Released on October 17, 2005, First Encounter Assault Recon, or F.E.A.R., was Monolith’s attempt to push the envelope for capabilities of video games. Up until that point, most video games had been attempting to ride off the success of Halo. Shooters where the enemy ran at you, with the number of enemies deciding the difficulty. F.E.A.R. used a different format.
The enemies of F.E.A.R. had the most advanced AI of any video game. Instead of running at the player, the AI would set ambushes. They would hide behind cover, and lay down suppressive fire. They would throw grenades to force players out of cover. They forced players to get creative with their tactics and strategies, in a way that isn’t used in many other games. For such a classic game, the combat was incredibly unique.
In addition to that, the enemies themselves are quite memorable. The main enemies of F.E.A.R. are the Replicas, mass-produced super soldiers controlled by a psychic commander. Because of this, the enemies should feel artificial, but Monolith somehow made them feel incredibly human. When the Replicas aren’t fighting, they chat on radio. They’ll talk about incredibly relatable things, like the weather, or very personal things, like weird supernatural sightings. And when they’re fighting, they feel especially alive. They swear when they get shot, they report their status to the rest of their squad, and you can feel the emotion and desperation in their voices, thanks to the excellent performance of Mark Lund.
In addition, the gameplay stands out from most normal games of the era. F.E.A.R. isn’t purely a first person shooter. It’s also a psychological horror game. Normally, quiet moments in games should be relieving to the player. However, F.E.A.R. makes every second you aren’t fighting incredibly tense. Because of how easy it is to die, any noise could be a Replica squad coming to kill you. And that’s not mentioning the supernatural occurrences. A room full of Replicas could become a room full of blood and charred skeletons in the span of a second, thanks to the particularly violent ghost haunting the game’s locations, Alma.
F.E.A.R. is an excellent game that needs to be played to be believed. The game is available on steam for roughly $60 dollars, and is an excellent purchase for people who want to have a unique gaming experience as well as any fan of difficult or classic games.
