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    F.E.A.R. 3

    Game » consists of 9 releases. Released Jun 21, 2011

    Developed by Day 1 Studios, F.3.A.R. (pronounced "Fear Three") is the final chapter in the F.E.A.R. franchise and continues the twisted story of Alma Wade and her two sons, Paxton Fettel and the Point Man.

    dh69's F.E.A.R. 3 (Xbox 360) review

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    • dh69 wrote this review on .
    • 0 out of 3 Giant Bomb users found it helpful.

    Multiplayer...I am really getting sick of that word...

    6 years ago F.E.A.R. introduced us to Alma wade, a haunting little girl in red whose past is shrouded in mystery, as we progressed thru the game experiencing chilling vision, haunting scenes from the past, and blood rising to the cealing in almost every level, we learned the terrifying truth. This ghostly child is our mother, tortured and experemented and forced to give birth to us, the first prototype, a failed experiment created in hopes of creating a psychic commander, for a global corporations own mysterious goals. However you arent the only prototype, a man seeking to release alma from her prison Paxton Fettell, a psychotic, elitist cannibal, and your brother. Fettel is a constant threat throughout the mission sending his clone commandos to hinder your progress so he can achieve his goals. 
     
    Ultimately he dies, Alma is freed, and you escape her awakened rage only to crash in a helicopter and have your fate left a mystery.

     
    Until now... 
     
    F.3.A.R. once again places you in control of the Pointman, the bullet dodging ("inbred test tube freak" as one enemy put it) son of Alma. Trying to return to the City of Fairport, the center of Alma's psychic influence, to try and stop the birth of Alma's latest child (which she concieved during an ackward sex/rape scene from the games predicessor F.E.A.R. 2). However joining the pointman in the roadtrip to the living undead psychic ghost yadayadayada baby birth is the ghost of your Undead brother the man you shot in the head, Paxton Fettel. 
     
    Lets focus on the Campaign first.  
    Everything fans love from the previous 2 incarnations are still in this game...except they pretty much suck this time around. John Carpenter and Steve Niles helped write the script for the game, lending a great hollywood appeal to the game. Its just a pity that neither of them no what the word's psychological thriller, or suspense mean, both are known for their talent with gore, and grossing people out, not scaring the crap out of you with a ghost popping out of no where screaming in your face and dissappearing twice as fast, or forcing you to progress thru a pitchblack room filled with spirits whailing and moaning around you while your flashlight conveniently decides to die on you. So i will put this very simply THIS GAME SIMPLY IS NOT SCARY, there are a couple of "Ooooh that was a bit startling" parts but it is largely the most tame of the 3 games. For fans of the tortured family dynamic of the F.E.A.R. franchise, you will also be dissapointed. For me the main focus of the games was always alma. We were supposed to be afraid of her, but also feel sorrow and regret for the poor girl, and what her own father had done to her, and turned her into. This game focus' more on the past of the 2 brothers and the now Undead ghost incarnation of their Father/Grand Father Harlan Wade, as he pursues them through the game, really revealing nothing interesting until the end credits, while Alma takes a back seat only making an occasional split second ghost pop up, until the last minute of the game.  
     
    The campaigns level are all pretty common area's for shooter's, you got an airport, a prison, slums, a cosco sized store, etc. As you progress through most of these level's you get the standard (in this case substandard) F.E.A.R experience, moving shadows and objects, glimpses of Alma and other ghosts, flashbacks, whispers coming from no where, and this time around Pulsating waves of psychic energy as Alma's contractions grow more frequent. However there are huge gaps of time between each scare factor this time around, even playing one level where only one horror scene happens at the very begining and then its nothing but wave after wave of soldiers trying to shoot your slow-mo ass, almost completely removing the horror aspect of the game to focus on another attempt at becoming the next big shooter by sacrificing the story. 
     
    All in all there are only 8 levels to play through even though the last if more of a boss battle than an acutal level, unfortunatly the levels are incredibly short ranging from 10 to 50 minutes each. However in a hope to get you to replay these level we are introduced to a new challenge/leveling system, simple things like 50 headshots, or 15 melee attacks giving you points towards level gain, while they do add so enjoyment to the experience, they are incredibly easy, and most people should be able to unlock level 21 (the highest level) through 1 playthrough of the game. 
     
    As i said on your mission to the birth of alma's latest child, you are joined by your brother, allowing a second player to join you on your quest. Unfortunatly this doesnt really add anything to the story, as they both experience the exact same thing, and makes this easy game even easier, as the pointman can simply slow-mo the entire area while the 2 of you go around and dominate every enemy in the area within second. Paxton however carries the unique ability to posess certain enemies allowing him to walk in 90% of your enemies shoes. While being able to play as Fettel does add a interesting dynamic to the game its more of a gimmick to include CO-OP than anything else, seeing as how if you're playing single player he only shows up in cutscenes. 
     
