F.E.A.R. 3 (2011)

After the masterpiece F.E.A.R. and its expansions, the series did go downhill with F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. But when F.E.A.R. 3 came out, I respected F.E.A.R. 2 a whole lot more.

F.E.A.R. 3 is a terrible game with bad mechanics, a lame story line and awful “hey bro, I am your long-lost brother” mechanics that was shoved down our throats at the last moment.

F.E.A.R. 3 follows the story from the previous game, you know, that game in which you got a little forced “fun” with Alma in a metal sphere and put some fresh offspring in her belly, that game. In F.E.A.R. 3, Alma is about to give birth and you and your buddy Paxton Fettel (you know, the guy from the first games, who you shot in the head) make your way to Alma. Fettel, to let the birth take place and consume the unlimited power that the child and Alma possesses, the Point Man (main character) to stop her.

The plot is so unbelievably lame, I almost cried with disappointment. Fettel is back apparently because he was resurrected in a tiny, forgotten DLC called F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn. The Point Man (the mysterious antagonist from the first games) now has a face (stereotypical Navy Seal badass face) and Alma is just a side character and does have nothing to do with the game anymore. It feels like the movie Rat Race, but instead of a locker full of cash, it is a pregnant woman giving birth to something vile. To top it off, Alma used to be the stuff of nightmares, death herself. But in this game, she is afraid and terrified. Afraid of what, you might ask, she is afraid of a monster (boohoo) that is her past. This sh!t is worse than the movie Memento. I just can’t accept this excuse for a story. I also really hated Fettel and his new super bling-bling powers. He is supposed to torment you with visions and voices in your head, but now, he is some kind of witch that possesses people and can murder everyone with his mind, just like that. He turned into Wanda from Marvel and I really hated it.

The game has turned into Call of Duty with generic ATC soldiers, evil monsters, Fettel with his awesome telekinesis and possessing Avengers powers, and cultists. This shows me that the new developers of F.E.A.R. 3 just did not give a crap. Add some generic cultists, some beasts, some humans and you are all set. Alma’s younger self makes some appearances (just to remind you that you are playing F.E.A.R.) and they consist of three cheap jump scares (that worked) and that’s it. It is lazy development.

The game now features Co-Op. In my honest opinion, F.E.A.R. is the only series that does not need Co-Op. It feels so useless and even more like a Battlefield or Call of Duty experience.

The graphics have improved from F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. Not because they look nice and polished, but because the dark, grim atmosphere and under lighted areas are back from the first games. The only, mind-blowing irony is that they are pointless in a bad, shooting gallery, top notch action game like this.

The music and sound are terrible. Gunfire is a little better than F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (nothing beats that), but it is all so blend, rushed and simple, it does add nothing to the experience.

The combat feels stale, repetitive, and pointless. You shoot a gallery of monsters or mindless AI humans and move on to the next shooting gallery. Compare this to the first game, in which you fought well trained Replica Soldiers with the most outstanding AI I have ever seen, and the difference is night and day. Also, this game has the traditional “kill wall” in which you need to murder everything in order to progress or trigger the next event.

Because I am (but now was) a diehard fan of the F.E.A.R. series, I needed to finish this game. I hated every second of it and the series is now dead. Just like Alma, who Fettel freaking ate, so he can absorb her powers (you know, just that like that).

I spit on this game. Stay far away from this disgrace.