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F.E.A.R. redirects here. For other uses see Fear (disambiguation).

F.E.A.R.

Developer(s)	Monolith Productions
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal
Distributor(s)	CD Projekt Livedoor
Designer(s)	Craig Hubbard
Engine	Lithtech: Jupiter EX
Latest version	1.07 (August 16, 2006)
Release date(s)	October 18, 2005^[1] ( / )
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, Horror
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (17+) BBFC: 18 PEGI: 18+
Platform(s)	Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Media	CD (5), DVD (Director's Edition) DVD (Xbox 360 DVD9), Blu-ray (PS3)
System requirements	Windows XP/2000 with Service Packs, Pentium 4 1.7 GHz or equivalent, 512 MB RAM, 5 GB hard disk space, DirectX 9.0-compliant sound card, 64 MB GeForce 4 Ti or Radeon 9600 or equivalent with hardware T&L and PS, DirectX 9.0c April edition (Included)
Input	Keyboard, Mouse

F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) is a horror-themed first-person shooter computer game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Vivendi Universal. It was released on October 18, 2005 for Windows^[1] after distribution of both single player and multiplayer demos.^[2] Day 1 Studios is currently developing Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports of the game,^[3]^[4] and an expansion pack, entitled F.E.A.R. Extraction Point, is under development by Timegate Studios.^[5] A sequel to F.E.A.R. has been announced by Monolith Productions.^[6] On August 17, 2006, following an announcement from Sierra Entertainment,^[7] the game's multiplayer component was made available gratis under the title "F.E.A.R. Combat".^[8]

F.E.A.R.'s story details the events following a paranormal crisis that the Special Forces team F.E.A.R. is called to contain. The player assumes the role of the F.E.A.R. Point Man, gifted with lightning-fast reflexes, as he fights against an army of clone soldiers and their rebellious leader, uncovering at the same time the secrets of the paranormal menace which has the form of a mysterious little girl.

The game achieved critical success, scoring eighty-eight percent out of one hundred on Game Rankings,^[9] with The New York Times calling it "as thrilling and involving as 'Half-Life'".^[10] The game received a "Director's Edition" DVD, including a "making of" documentary, a director's commentary, a short live-action prequel and related Dark Horse comic book, and the exclusive first episode of the promotional P.A.N.I.C.S. machinima.

1 Features
2 Gameplay
3 Multiplayer
4 Atmosphere
5 Synopsis
- 5.1 Plot
- 5.2 Characters and organizations
6 Engine technology
7 Director's Cut contents
8 Reception
9 Later developments
10 References to popular media
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Features

F.E.A.R. features advanced artificial intelligence, allowing computer-controlled characters a large degree of action. Various opponents often act as a team, taking back routes to surprise the player, in addition to taking cover if under fire or using suppressive fire. Enemies in F.E.A.R. have a variety of moves that allow them to navigate the game environment; enemies can duck to travel under crawlspaces, jump through windows, vault over railings, jump down to a lower level, climb ladders, push over large objects to create cover, and flank players.

The player character's reflexes are portrayed with the reflex time effect. Notice the bullet trails.

One of the game's most prominent features is "reflex time". This ability allows the player to slow down the game world while being able to look, aim, and react at normal speeds. This effect is used to simulate the player character's super-human reflexes, and is similar to "bullet time". F.E.A.R.'s presentation of reflex time includes visual effects such as air distortion caused by bullets in flight, and a significant interaction with the game's extensive particle effects, as well as reflex time being made a core component of F.E.A.R.'s gameplay due to the speed and skill of the computer artificial intelligence.

Aside from the introductory movie, F.E.A.R. contains no 3rd person cut scenes, and the entire game is experienced through the eyes of the protagonist. The protagonist's body is fully present, allowing the player to see the protagonist's torso and feet while looking down. During scripted sequences, such as the protagonist's rising from a lying position or his rappeling down a length of rope, the hands and legs of the protagonist can be seen performing the relevant actions.

