Xbox 360/PS3/PC
Am I on God mode? E3. 2010. I am sitting with a developer at the helm of F.E.A.R. 3. I am getting shot at. Like, a lot. Like... a lot. But I am not dead. I am told they put it on God mode to give me - us - a fighting chance. It sort of takes some of the shine off, but at least I am able to get a good idea of how the game is shaping up. I wonder what I am going to write about F.E.A.R. 3 when I am finished playing. Words come and go. My head is like that a lot of the time, actually. And when I am finished, my notes look like this:
Mech. Fettel. Pregnancy. Rift events. Suspend enemies. [illegible].
The makings of Pulitzer quality journalism, right there.
Fettel is dead. He has come back as a ghost to (ostensibly) help his brother, Point Man, as he works to bring some semblance of normalcy back to Fairpont. The city is under threat from the psychic instability of the pair’s mother, Alma. Alma is pregnant, and from the way things were described in the darkness of the Warner Bros. Interactive area at E3, we gather that each time she has a contraction, she sparks a “rift event.” During these periods of intense paranormal energy, the very fabric of the world tears, allowing demonic forces (many of the scaly, drooly, black-tongued enemies you’re required to vanquish) to spill through.
Whether you’re familiar with the previous games or not, F.E.A.R. 3 looks as though it will provide a solid shooter experience. As the dev and myself (playing in co-op as Fettel and Point Man respectively) stalked a twisted and violent landscape together, firing shotguns, hurling grenades, taking cover, breaking cover, wishing we had cover, not using cover when we had cover... I couldn’t help but notice a bit of blurring at the edges of my vision. What was that? Shooter fatigue.
Still, that the game shifts its focus from one to two players (co-op is the main game mode) opens up some great possibilities. And although the story details we have are a bit sketchy, the overarching context born from previous titles, and kept alive by hands on experiences just like this one, is fairly rich. Graphically, the game was stunning and this is surely one of those titles where one can get away with slapping a “dripping with atmosphere” on it and take an early shower. At least, we can at this early stage. I am really looking forward to getting a full build and exploring some of the complex environments and testing that atmosphere a little harder. Ultimately, this is a title built with a focus on that visceral, colon-tightening experience, and it’s hard to get that at a show like E3.
The hands on saw us move through a twisted set of train carriages, festooned with the blood and guts of those who had foolishly walked there before me. The dev showed off some of Fettel’s new tricks, such as the ghostly ability to possess enemies and use their weapons and skills against them. At the end of such a possession, the host is turned inside out in what looks like a meaty, R-rated fireworks display. Fettel also has telekinetic powers, so using environmental mass to crush enemies into paste is always an option, as is suspending them in the air so Point Man can shoot some skeet.
Through the train carriages - where we met some truly vile beasties, and killed them until they were dead - and out into an open area, we were forced to fight every step of the way. The game’s AI seems pretty good so far, with a system in place whereby enemies will use formations based on their surrounds, and come looking for you. That passive “hide behind a box, pop up, ice a mofo” strategy won’t necessarily work here.
In aforementioned open area, we managed to steal a mech, and had great fun blasting apart both the environment and pesky enemy soldiers with gay abandon (rockets, chain guns). Inside the mech or outside, there didn’t seem to be anything special happening with controls, but this might only please followers of the big themes at E3 who saw motion control taking over everything and worried that soon they might have to either get active or ditch the games and take up crochet.
The run through on F.E.A.R. 3 was quick and dirty - I’m not going to pretend to understand everything that was going on, but such is reality when you are hoisted from hub to hub by the eager PR machine. I liked what I saw. Although I have made a few digs about the year of the shooter, I have to say that all the big ones have at least one or two elements that truly set them apart. F.E.A.R. 3 enjoys a few unique attributes, and fans should be fairly confident they’ll enjoy the adventure when the time comes.
We'll be sure to give it a good working over upon release.