuck in.

The level transitions come at the weirdest times. You'll be doing a mission when all of a sudden the loading screen pops up to let you know you've completed the level. One particular moment stuck out for me. I was dropped off on a rooftop of a building with skylights. I had to break into the skylights and drop down into the building. I broke the window and jumped in. But before I hit the ground, the loading screen popped up. It wasn't like the level wasn't loaded, I could see all the geometry there. In games like Halo or Call of Duty, the level transitions only after you clearly accomplished a major event. But in F.E.A.R, it feels like they simply tacked them on.

Fear level: Let's face it, unless you are a pussy, F.E.A.R. is not scary. The game tried to borrow from Japanese horror films such as Ringu and Ju-on: The grudge, but it fails so miserably. All of the so-called "scary" moments almost always come with the worst timing and they try way too hard. You get the whole cliche "items falling off shelves" associated with ghosts and poltergeists. The problem is, I am not scared by those items because there has not been any tension. In fact, the first time this happened I did not even notice it because I was too busy fighting the soldiers.

As you continue with the game, you get these flashy images at the weirdest times. And again, no tension built up to them, so I wasn't scared. Voices...or memories, are projected into your head and disturbing images are flashed across your vision. It was as if the game was desperate to scare me. The way these moments are delivered could not fail any harder. These "scary" moments are almost always accompanied by a musical chime or flickering lights, then a shadowy figure would walk across my vision before evaporating, or a bottle of suntan lotion would fall off a shelf.

Eventually, there comes a moment when you find yourself in a hallway filled with blood. Now, it was perfectly normal before, but suddenly it appears to be fucked up. It's a device directly ripped from Silent Hill, only the way they did it is shit. Obviously it's a hallucination so I can't be harmed by it. Also, I don't feel threatened much by these hallucinations and apparitions because I am armed to the teeth with bullets. That's the biggest thing this game gets wrong. Fear only works if you feel like you are in danger. In this game, there was not one moment I felt threatened by the visions Alma Mobley or Samara, or whatever her name is sent to me. The reason games like Silent Hill and Amnesia work so well is because your character has very little to no defense. They know how to build up tension and atmosphere, they don't try to throw it in your face. They let your own mind screw with you, which is how good horror games work. F.E.A.R isn't like that. The entire game throws this shit at you with desperate need, as if to say "Am I scaring you yet? well? Am I? No? How about now?"

There were a few moments that started me, such as this part where I climb down a ladder, only to see a girl standing where I was just standing. But that only worked once. When the apparitions appear, I always knew they were fake, so I just ran right through them without bothering. The scariest thing about F.E.A.R. is that there are people dumb enough to actually think it is scary. And yes I am calling you an idiot if you liked this game.

I've never played it myself. heard it was pretty good though

It isn't. It's terrible.

Bad taste: the thread

If this goes in News and Cheat leaves out my Brazilian Fart Porn one in the dust, I will fucking stab a bitch.

I have fond memories of F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. 2.

I wish I could find some copies around.