F.E.A.R. Gold – PC – Review

F.E.A.R. was a well-received title
when it was released for the PC near the end of 2005. Gamers and reviewers were
fascinated by the intense action, creepy storyline and amazing technology of the
game. Since the initial PC release the game has seen an expansion pack
released, Extraction Point, and two console versions come out, Xbox 360 and
PS3. Now with the release of the Gold Edition of F.E.A.R. anyone sitting on the
fence waiting to get the title can get the original game, the expansion pack and
several bonuses not previously released.

For anyone that hasn’t played
F.E.A.R. the game is a top-notch first-person shooter (FPS) that blends intense
action with a suspenseful and disturbing storyline. The game has you playing
the role of a soldier in the F.E.A.R. unit, which stands for First Encounter
Assault Recon. The F.E.A.R. unit is trained to deal with situations other armed
forces units are not equipped to handle such as paranormal events.  In the
first title a genetically enhanced Commander has escaped from a maximum security
facility. With his escape he has activated an army of soldiers that he can
control telepathically. You’re sent in stop the Commander by any means
necessary only to uncover something even more disturbing.

As you play through the game you
start to see visions of the Commander and his exploits in the game. Usually
these visions are short but they always occur when you least expect them to
happen which helps in creating the creepy suspenseful mood.  For example, you
might see the Commander walking in front of you only to fade away as he’s telling
some strange and twisted story. But then there is another character in the
game, the mysterious teen-age girl that is always popping up at an unexpected
moment. She is a vital character to the game’s story but also to the gameplay
since her appearance is always surprising. Usually you only see a glimpse of
her from a distance or in a shadow but when she does show up you will almost
certainly get a brief moment of “Oh crap, what was that!”

For a gameplay perspective I will
refer you to the two reviews for the original game and the expansion pack.

F.E.A.R. review is located here
http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r24081.htm

Extraction Point review is located
here
http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r29619.htm

The bonus features in this Gold
Edition are what sets this version of the game apart from the first game and the
expansion pack. The first game is labeled the Director’s Edition but don’t let
that fool you. The Director’s Edition doesn’t include a different version of F.E.A.R. instead we get exclusive bonus content about F.E.A.R. that was
previously unavailable. Rooster Teeth has a short F.E.A.R. machinima that will
have any fans of the Red vs. Blue series laughing but this time to F.E.A.R.
characters. There is a behind the scenes film about the development of the
title, with insights from the developers at Monolith and producers at Vivendi
Universal. There is a rather lengthy director’s commentary with several of the
developers at Monolith talking about different parts of the game as a video of
the game is playing. The commentary was almost interesting but even the
developers admit that they are the guys behind the game not the people that
should be out in front talking about it. One interesting bonus feature is the F.E.A.R. prequel that offers several one minutes shorts about the mysterious
female character in the game, Alma. The videos offer a little insight into the
strange character. All of the video is live action instead of computer
generated scenes. The videos reminded me of the movie The Ring which Alma is
based upon.

If you’ve never played F.E.A.R.
before the Gold Edition is a great way to get into the title. Sure the game is
almost two-years old now but the game has aged very well. The suspenseful story
and intense action still hold up against newer titles released today. Technically speaking F.E.A.R. is still a barn burner when it comes to pushing
hardware. The game is still used as a benchmark test due to the slow motion
feature, lighting and particle effects used throughout the game. If you’ve
never played F.E.A.R. then the Gold Edition is a great way to get into a
fantastic FPS game. If you’ve already played the first game and the expansion
pack then I would only recommend the Gold Edition to the hardest of hardcore
fans of the game. The bonus features are nice but probably not enough to
justify another purchase.

Gameplay: 8.9
The game is a wonderful blend of
thrilling story telling and powerful action. The slow motion feature and melee
combat are great features that fit nicely into the game. The A.I. of the enemy
soldiers and physics in the game is nothing less of amazing at times due to the
uncertainty of events that could happen.

Graphics: 8.5
Some of the textures in the game
might appear a little bland but the rest of the graphics are mind blowing. The
problem with the graphics is the game’s engine can be too much to handle at
times for some graphic cards and systems. The game does an optimization test for
your system to play the game but I’ve still read many complaints about people
had playing the game (especially with older systems).

Sound: 8.8
The music in the game is a great
example of less is more in setting the mood. You get small pieces of music
playing usually with only short notes or just noise to make you feel uneasy and
on the edge of your seat while playing the game. From time to time the music
will change to a more booming score when the action heats up. The sound effects
of the weapon fire is a treat since you get to hear every explosion and shell
casing as they make impact or hit the ground.

Difficulty: Medium
The game can be tough at times but
thankfully the difficulty selector lets you select just how punishing you want
the A.I. to be.

Multiplayer: 8.5
The game includes a nice assortment
of Multiplayer maps and modes. You get the standard death match, team death
match, capture flag and several others. You have plenty of options of hosting
your own servers or even putting up a Linux server. After playing the single
player game it just feels weird playing a standard capture the flag game.

Concept: 7.5
The score for this one is low simply
due to this being a compilation title. All of the gameplay that has been
available since 2005 is included in one nice package with some extra features. The bonus features are nice but not enough to make this a warranted purchase,
unless you’ve never played F.E.A.R.

Overall: 8.4
F.E.A.R. Gold Edition really is the
ultimate edition of F.E.A.R. The Gold Edition includes everything released for
the PC version of the game (the first game, expansion pack and multiplayer) with
some nice bonus features. The bonus features are labeled the Director’s
Cut/Edition but really that just means you get to watch some videos of the
developers talking about the game. If you’ve never experienced F.E.A.R. the
Gold Edition is a must have title to finally get into the experience.