[edit] Gameplay

F.E.A.R. features both single-player mode and multiplayer modes for LAN or online play. In the single-player mode, the player takes control of the F.E.A.R. Point Man character, leading him through the game's story. Gameplay relies on level exploration and combatting artificial intelligence-controlled enemy soldiers. Levels consist mostly of structurally linear indoor environments, with rarely more than a single route to reach a specific location, and only one way to complete each level. While almost every object can be damaged or affected by gunfire and physics in general, the player can operate only a limited number of these objects, including a few specific laptops and several switches controlling locked doors or gun turrets.

F.E.A.R.'s arsenal contains both fictional and non-fictional weapons, ranging from pistols, assault rifles and SMGs, based on heavily-modified real-life equivalents, to the token overpowered weapons of first person shooters such as particle beam weapons and rocket launchers. Each firearm differs from its peers in terms of ammunition type, accuracy, range, fire rate, damage and bulkiness; this latter characteristic has an impact on the player character, since the more cumbersome the weapon, the slower maneuvers become. While weapons differ from each other, they may all be used for mêlée purposes. The HUD crosshair is dynamic in size and shows where all shots will fall within, directly determined by the current weapon, movement, and aim. The player is limited at most to three weapons and three different types of explosives; this adds a tactical detail where one must discard an existing weapon to make way for a new one, while considering factors such as ammunition availability.

Explosives are used with a "lob" key that can cycle through the available options, including hand grenades, bounding mines and remote controlled bombs. Also incorporated is hand-to-hand combat, which allows the player to utilize attacks consisting of punches, stomps and roundhouse kicks, through various key combinations.

[edit] Multiplayer

F.E.A.R. Combat logo

F.E.A.R. includes a multiplayer component, alongside the single-player campaign. On August 17, 2006 this component was renamed to F.E.A.R. Combat and made available for free download.^[7] The standalone F.E.A.R. Combat client includes all the updates and the additional official maps and gametypes for F.E.A.R.; its users will be able to play against both other F.E.A.R. Combat players and owners of the retail version of F.E.A.R..^[7]

F.E.A.R. Combat relies on gameplay modes popularized by previous titles, such as Deathmatch, Team deathmatch, Capture the flag and Last man standing.^[11] A patch extending the available gametypes was released, adding the "Control" and "Capture All" gametypes, which feature rules similar to Unreal Tournament's "Domination" gametype.^{[original research?]} F.E.A.R.'s multiplayer utilizes the "reflex time" effect, and introduces multiplayer gametypes with the effect: SlowMo Deathmatch, SlowMo Team deathmatch and SlowMo Capture the flag. Unlike the single-player mode, where players can activate the reflex time feature at any time, a power-up must be collected to enable this ability in multiplayer. As only one such power-up exists in each level, acquiring it gives players a large advantage over their opponents.^[11] In addition to the unique use of reflex time, F.E.A.R. Combat also makes extensive use of particle effects, occasionally obscuring players' visions and preventing them from seeing their targets.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Atmosphere

A core element of F.E.A.R. is its horror theme, which seems to have been heavily influenced by Japanese-style horror movies. This is apparent in that F.E.A.R. uses the idea of a disturbing little girl, Alma, instead of the more obvious first person perspective scare tactics used in horror-survival games such as Doom. Admittedly, this concept is relatively common in horror films. As noted, the game's story borrows extensively from two Japanese films: Akira and Ringu (or The Ring). The debt owed to The Ring is obvious throughout the entirety of the game, especially in the design of Alma herself, her menacing walking and crawling animations and the way in which her long hair constantly covers her eyes. The Akira references are most obvious at the end of the game, when both storyline and stylistic influences become apparent. In particular, the styling of Alma's cryo chamber, and the long inclinator ride down towards it are obvious borrowings. It must be noted that the ending of the game has more in common with the Anime version of Akira than the Manga version.

