Media: Video Game
Genre: FPS/Horror
Production Year: 2009
Production Company: Warner Home Video Games
Platform Availability: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Platform Reviewed: PS3

Overview:
As a prequel to F.E.A.R., you play as a First Extraction Assult Recon (F.E.A.R.) soldier. Your mission is to extract a doctor from her apartment building and escort her to saftey. Seems simple enough. After a nuclear explosion all hell breaks loose. Not to mention that there is the ghost of a dead girl, named Alma, that is terrorizing you and your team, making you hallucinate and generally scare the s**t out of you. Your goal is to survive, save whoever you can, and kill Alma.

Overall: 7
WARNING!! This game will scare the ever loving piss out of you. There were many times I had to stop for a while and let my heart start again. I started sweating, got very twitchy and jumpy. I loved it. I love to watch movies like the Ring and the Omen. This game has it's faults, but the combination of great sound and very creepy game play makes for a terrifying experience. It is one thing to watch it in a movie when it is happening to someone else, but when you have a controller in your hand, it is happening to YOU. Play at your own risk, but I loved it!



Presentation: 6
I ran into a few issues with programming glitches, some more major than others. Your character can run long distances, vault cars, leap over gaps, climb ladders, but gets hung up on a six inch curb, or has trouble walking around a hand railing sometimes. There were a few clipping errors, but they were few and far between. I got to one part where I needed to walk around a factory and get to the other side of some equipment by climbing ladders and such. There are invisible trip wires that when you hit it, something happens and the story progresses. I accidentally found another way around that the game didn't intend for me to go, and it threw off the story line because I didn't hit the story line progression trip wire. A little annoying, but once I hit the next one it was fine. The background sound cut out a few times, but nothing huge. The explosions are beautiful. The guns feel powerful and effective, even though there is not a huge selection to choose from. The interface and HUD work great and don't clutter the screen, which can be annoying. I gave it a lower score because while none of the glitches are a big deal on their own, added up they get to be really annoying.



Story Line: 6
The story is amazing.....until the last ten minutes. The story is engaging, making you want to continue and save the day. You are given very clear instructions on what to do, and a very linear path to follow. The progression plot points are done in a clear and concise manor, giving you only the information you need leaving the mystery for later discovery. Then the ending. It is a little anti-climactic. It is almost as if the writers wrote this amazing story, then the programers told them to shorten it because they didn't feel like programming as much. Amazing plot and progression then they just threw in the ending as an after thought. The ending isn't very well thought out, presented, or explained. I was left not knowing what had just happened, or how to feel about it.




Graphics: 7
The graphics are great. The game is presented in 720p, which will look great on any screen. A few frame rate issues, but those can be overlooked. Beautiful explosions and gun fire make for an amazing experience. Major props have to be given to the programmers for the lighting effects. They are OUTSTANDING. The shadows, erie lights, dark corners, and the use of fog and particals add as much to the story as what is being said and presented to you.



Sound: 8
The sound is one of the greatest parts of this game. I have a Bose theater system, and it sounds amazing. If the visuals and graphics are amazing, the sound is breathtaking, literally. From Alma creaping up on you, to all of her minions' noises and scratches, the sound adds a completely different element to the game play that is so under utilized by so many other games, even those in the same genre. The sounds will haunt your dreams, and terrify you to your core, and that's a good thing.

Controls: 7
The controls are ok. Just ok. A standard has been developed for the button layout in the FPS genre, and F.E.A.R. 2 strays from this a little. The controls, once you figure them out are good, not great. There where a few times where I was wanting to aim or shoot, and I wound up throwing a grenade or something, but that could be just because I am an idiot.

Fun Factor: 8
The fun factor for this game is really high. The story (minus the ending), the graphics, and the sound make for an incredibly engaging game. I love FPS games. It is my favorite genre of games to play. And I love horror movies. This game is hands down the best mariage of the two. I was on the edge of my seat begging for as much as my heart could take. This game, despite all of its flaws, is really really fun to play.

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