The only thing we have to fear is F.E.A.R. itself

Although highly touted as the scariest game since Doom 3, F.E.A.R. becomes predictable very quickly, and the “scary moments” can be seen from a klick away.

Assuming your computer can handle the graphics, you start the game seeing an intensely realistic intro screen, with blood dripping from the walls and reflections shimmering in the pools of water and blood on the ground.

You are thrown into the action as a member of F.E.A.R., a special forces group investigating paranormal activity and the like. You’re a little more “special” than others in your group, due primarily to your ability to use combat reflexes (read: bullet time) to get out of tough situations.

The usual experiment-gone-wrong starts your mission. A project to develop soldiers commanded by a psychic goes awry when that psychic leader breaks out and uses the soldiers to inflict havoc on the city.

Most of the game is an exchange between heavy combat and eerie unexplained episodes of gruesomeness. A little girl shows up from time to time, incinerating people Tetsuo-style, and then disappearing before you arrive. The psychic commander also sends you grisly visions foreshadowing the eventual revelation of your own secret past.

The first parts of the game promise a surprise around every corner, with phantoms running across the hallway, only to vanish before you even pull the trigger.

The mood is spoiled, though, when you realize you can tell the difference between relatively safe mood-setting scenes (sometimes your visions do inflict pain) and actual combat scenes when you hear the soldiers talking ahead of you!

Combat itself is the game’s saving grace. Enemy soldiers are viciously intelligent, pulling off moves that you aren’t even allowed to do, such as hiding behind a desk and firing above their heads blindly; or, attempting to out-flank you.

Their reactions are even memorable, such as the fear in their voices when you go into bullet time. They call out desperately for reinforcements, or scream out their last words as you toss a grenade into a group of them.

Enemies occasionally vary from the standard clone soldiers to nearly-invisible phantom creatures, giant robots, even members of other federal agencies!

Wait a minute – I thought those clone soldiers were all supposed to be psychically-controlled automatons – why are they coming up with seemingly-independent thoughts and actions? Well, never mind.

It’s not unworthy of a place on your hard drive for the sheer thrill of combat, but otherwise the game fails to deliver the same pulse-pounding fear of Doom, which never really let you know whether you were safe or not.