One of the many "horror sequences"

Interestingly, the game design has been developed to take full advantage of its underlying horror element; the entire story of F.E.A.R. takes place approximately over a single night (in approximately real time), starting at dusk and ending the next day, hence providing a conveniently dark atmosphere, reliant entirely upon artificial lighting. This reliance is further exploited to provide a feeling of horror: as the game renders shadows in real-time, a light source that is moving, damaged, or hit will cause shadows to dance wildly over surfaces and cause disorientation, especially if the effect is sudden and presented suggestively in the game as a supernatural phenomenon. Often, this is used to keep the player wondering whether an effect was due to supernatural forces or can be explained rationally, enhancing dramatic tension.

The levels of the game take place primarily indoors and even the outdoor areas are small and narrow to provide a feeling of claustrophobia. Passing through certain areas will trigger scripted hallucinatory sequences that include childish laughter, unearthly whispers, voices from nowhere, simulated projections of characters, unexplained shadows, visions of recent events, and also include full-blown virtual sequences, always of a medical facility, burning and blood-drenched. The music changes appropriately to suit the sequences as needed.

The more expressive sequences are not without prior warning. The sudden music shift and a new dream-like quality of the view are obvious signs that a sequence is occurring. Edges of objects and persons become extremely blurred, phantom light sources may appear, all existing lighting becomes abnormal, and colors become dull and washed-out. Static white noise accompanied by lights and HUD flickering are common indicators of a pending event. Basic surprise sequences, such as sudden appearances, often occur with no warning signs however, in order to preserve their shock value.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Plot

Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC) is a hi-tech weapons company with billions of dollars worth of contracts for the US government. Currently a serious crisis is taking place inside one of the facilities owned by ATC: a battalion of clone supersoldiers, under the telepathic control of a man named Paxton Fettel, has taken control of the structure, killing anyone who was there.

After a phone call between ATC president Genevieve Aristide and a mysterious senator, agents from the secret special operation team F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) are called in action to contain the crisis. Commissioner Betters briefs his team, composed by the new Point man (the main character) and veterans Jankowski and Jin Sun-Kwon, about the mission objective: eliminate Fettel, thus severing the mind link between him and the soldiers, who should shut down once they no longer have an objective.

A firefight against replica soldiers

Fettel is located by means of a satellite tracking device implanted in his head and F.E.A.R. rushes to intercept him, but the agents fail to catch the villain, rather remaining caught in the chaos of the crisis, as several civilians and ATC employees are found dead and units from Delta Force are killed by unexplained paranormal phenomena. To make matters worse, Jankowski disappears and the Point Man is constantly plagued by sudden hallucinations. Nonetheless, he is still able to follow Fettel to the Armacham HQ where, in order to save hostages Aldus Bishop and Alice Wade, he is forced to deal both with the replica soldiers and ATC security, who, in their haste to cover up the corporation's secrets, are more than willing to fire upon anyone. However, some of these secrets are uncovered and the F.E.A.R. team learns terrible details about the crisis: Fettel is the second prototype of a project known as Origin, aimed at creating telepathic super-soldiers for military purposes; these individuals were to be obtained by impregnating a powerful psychic, a girl named Alma. While the first prototype was deemed a failure, the project was successful with Fettel, but the researchers had not taken into account Alma's power; the woman, in the attempt of exacting revenge for what she had been subjected to, used her psychic powers to take control of Fettel (aged 10) and turn him against ATC. Armacham decided to solve the problem by removing life support to Alma's cryo-chamber in the Origin facility; she was believed to be dead and Fettel under control, until ATC president Aristide re-opened the structure, triggering the new crisis.

The F.E.A.R. Point Man heads to the Origin facility, since Fettel is likely going there himself, presumably to free his mother Alma; fighting back both the cloned soldiers and ATC forces alike, he finally comes face to face with the villain. The showdown takes place in form of a vision, during which the protagonist is revealed to be Origin's first prototype; in spite of the sudden revelation, he is able to shake off the hallucination and kill Fettel. The replicas stop and all seems well, until ATC researcher and Origin's mastermind Harlan Wade makes his appearance. The man was hiding in the structure too, and now he is bent on opening Alma's chamber, something the protagonist is unable to avoid, much to his dismay; shortly after, a figure of a bloody, naked and emaciated woman makes her appearance killing Harlan Wade and summoning evil spirits into reality. The main character finds himself forced to sabotage the structure's power plant in order to destroy the Origin facility; while Alma's apparitions (depicted as waistless ghosts) try to hinder the attempt, the sabotage is successful. Alma then brings the F.E.A.R. Point Man into one last horror scenario, which he is able to survive, finally escaping the woman. Still, the protagonist is unable to completely flee to safety when the reactor explodes. By some miracle he is still alive however, and he is then rescued by a Delta Force UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from the rubble. As the vehicle flies over the area, Alma appears over the side of the helicopter, preparing to pull herself up into the cabin: it seems that something is still unfinished in her restless soul.

