F.E.A.R. 3

F.E.A.R. 3
Developer(s)	Day 1 Studios
Publisher(s)	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)	Heinz Schuller
Writer(s)	Steve Niles Stephen Dinehart John Carpenter
Composer(s)	Jason Graves
Series	F.E.A.R.
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA: June 21, 2011 AUS: June 22, 2011 EU: June 24, 2011 JP: July 21, 2011 JP: August 26, 2011 (PC)[1]
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

F.E.A.R. 3 (stylized as F.3.A.R.) is a first-person shooter survival horror video game developed by Day 1 Studios for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the sequel to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, and the third installment of the F.E.A.R. series. It was announced on April 8, 2010, and was stated to include John Carpenter helping on the cinematics as well as writer Steve Niles.^[2] It is also the only F.E.A.R. game to have offline multiplayer, and co-op.^[1]

Gameplay

Players control their characters from a first-person perspective. The player can carry two weapons at a time, and replenish ammo from dead soldiers and weapon crates. The series' cover system uses a "peeking" rather than a "tilting" mechanic, wherein players peer and fire around the edges of their cover. Damage displays as a red vignette overlay. When the screen fills, the character dies. In cooperative and multiplayer modes, the player enters a "Final Stand" on their death, which lets teammates try to revive the downed player.^[3]

Campaign

In the Campaign, the player controls either the Point Man or Paxton Fettel. As the Point Man, the player can use weapons, throw grenades, etc.^[4] Unlike most characters, the player can use the Point Man's Slo-Mo ability to slow down time, allowing the player to shoot targets with surgical accuracy.^[1] As Fettel, the player cannot use any conventional weapons by default; however, they can use Fettel's psychic powers and telekinesis to suspend and throw objects, possess enemy soldiers, crush suspended enemies, and more.^[4] In addition to these abilities, the player also has access to the abilities and weapons of any character Fettel possesses, such as Cultists and Phase Commanders.^[4][5] In co-op mode, Fettel can also use the Shield ability to briefly protect the Point Man. Both characters' abilities are gauged by a meter in the reticle, which depletes during use. Both characters' gauges slowly refills when not in use; Fettel, meanwhile, must collect Souls to replenish his Possession Meter. Players have the ability to access and control Armacham technology, such as mech suits.^[4] Also, the game has both online and offline Co-Op play.

The game's campaign mode is split into eight "Intervals" that can be played in either singleplayer or co-op. In Singleplayer, when the player completes an Interval as the Point Man, they will unlock the ability to play as Fettel for that Interval.^[1] While playing alone or with a friend, the player(s) can complete challenges to raise their rank.^[6] Perks include increases to the Slo-Mo/Possession meters and new melee attacks.^[1]

Multiplayer

A screenshot from the game mode "Fucking Run!". Here, the player is backing away from the Wall of Death.

F.E.A.R. 3 offers four different multiplayer modes, each allowing up to 4 players:

• F**king Run! (see right): in this mode, players must fight their way through waves of enemies, all while running from Alma's massive "Wall of Death." The players start off in a safe area and proceed through a series of connected maps, killing enemies that stand in their way.^[7][8] If the Wall consumes any one player, the game is over for all players. To complete the mission, players must cooperate; if any player goes down, team members must revive them before the Wall arrives to devour them.^[9] Each map is divided into sections, and each section gives the player(s) a target time to try and break.^[10]
• Contractions: a round-based survival mode, where players must barricade and stock up weapons against a total of 20 waves of enemies, including Armacham forces, Cultists, and more. Waves become increasingly tougher by thickening fog, making the map much more dangerous, especially with Alma wandering the field. If a player gets Alma's attention, either by attacking her or staying in her sight for too long, it's game over for that player.^[1][11]
• Soul Survivor: Here, players must fight to survive or hunt. When the game starts, Alma will turn one player into a "Spectre", a ghost which can possess enemies. The Spectre player's goal is to kill the other three players and turn them into Spectres before time runs out. Players killed by the Spectre player do not get a game over; instead, they turn into Spectres themselves.^[1][12]
• Soul King: though similar to Soul Survivor, Soul King is a competitive mode with all players as Spectres. To win, players must possess enemies to kill each other and collect dropped souls. The player with the most souls earns the title of "Soul King"; however, this also means that said player will be made visible to other players via a glowing outline. If a Soul King is killed, that player will drop half of their souls.^[1][13]

