Oh, also
before the FEAR series goes off sale on GMG, some impressions on the title no one has mentioned today,
FEAR 3, the black sheep of the franchise.
FEAR 3 represents what is wrong with many 'modernization' processes of games. It takes everything that people liked about the first few games in the series and just replaces or modifies them to work with current trends, such as in this case regenerating health, co-op, perks... However, I would also argue FEAR 3 is not a bad game. If you're looking for a game akin to FEAR 1 or 2, this unfortunately is not it. It also is pretty lacking in the horror department. It's not scary, or even really atmospheric, though it attempts to be. What it is though, is a pretty fun multiplayer experience.
The story will probably piss-off long-time fans. Without going too deep into spoilers, the story basically focuses mostly on Fettel, the antagonist from the first game. The stories already kind of in a mess from the out-go, as we have things from psychic powers, clones, the fact our two main characters are the sons of the series main antagonist Alma, and just other plot elements that just scream they're so bad. But it's not badly written to be fair, and if you kind of turn off your brain it's kind of stupid entertainment. But you really shouldn't be playing this game for the story.
The campaign should last for about 5-7 hours, with some highs and lows, but that in no way compares to the previous two games. The co-op helps make it a bit more fun, for better or worse. The two brothers play completely differently though, with Pointman basically being your typical action hero with the guns and the slide-kicks, and Fettel being actually surprisingly rather fresh, being a psychic man who can levitate enemies, possess them, shoot energy blasts, and more. Honestly, both are pretty fun, but I have to hand it to Fettel as for a game with very little inspiration behind it, his gameplay is actually rather original for this sort of game and fun.
But it's not the campaign you should be buying FEAR 3 for, as weird as that might sound. I find most people never delve into the multiplayer modes in this game. And it's sensible, as the campaign is disappointing and usually multiplayer modes are tagged on without much thought or effort, so it's probably nothing special, right?
Well, that's wrong, as it turns out the multiplayer modes in this game are actually the best part of the game.
I can't even count how many friends who got FEAR 3 that ended up loving the multiplayer modes and hating the campaign. Let me explain; The campaign lacks tension, and often is a bit repetitive, on-top of the fact it just feels rather uninspired most of the time, its horror elements fail, and its action sequences aren't particularly great. But something FEAR 3 does surprisingly well is understand the fun elements of multiplayer shooters. Hell, some of the multiplayer modes are even far more tense and more horror-like than anything in the campaign.
Multiplayer is split into four modes, and all four are pretty fun for up to four-players either locally or online. Each mode has different maps. One mode has you all as ghost phantoms who possess bodies and try to kill other enemies and your friends to collect souls, most souls at the end of a wave wins the round, and at the end of all waves, person with the most rounds won wins. Another mode has you in an open arena with multiple areas to station yourself in as you and friends fight hordes of enemies that come in waves, boarding up windows and between waves going out to collect supplies. It's a sort of rip-off of Zombie mode from CoD, but it has some interesting twists, such as Alma, who you should not look at as she'll cause randomized effects against you, ranging from just downing you to making you see your friends as enemies, making the screen go black, or teleporting you to another random point on the map. Or a fog, that gets thicker and thicker as the waves go on, and an unseen red-light monster lurks in the deeper parts of the fog... And in yet another mode, you and up to three friends run away from a giant wall of death. Really challenging, frantic, tense, panic-worthy, but a lot of fun as a lot of enemies get tossed your way and you only get small breathers to quickly recollect supplies before the wall is out it again. A race from death and survival that is both primal but also strategic and fun.
The game also looks pretty good, and the PC port is well-done. Music works, but nothing outside of the credits song sticks as being particularly memorable.
FEAR 3 is against most everything the FEAR series stands for, but if you can look over that and a disappointing campaign, I guarantee you there's some multiplayer fun here that is worth experiencing.