[Dark Hunter]

It's out now, in case anyone was wondering.

Played through it once. It's kind of like more of FEAR 2: less scares, more action. That said, they do a fantastic job of making things disturbing. It starts getting really good around Interval 3, when you get back to Fairport... which has turned into a hellish, apocalyptic warzone nine months after FEAR 2. Close proximity to Alma for extended periods of time does that. And Armacham is still trying to "pacify" the situation.... where the **** do they get their resources?

Oh, and... playing as Paxton Fettel is an absolute blast! 

Possessing enemies, levitating them, telekinetically crushing their insides from behind... soooo much sadistic fun to be had. This doesn't mean he's invincible (pretty easy to die in this game if you're careless), but trust me, it is well worth playing through the game as Fettel.

[General Battuta]

I hear this game is surprisingly un-awful.

[Scotty]

Really?  I saw a trailer for it and my heart fell through the bottom of the floor.  It being not-horrible is a welcome thing.

[Dark Hunter]

Well, it's certainly no FEAR 1, but it's still pretty good. To the devs' credit, they seemed to realize that random Alma appearances are starting to lose their scare factor... so they put something worse stalking you through the game. Yes, worse.

Spoiler:

If Alma and this thing show up at the same time, she will cower in terror. That I think was the single scariest thing I've seen in FEAR: ALMA cowering in fear.

Here's some playing-as-Fettel goodness:

Spoiler:

Situation: psycho cultists with bombs strapped to their chests start showing up... in a narrow hallway. I levitate the leading bomb-cultist. Other cultists are trapped behind him. I blast the cultist's bomb. Explosion sets off two other suicide cultists in the crowd. All cultists die. I lol.

Situation: Ambushed by three knife-throwing cultists with very low health. I possess the most distant one. Throw knives at other knife cultists before they figure out what happened, pinning one to the wall by his face. Spend the rest of the time safe and secure on my perch throwing knives before any other cultists even get close.

[Kolgena]

Hmm. Any more positive reviews and I might actually get this thing.

(I loved FEAR, but hated FEAR2 and Extraction Point)

[Gortef]

here's a PS3 review from IGN

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/117/1177250p1.html

[Colonol Dekker]

And Armacham is still trying to "pacify" the situation.... where the **** do they get their resources?

They're a subsidiary of UMBRELLA.

[NGTM-1R]

And Armacham is still trying to "pacify" the situation.... where the **** do they get their resources?

From the production and sale of giant robots.

(Yes, I just got a copy of Shogo.)

[Klaustrophobia]

did you play it on PC or console?  i've about had it with ****ty ports.  and after FEAR 2, i've got strong reason to be concerned for this one.

[Dark Hunter]

PC. And I don't know if you can call this a port, when it was developed for both console and PC at the same time.

What was so bad about FEAR 2?

[Scotty]

Hmmm.  Enthusiasm tempered somewhat by a horribad review over on CBT.

Does the story make sense?  How challenging are the combat sequences.  Does it flow right?

[Dark Hunter]

Story makes sense. There's not as much background information this time around: it's much more straightforward. Also focuses more heavily on the Point Man's and Fettel's backstory, rather than Alma's.

My biggest complaint was that the first two levels are kind of boring... all combat and little creepiness. Once you get back to Fairport though, the creepiness factor is upped immensely, and it vastly improved.

Combat was surprisingly challenging for me. Probably because I'd been playing games recently where I had a lot more health than you do in FEAR. I do like that they added a good melee attack, which works nicely when an enemy gets too close. My only complaint was one or two places near the end where the combat seems so overwhelming as to be nearly impossible (****ing Phase Commanders). But as I've said before, playing as Fettel is a whole different game. Opens up a number of fun new strategies.

Haven't tried co-op yet, because my internet connection sucks for online multi, but maybe once college starts up again and I have a more stable connection.