Story

Nine months after the events of both games,^[14] the Point Man has been captured by Armacham soldiers and interrogated at a prison in Brazil, South America. Paxton Fettel, now a "Spectre", interrupts the interrogation and helps free the Point Man. The two form an uneasy alliance and escape the prison through the slums.^[15][16] During their escape, the brothers discover that they - and their tortured mother, Alma Wade - are being hunted by "the Creep", a monster unintentionally formed from the cruel memories of Harlan Wade.^[17]

Hijacking a helicopter, the Point Man and Fettel return to Fairport to regroup with F.E.A.R. operative Jin Sun-Kwon.^[18] Upon arriving, they discover that most of Fairport's surviving population have been either driven insane by the paranormal activity or executed by Armacham personnel.^[19][20] Despite their differing goals, the brothers successfully meet up with Jin, who plays recorded video footage of Sgt. Michael Becket, who claims to have been raped by Alma and is slated by Armacham for transport.^[21]

Amid growing distrust, the brothers assault the local airport to intercept Becket, killing the remnants of the Armacham personnel.^[22] In an attempt to gain info from Becket, Fettel possesses him and reveals that Alma is indeed pregnant by Becket, with the increasing paranormal activity a result of her contractions. Becket realizes the Point Man's identity before exploding from Fettel's possession.^[23][24] The brothers head to the old Project Origin facility, where Harlan Wade originally developed the prototypes. There, the brothers start destroying items associated with memories of their childhood past to weaken the Creep.^[1][17]

After destroying a monstrous apparition of the Creep, the brothers finally reunite with Alma, whose body has changed drastically due to her pregnancy. The Point Man aims his pistol at Alma's belly, where her third child resides, and Fettel angrily asks him if he is willing to throw his own blood away for orders. As they set themselves at each other's throats, one of two endings occur, depending on multiple factors (such as whether the player has played as the Point Man or Fettel, or in co-op, who has made the most points in 5 different sections of the game's combat.)

In the Point Man's ending, he shoots Fettel in the head again, forcing him to vanish; then aims his gun at Alma, who gives birth before peacefully vanishing. The Point Man then learns from Jin that everything has returned to normal before taking Alma's baby away with him to safety.^[25] In Paxton Fettel's ending, Fettel possesses the Point Man's body and extracts the baby from Alma's swollen body. He then promises to raise the child in his own image before cannibalizing Alma.^[26]

In a post-credits scene, video footage is shown of the Synchronicity Event; the moment when Alma - in a coma at the time - linked telepathically to Fettel when he was ten years old. The event causes Fettel to go into a hysterical rage, in which he gruesomely kills several ATC security members using telekinetic attacks before finally being subdued. Fettel is heard in a voiceover saying, "They deserved to die. They all deserved to die."

Development

On April 8, 2010 F.E.A.R 3 was officially announced as a sequel to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. The game was being developed by Day 1 Studios, in collaboration with Monolith Productions. Game was planned to release on October 2010 but got delayed until March 2011 for unknown reasons,Then again the release date was pushed to May. On the 27th of April 2011, Warner Bros. announced another delay, pushing it back again to June 21 in North America and June 24 in the United Kingdom. By 10 June Game was available for pre-order on Steam and then Warner Bros. released the game on June 21.^{[27][28][29][30][31][32][33]}

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (PS3) 76.23%[34] (X360) 75.83%[35] (PC) 74.55%[36] Metacritic (X360) 75/100[37] (PS3) 74/100[38] (PC) 74/100[39] Review scores Publication Score 1UP.com B+[40] Game Informer 7.75/10[41] GameSpot 7.5/10[42] GameSpy [43] IGN 8/10[44] PC Gamer (US) 74/100[45]

F.E.A.R. 3 received mostly favourable reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 76.23% and 74/100,^[34][38] the Xbox 360 version 75.83% and 75/100,^[35][37] and the PC version 74.55% and 74/100, all respectively.^[36][39]

GameSpot's Carolyn Petit gave the title a 7.5/10 rating, criticizing its visuals and lack of scares, but praising the shooting mechanics, fun co-op and exciting multiplayer components.^[46] IGN's Colin Moriarty awarded the PC version an 8/10 rating, stating that "[w]hether you're looking for a new, solid shooter to play or something set in a unique, horror-filled atmosphere, F.E.A.R. 3 has something for you. You won't find the be-all, end-all shooter experience with F.E.A.R. 3, but you're still bound to have a lot of fun."^[47]

Eurogamer reviewed the Xbox 360 version and awarded it an 8/10 score. Although criticised for "subpar scares and a shoddy narrative" it was otherwise "finely crafted" with "a lot of lasting value".^[48]

References

External links

• F.E.A.R. 3 at the Internet Movie Database