Video Game Vintage Title: F.E.A.R. 3

F.E.A.R. 3

F.E.A.R. 3 is a first-person shooter psychological horror video game developed by Day 1 Studios for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the sequel to F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, and the third installment of the F.E.A.R. series. It was announced on April 8, 2010, and was stated to include John Carpenter helping on the cinematics as well as writer Steve Niles. It is also the only F.E.A.R. game to have offline multiplayer, and the first one to introduce co-op.

F.E.A.R. 3 Plot

Eight months after the events of both games, the Point Man was captured by Armacham soldiers and interrogated at an asylum in Central America. Paxton Fettel, now a "Spectre", interrupts the interrogation and helps free the Point Man. The two form an uneasy alliance and escape the Asylum through the slums. During their escape, the brothers discover that they - and their tortured mother, Alma Wade - are being hunted by "the Creep", a monster unintentionally formed from the cruel memories of Harlan Wade.

Hijacking a helicopter, the Point Man and Fettel return to Fairport to regroup with F.E.A.R. operative Jin Sun-Kwon. Upon arriving, they discover that most of Fairport's surviving population have been either driven insane by the paranormal activity or executed by Armacham personnel. Despite their differing goals, the brothers successfully meet up with Jin, who plays recorded video footage of Sgt. Michael Becket, who revealed his rape by Alma and is slated by Armacham for transport.

Amid growing distrust, the brothers assault the local airport to intercept Becket, killing the remnants of the Armacham personnel. In an attempt to gain info from Becket, Fettel possesses him and reveals Becket's past life to the Point Man, while Becket realizes the Point Man's identity before exploding from Fettel's possession. The brothers head to the old Project Origin facility, where Harlan Wade originally developed the prototypes. There, the brothers start destroying items associated with memories of their childhood past to weaken the Creep.

After destroying a monstrous apparition of the Creep, the brothers finally reunite with Alma, whose body has changed drastically due to her pregnancy. The Point Man aims his pistol at Alma's belly, where her third child resides, and Fettel angrily asks him if he is willing to throw his own blood away for orders. As they set themselves at each other's throats, one of two endings occur, depending on multiple factors. In singleplayer, the ending depends on whether the player has played as the Point Man or Fettel. Alternatively, if co-op, the player with the higher score determines the ending. The good ending will show Point Man overpowering Fettel and vice-versa, with the ending depending on whether Point Man or Fettel had survived the final struggle.

In the Point Man's ending, he shoots Fettel in the head, forcing him to vanish; then aims his gun at Alma, who gives birth before peacefully vanishing. The Point Man then learns from Jin that everything has returned to normal before taking Alma's baby away with him to safety. In Paxton Fettel's ending, Fettel possesses the Point Man's body and extracts the baby from Alma's swollen body. He then promises to raise the child in his own image before cannibalizing Alma.

F.E.A.R. 3 Gameplay

In both Campaign and Multiplayer, players control their characters from a first-person perspective. Players can carry two weapons at a time, and can pick up ammo from dead soldiers and weapon crates. The cover system has been altered: instead of a tilting mechanic, players can peek around edges of their cover and fire from there. The game shows player damage as a red vingette on the screen; if it fills the screen to a certain degree, the player will die, resulting a game over. In co-op and multiplayer, the player will instead enter Final Stand, giving teammates time to revive the downed player.

ReceptionF.E.A.R. 3 received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 76.23% and 74/100, the Xbox 360 version 75.83% and 75/100, and the PC version 74.55% and 74/100, all respectively.

GameSpot critic Carolyn Petit gave the title a 7.5/10 rating, criticizing its visuals and lack of scares, but praising the shooting mechanics, fun co-op and exciting multiplayer components.

IGN's Colin Moriarty awarded the PC version an 8/10 rating, stating that "hether you're looking for a new, solid shooter to play or something set in a unique, horror-filled atmosphere, F.E.A.R. 3 has something for you. You won't find the be-all, end-all shooter experience with F.E.A.R. 3, but you're still bound to have a lot of fun."