In recent years atmosphere has become an important element of game play experience, Fear 2 did well, but not without a number of criticisms. Fear 3 has transformed itself into a decent first person shooter, which has the advantage of improving the game, whilst at the same time making it more generic.

This time around you play as two people, Point Man and his brother, Fettel, who has a more interesting range of abilities. Waking up in an abandoned prison, your first order of business is to make it out alive. Arrayed against you are squads of armed soldiers, who will attempt to outflank you, or use cover to their advantage. Of course, there are weapons to be had, either conveniently laying around or off the soldiers dead bodies.

Your enemies are more intelligent than before and you can overhear them signalling to each other when your position is discovered. Strategy is as much a part of the game as is the atmospheric additions, unless you skilled and confident, rushing squads of enemies is likely to just get you killed. The AI additions make for some very satisfying battles.

Much like the previous games in the series, the developers have gone for a pretty drab palette, so whilst the locations have changed, becoming more interesting and varied, they do tend to take on a samey feel.

The game has two main modes of play, Campaign and Multiplayer, in Campaign you can play alone, host or join an existing network co-op, Multiplayer allows you to play on-line, where you can either host, or join an existing game. There is also the option for some solo practice and a split screen match.

Under control settings you can change the overall configuration to one of the presets, or if you like tweak with the aim assist and sensitivity, invert the Y-Axis, toggle zoom and turn the vibration off or on, you may also change the action buttons. There is a score board where you can see how you’re doing in both the single player missions and multiplayer game.

Overall it’s a well-balanced game, though the horror aesthetics are starting to feel a little long in the tooth, though for fans of the series, this is a worthy successor.

8

Charles Packer