F.3.A.R. Part 2

Unfortunately, FEAR 3 doesn't really keep up the intensity that I described in my previous post. As the game goes on, it becomes apparent that FEAR 3 is nothing more than a hodgepodge of modern gaming and horror movie cliches.

The horror of IKEA.

The gameplay of FEAR 3 blends the cover mechanics of Gears of War with military shooter gunplay. Enemies rotate back and forth between your standard military fare and Left 4 Dead-esque "zombies" that rush you and try to rip your face off with their nails. However, the game doesn't really pull off any of these elements with perfection and at times it seems to lack focus.

As the game progresses, it  FEAR 3 shows that it isn't bringing anything new to the table. (Oh, I forgot it also had a mechanic to slow time.) The intensity dwindles down as you are faced with more open spaces, and the tense firefights in the tight corridors of the first level fade away. You are left with a game of whack-a-mole as you try to pick off enemies popping in and out of cover.

Also, the element that the FEAR series has retained from the beginning, the so-called "horror" aspect, is so lame that the only reaction that the laughable scare attempts will get from you is the occasional eye roll or face palm. FEAR 3 likes to flash the all-too-typical creepy little girl at you from time to time, along with other random freaks, but since these never pose any threat to you at all, I found myself just sighing at the game and trying to get through these sections as fast as I could to get back to the action.

Yawn.

FEAR 3 features various terror-inducing locales such as an IKEA store and the (vastly overused) suburbs. Here it is quite apparent that FEAR 3 can't decide whether or not it wants to be a military shooter or a horror game, and it ends up failing at both.

FEAR 3 isn't a bad game. I had a good time with it. But ultimately, its gameplay, story, and horror elements fell short, especially as the game wore on and its lack of focus became more and more apparent.