Although I've had this game for a while now but only after playing it again recently do I feel compelled to review it. F.E.A.R has one of the best combat loops of any shooter. However, I don't think that, taken as a whole, this game is a masterpiece on par with Half-Life, Doom, etc.
To start, I understand that this game is over 20 years old. For the time it came out, it was very visually impressive and even now the screen effects, lighting, particles, physics, and overall atmosphere keep the game from feeling its age. This is still a pretty game (for the most part) even 20ish years later. Before anyone that doesn't have a 15 year old pc tries to play this, know that you will need a dll to keep the game from having its frames go into the gutter 15 minutes into a session. Other than that, this game runs surprisingly smoothly and I have yet to experience a crash.
Once the game starts and you get into your first combat encounter, you will immediately notice how dynamic the combat can be. Power boxes explode when shot, fire extinguishers spray foam everywhere, sparks fly, dust from surfaces puff out when shot, and all of this becomes much more noticeable when you enter bullet-time, this game's defining mechanic. The sound design enhances these effects even further. Panels realistically scrape the hard surfaces of the floors and walls, moving into objects makes believable noises, etc. The sound design is arguably as important in this game as the plentitude of effects. This dynamism also extends to how enemies react to being hit. Any part of a replica solider will react to being hit. They will flinch and give the player time to seize the advantage, they will behave more sluggish when wounded, and will even fall down occasionally. The damage feedback makes it very easy to tell not only if you hit an enemy, but where. Then there is the replicas themselves.
The enemy AI in this game has been talked about to death but not without good reason. They, like the environments, are dynamic. They essentially all have the same goal of taking the player out but cycle between methods. Initially enemies start off as a group but will quickly spread out when they notice you. The base reaction is to just shoot you, but they will try to find cover, flush you out when you try to find cover, and will often try to flank you from multiple directions. Enemies will rarely just go to you directly from where they spotted you. Enemies also have an insane amount of available lines and callouts. They will mention their status, how many of their allies are dead, the status of the player, and will often shout out exactly what they are about to do (grenade, cover, etc.). They will even call out specifically where the player is, down to the object they are hiding near (crate, power box, extinguisher, cubicle, stairs, etc.). This significantly adds to the immersion as it makes the enemy feel like its working together even though they are largely acting independently. The level layout is what makes the AI come full circle. While the game is linear, the maps are very open, often with multiple levels of elevation, multiple ways that converge, and interactable objects like barrels and power boxes. By the way, enemies WILL aim for explosive objects when you are near them, further reinforcing the idea that they can do to you whatever you can do to them.
While there aren't three dozen weapons like COD, they all feel unique. My only critique is that it feels like you are forced to use the same 3 basic types of weapons most of the time while certain weapons (like the AUG clone) feel like they barely show up at all. All of them feel good to use despite some being significantly better (the shotgun) than others.
To wrap up and to address why, despite praising this game for most of this review, I said this game wasn't a masterpiece. The 2 main reasons are as follows; the level variety and the "horror/story". The story itself isn't bad but almost no one will be playing this for it. Not to spoil much, but "Extraction Point" handles story a lot better. In my opinion, the horror in this game really doesn't work. I don't think the attempts at scares are necessarily bad on their own ("the ladder" scare is apparently well-regarded), but the main issue is that they are in the same game where you are essentially playing a John Wu movie. They are a mild distraction at best and actively derail the pace of the game at worst. However, the main issue I have is the level variety. This is a 10-11ish hour game if you take the time to explore and there are basically 3 different environments in the entire game; the warehouse/factory setting, the Armacham HQ, and abandoned apartments/warehouses. While this game is fun, you really see everything there is to see at the half-way point. Overall, I would absolutely still recommend this game. It isn't perfect, but this certainly has something that keeps you coming back even years later.