After the game's credits, a phone call between the senator and Genevieve Aristide is overheard, explaining the project is now under control, and that the first prototype (ostensibly the Point Man) is a success.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Characters and organizations

Main article: List of F.E.A.R. characters & organizations.

Throughout the game the player will come across, and eventually interact with, a number of different characters from various organizations. Some of them are allies or friendlies, like the F.E.A.R. and Delta Force team members, while others will be plainly hostile or try to sabotage the player's progress, like Fettel's soldiers and some ATC personnel. Interaction is somewhat limited; the player will find the F.E.A.R. Point Man discussing with several characters, although he never talks (though at times he can be heard breathing heavily). Also, on occasion he will be required to hand a communicator to other characters, to let them speak over the F.E.A.R. team radio. No computer controlled characters fight alongside the player, as they are conveniently separated from the protagonist through one means or another and generally meet a grim fate.

[edit] Engine technology

Main article: Lithtech.

F.E.A.R. is the first game to be released that was developed using the newest iteration of Monolith's Lithtech engine. Codenamed "Jupiter EX", the F.E.A.R. engine is driven by an all-new DirectX 9 renderer and has seen major advancements from its direct precursor "Jupiter". The new engine includes Havok physics that lets the game portray realistic physics. In addition to Havok's character dynamics, Jupiter EX includes the Havok "Vehicle Kit", which adds support for common vehicle behavior (although F.E.A.R. does not actually feature any vehicles, apart from a couple pre-scripted sequences in which the player has no control).^[12]

Graphically, F.E.A.R. utilizes normal mapping and parallax mapping to give textures a more rounded, realistic appearance. Volumetric lighting and lightmapping are included with the addition of a per-pixel lighting model to allow complex lighting effects to be developed. Vertex, pixel, and high-level shaders, including a host of additional special effects are also featured in Jupiter EX.^[12] The game makes heavy use of particle effects: in combat, the environment becomes saturated with dust clouds, debris, fire, and airborne blood splatter.

[edit] Director's Cut contents

Alongside the "basic" F.E.A.R. version, a "Director's Cut" edition of the game has been released with a number of extra features. The Director's edition comes on a single DVD disc, rather than the 5 CDs of the basic edition, and contains the following:

Comic book: a special F.E.A.R. comic book from Dark Horse Entertainment whose contents help clarify a number of plot elements depicted in the game. It should be noted this item was not included in the DVD edition published in some countries (e.g. Italy).

Prequel movie: a series of live action vignettes filmed as a prequel to the events in the game. The movie centers on an interview with Alma conducted by Dr. Green: the ATC scientist initially tries to develop a rapport with her interviewee, but gives up when Alma is clearly unreceptive to her questions and, in the end, she is driven insane by Alma's psychic powers.

Making of F.E.A.R.: a documentary with interviews to Monolith and VU employees who talk about the development of the various elements of F.E.A.R., such as game AI, music accompaniment, quality testing and marketing. Between interviews game footage from F.E.A.R. is shown along with some scenes removed from of the game.

Developers' commentary: another documentary where F.E.A.R. developers at Monolith describe some "behind the scenes" facts about the game. Among these a planned car chase sequence that was later dropped, the presence of a second bad guy, Conrad Krieg, whose traits and jacket were later integrated into Fettel, and the game's intro music which was supposed to be simply a placeholder piece, but became official when the developers found it really suited the initial scene.