I found the finale a bit underwhelming given all the build-up, but FEAR's always been kind of like that, so maybe I was being silly. It does conclude the current storyline, but leaves the door open for sequels if they want to further down the line.

[General Battuta]

FEAR 2 was a terrible game.

[Dark Hunter]

I disagree.

And I categorically ignore anyone's opinion if they don't state the reasons behind it. Not too useful that way.

[General Battuta]

It is truly a terrible loss that you will not share my negative opinion of a video game on the internet. There is too much joy and pleasure in the world and we must act quickly to reduce it!

[Dark Hunter]

My apologies. I was in a bit of a mood when I posted that.

[Colonol Dekker]

I.enjoyed fear2. The bit.

Spoiler:

with the light where your oppo goes a bit doolally genuinely put me at unease. I enjoyed the school. And the ninja intro. The qte ending was genuine ****e though.....aside from alma boobies.

I'd only play fear3 in hope of fighting some awesome all-powerful omni-faetus.

[Dark Hunter]

Spoiler:

Then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, Dekker. The fetus survives.

You do get to fight another horrific thing spawned from Alma's mind, though. In my opinion one of the most horrific things yet (in terms of story, not so much appearance, though that is unsettling too).

[starbug]

Ok bought it for the PC, and i am surprisingly enjoying it! i was a bit unsure about it from what i had read esp as its more shooter than horror. After seeing a couple of reviews i thought sod it, i have £60 worth of points on my GAME card, just get it using that. I am really liking it and the story, I love how it actually ties a lot of the stuff up from the Monolith Fear Timline.

Spoiler:

Poor Michael Becket feel so sorry for him poor bugged doesn't have a good time in F.3.A.R either exploding body! nasty!

My only complaints is that the PC version is pretty badly bugged, lots of random crashes esp at the end of intervals or when the next one is loading! Also it lacks the tense feeling of FEAR 1 but so did FEAR 2 and i did like that one.

I am still playing it so i don't know how things turn out, sofar looks pretty grimm! but i am enjoying and thats the main thing.

[starbug]

Ok i have just finished the game, turns out i was very close to the finish.

Ok my thoughts on the game.

The story, not bad made sense for the most part, good closure for point man, fettel and alma, though it does have a couple of holes, like what happened to Genevieve Aristide as she wasn't killed in the end of FEAR 2 also no mention of any of the other survivors from the previous games, she just disappeared. Didn't get the armacham plan, just seemed like one of Zapp brannagins plans, send wave after wave after wave of men to their deaths lol. Would of been cool to actually know what they were planning and to have had a proper leader, those phase commanders were a bit crap.

Spoiler:

Interesting twist on how Alma is portrayed in this game, i like just how tragic her life/unlife was and how much everyone in the game including alma is a victim of harlan wade in one way or another, esp feel sorry for Alma now and becket. Not sure if i liked how Alma wasn't a threat to the player, in the previous games the appearances of alma were normally creepy and project origin she directly attacks you! Apart from being the main objective to get to alma's really taken a back burner in this game. Also her death at the end very badly done, for such a being, giving birth then dying, although i don't know what happens with fettels ending, Maybe the baby is alma reborn??????? for some reason i get the feeling that alma and the baby were put in the last minute, that's how it feels to me. Main focus is on the brothers and the remnants of Harlan Wade

One thing was really confused with was, where does the finale take place, one minute your at an airport next your god knows where!

The combat for the game was pretty good, AI not to shabby either. The only problem i had was in the latter levels the combat just got so crazy i ended up dying a lot!! Also in the levels were you had to fight waves of cultists i found them to be hard, as i kept getting stuck on things and were unable to move and got killed, not sure if that is just one of the many bugs on the PC version. Also no replica soldiers!

End battle

Spoiler:

Well all i can say is MASS EFFECT 2 REAPER BATTLE RIP OFF!!!!

Ending
Very disappointing and underwhelming! although very good clip after the credits!(finished the game point man ending)