    Onto the Multiplayer. 
    F.E.A.R. has always had multiplayer, it was never anything memerable or interesting...honestly i dont think i played more than 10 minutes of either games MP experience. And with this game its sadly obvious that they focused more on the multiplayer than they did on the singleplayer. Now most of the time thats not bad, it works with COD, Halo, and other things like that because those we're all about the Multiplayer to begin with. This game introduces many "unique" multiplayer games like Contractions, Soul King, and FUCKING RUN (Its censored as F**CKING RUN in the game, BUT I REFUSE TO CENSOR THINGS WHILE CAPS LOCK IS ACTIVATED). Each giving a entertaining experience in their own right, Contractions is a standard Wave game where you and your team must bunker down and kill wave after wave of enemies as a ominous shroud of fog descends more and more upon the battlefield. FUCKING RUN is honestly the one i've found most enjoyable simply cause its more frightening that the actual campaign, simply because I DONT LIKE THINGS CHASING ME lol. You are forced to run for your life blasting through enemies as a wall of nasty death chases you, if the wall of fog gets you, you're fucked. Lets not forget Soul King the posession focus game varient you and the competition must posess and kill enemies coming at you from all directions as you collect the souls of your dead enemies, collect the most souls, and you are the Soul king...oh i finally get that, wow they're clever *eye roll*. In most of these varients alma is a constant presences, apperantly she also decided that the multiplayer was more important, as she will randomly appear around the area blinding, and stunning, or summoning beast to down right kill you if you dare to look at her...she's got one hell of a poker face. 
     
    The weapons are well, what can i say about the weapons. You want a shotgun, guess what theres a shotgun, you want a machine gun, guess what its got that to. All the main stay weapons for shooters are in this, as well as the F.E.A.R. brand harpoon gun, and laser projector. Most of the weapons will get the job done, unfortunatly the shotgun, is as about as useful as a rubber chicken often requiring 2 shots to take down an enemy as point blank range, and the grenades are a pain in the ass to use ofter missing the target you're throwing it directly at. 
      
    This games sound is mix of overly verbal commando's complaining every 5 seconds that they can't see me, or if their buddy just saw you kick their other buddies ass, and creepy voices coming from nowhere F.E.A.R. is known for, but again done rather poory. 
    Visually the games graphic are subpar, but most expected this, atleast i did so i really can't say that was an issue for me when i gladly pre-ordered this game. The area's are bland and uninventive, only showing really character after alma's contractions have royally screwed up the city. And the color schemes they went with for many of the campaign and multiplayer levels is a mix of of Nothing but red everywhere, to a boring and ugly murky grey. 
     
     
    F.E.A.R. 3, like many other FPS games lately is sadly another example of a good single player story focused franchise trying to compete with more popular shooters, by focusing more attention to their multiplayer aspect, and leaving the story for another day. While i will admit the multiplayer is alot more interesting than the series past incarnations, I can't help but resent Day 1 for the poor job they did with story, its a poor way to rap up the end of this trilogy and they should have put more effort into making the campaign worth going back into other than to only gain achievement or beat challenges.
     
    Single Player gets a 2/10 
    Multiplayer gets a 6/10
      
    If you're plan on buying this game for the story you will be sorely dissapointed, however if you're more interested in the multiplayer aspect this game has some interesting MP modes, but i doubt anyone will be playing them within 3 months.

    Other reviews for F.E.A.R. 3 (Xbox 360)

      Multiplayer Makes Up For the Disappointing Campaign 0

      F.E.A.R 3, the latest in the F.E.A.R series, is the first game in the trilogy to be made by a studio other than Monolith. While the two previous games offered genuine scares and exciting minute-to-minute action, F.E.A.R 3 disappoints by offering little to no terrifying moments and standard gunplay. It feels like a game trying to imitate the series instead of one that’s a part of it. The cooperative multiplayer makes up for this some by providing interesting modes that are a lot of fun, but F.E.A...

      12 out of 22 found this review helpful.

      B.O.R.3 (SP Review) 0

      This is a rather messy review for the single player – I have no friends :’( (on 360)Fear 3 is a first person shooter from day 1 studios and is the third full game in the Fear franchise as you take the brothers, Point Man and Paxton Fettel, on a final jaunt to find and deal with their mother, Alma Wade.This happened to me a lot.Those who have not played any of the previous games, such as myself, may be a little confused as to the significance of some events and the general thrust of the story. Th...

      2 out of 2 found this review helpful.

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