F.E.A.R. Machinima: the exclusive Episode 0 of the F.E.A.R. machinima P.A.N.I.C.S., created by "Rooster Teeth Productions", authors of the well known Halo machinima "Red vs. Blue". This episode presents the members of a Special Operations team about to investigate some mysterious happenings.

[edit] Reception

**Reviews and awards**
Publication	Score	Comments
GameSpy [1]	4.5 out of 5	Editor's Choice
GameSpot [2]	9.1 out of 10	Editor's Choice
PC Gamer (US) magazine	92%	Editor's Choice
PC Gamer (UK) magazine	89%	PCGamer Must Buy
Maximum PC magazine[3]	8 out of 10
Joystiq [4]	8.5 out of 10
IGN	9.2 out of 10	Editor's Choice
Gamehelper[5]	9.5 out of 10
Awards
E3 2005 Game Critics Awards: "Best Action Game".^[13]
2006 Imagina Game Awards: Best Graphics, Best Technology.^[14]
GameSpy Game of the Year 2005 Awards: Best Story.^[15]
Winner of GameSpot's 2005 "Shooter of the Year".^[16]
Winner of PC Gamer US's Best Action game award.

Prior to release, F.E.A.R. generated a large amount of hype from the gaming press.^[17] ^[18] Upon its release, F.E.A.R. was critically acclaimed, with reviewers praising the game's gameplay, engine technology, artificial intelligence and sound.^[19] Also, owing to successful critical acclaim, the game was awarded several "Best Game" titles.^{[citation needed]}

The game was criticized for taking place almost entirely within Armacham headquarters, many feeling it to be drawn-out. This problem was compounded by the repetitive level design.^[19] Another common source of complaint lies in the game's demanding system requirements, which call for a high-end system to play the game with its features and details set to maximum.^[19]

[edit] Later developments

Monolith Productions has announced a sequel to F.E.A.R., which will not be titled F.E.A.R. 2, due to Vivendi Universal Games' ownership of the F.E.A.R. name.^[6] However, the follow-up will stay in the game's existing universe, continuing the original storyline and characters.^[6] Monolith Productions will be looking for a new publisher for the game, since they were purchased by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment in 2004 after development of F.E.A.R. was under way, after which Vivendi Universal was dropped as a publisher.^[6]

While Monolith Productions owns the rights to the game's characters, Vivendi Universal is continuing use of the F.E.A.R. name, publishing Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 ports of the original,^[3]^[4] which are in development by Day 1 Studios. It also announced an expansion titled F.E.A.R. Extraction Point to be released in the fall of 2006.^[5]

[edit] References to popular media

F.E.A.R. pays many homages to a number of different movies and computer games throughout the game. Various references to Office Space [6] can be found, such as the ATC logo resembling the film's "Initech" logo, Post-Its with "Chotchkie's" written on them, or "TPS REPORT" sheets on several desks. There is also a cubicle in an office, that is a direct replica of Milton's (a character from Office Space), complete with a red Swingline stapler, radio and many boxes of files. The notable science fiction movie THX 1138 is referred to by the presence of many "8311 XHT" fume hoods throughout the game's levels; also there are copies of a magazine laying around with the title "Event Horizon found" on the cover, a clear reference to the film Event Horizon. A subtle Star Wars quotation can be found in the level "First Encounter", where large crates feature black and white shipping tags with the code "IG-88", the name of a robot assassin hired to track down the Millennium Falcon.

References and similarities with several other games developed by Monolith abound in F.E.A.R.. Shogo: Mobile Armor Division is the most cited, as the Armacham name and a couple of weapons come straight from this title, and Shogo's theme song and icon are found throughout the levels of F.E.A.R.. Humorous signs and the large amount of gore bring back to memory Blood, whose cover is also available as a multiplayer symbol in F.E.A.R.. No One Lives Forever's H.A.R.M. organization is referenced by the presence of "Heater And Refrigerator Maintenance" signs, and several objects, like the "Fizzy Cola" vending machines, have been seen in Condemned: Criminal Origins as well. There are also minor relations to other, regular, gaming terms such as, "Number of giant rats in pump" or "Coins collected", that can be found on certain machine labels scattered throughout the game.