F.3.A.R

Survival Horror is an interesting genre when it's done right. But so many so called "survival horror" games of this generation go more for the gore and pop out shock horror factor. F.3.A.R (FEAR 3) is the latest in one of these games, which seems to distance itself as far as possible from its fairly scary roots.

STORY
FEAR 3 follows up where the last game left off, the city of Fairport was being turned into a nightmarish world as Alma's power grew stronger and she finds herself pregnant after her rape of Sgt. Beckett. The game puts players in the shoes of the Pointman or his deceased, psychic brother Paxton Fettel, as they form an uneasy alliance to reach their powerful, pregnant mother.

The story works as a way to end the series, by tying up any major loose ends and dealing with any prominent surviving characters. However, theres a lot of ambiguity when regarding the brothers' motives for finding their mother. We know that the alliance is an uneasy one, but its never quite explained what each of them are there for. Having Pointman as a non speaking character doesn't help either, as we often have to read snippets of text to know how he's feeling.

PRESENTATION
F.3.A.R isn't a huge step up from the graphics of FEAR 2, which isn't to say they aren't adequate, it's just that there hasn't been much in the way over improvements. But, the character models and areas still look interesting, and that's all you could really ask for, isn't it?
Looking past the graphics, and we find a visual aesthetic that is both creepy and familiar. Locales such as department stores or standard family homes go from looking fairly normal to creepy as all hell with just a few flickering lights, a coatof blood red paint and some shadows lurking just outside your vision.

The soundtrack is also very similar to the previous game; hard rock guitar riffs during the action sequences, and ominous, deep string arrangements for the more eery sections. And let's not forget the signature violin stab as something pops out at you! The voice acting is pretty standar, but the voice for Paxton Fettel is just perfect. It oozes phsycotic malevolence, which is perfect for such a despicable character.

GAMEPLAY
When I think "Survival Horror", I often think of a lack of ammunition or weaponry, being alone against an unspeakable evil, with fleeing always being a more favourable option over combat. But F3AR seems to be trying to do everything it can to keep itself from being a horror game. The atmosphere is there, but when you realise you can just go into bullet time to take off a mutants head, then theres no real threat, is there?

As an action game, F3AR works superbly, with tight controls and a nice amount of oomph from each weapon.While the range of weaponry doesn't seem as vast as last time, they still feel just as good to use on all your squishy targets. If you've played a FEAR game before, this will be familiar, if not heres how I'd explain it. Fast paced cover based combat againts soldiers and occasionally a cosmic monstrosity. However, with the added bonus of co-op (or multiple playthroughs as different characters if you have no friends)in the form of Paxton Fettel, we get a break from bullet time shootey fun.

Paxton felt like alot more fun to me, if only because I was zooming around the battlefields to possess enemy soldiers while my co-op partner crouched behind a wall trying not to get shot. Possessing an enemy soldier at the back of a group provides extra tactical layers to the FPS formula, but in the end, I think the co-op feature hurts FEAR 3's reputation as a horror game more than anything. F3AR 3 is mildly scary at BEST, but with two people playing, any sense of hopelessness or tension goes out the window.

Putting the last nail in FEAR 3's horror coffin is the levelling system. While I did find it challenging me to play in different ways, having a challenge notification pop up certainly didn't help me lose myself in the creepy atmosphere of F.3.A.R's environments. So while the game works perfectly well as an action game with a creepy aesthetic, it fails to deliver on any decent scares.

REPLAYABILITY
Having two playable characters to use in the campaign mode will definitely provide some players with an excuse to go through the main story again. Paxton Fettel does play rather differently, and I had fun using both of the brothers.

The game also features some unique multiplayer modes, such as "Fucking Run" where 4 players work co-operatively to fend off enemies while escaping Alma's "Wall of Death". The Soul King and Soul Survivor games are also interesting, forcing players to possess Bots and gains souls for extra points. Lastly, there's a horde mode called Contractions, which is a fun little distraction.

OVERVIEW
There's a few things that make survival horror games, in my mind. You need the right atmosphere, a constant sense of danger lurking around every corner and the ability to pit the player against terrifying, unbeatable odds. While F.3.A.R delivers the atmosphere, the gameplay screams Action by giving you powerful weapons and a buddy to hold your hand. That all being said, the game does work well, and it i fun. If you're looking for a fun action FPS with a creepy aesthetic, look no further.