[Alternative review title: “That’s me in the corner, filling my pants”]
Gears of War comes out later this week (here in the UK at least; it’s already out elsewhere) and Xbox 360 owners are getting very excited about it, with good reason – the reviews have been overwhelmingly good. However, it’d be a shame if F.E.A.R. gets overlooked as a result. It slipped onto shelves on Friday, and I reckon that it’s the best first-person shooter on the 360 so far.
Inevitably, I haven’t completed it yet – I’m famously rubbish at games – but I’m several hours into campaign mode, and it’s been a hoot so far. There’s some great horror movie-style jumpy bits, the fighting bits are as fun as in Black, the environments aren’t as repetitive as those in yer Dooms and Quakes, despite the cringeworthy title it’s not as cheesy as Prey, the enemy swearing is amusing and it doesn’t suffer from the save point madness that made Quake 4 such an irritant (when you die in F.E.A.R. you’re reloaded in a few seconds – in Quake 4, it takes about three weeks).
It’s big, dumb fun with big, dumb guns and the odd outbreak of spookiness. If you like your console shooters, you’ll love this.
Comments
0 responses to “Quick game review: F.E.A.R. (Xbox 360)”
I have 360 envy.
I’m really impressed by it, but it might be worth waiting (if you’re thinking of getting one). Price drops are inevitable, especially as the PS3 launch draws closer, and apparently they’re revamping the hardware to make it run cooler – which should mean it’s less like a 747 taking off than it is at the moment :)
Eurogamer’s just reviewed it – 9/10. Yay.
btw, me getting GoW too. :-)
live co-op might be fun. Except that you suck. ;-D
D
I think you’ve found the fatal flaw in your plan.
I had the PC version of Fear, and frankly it was dull, dull, DULL. After the first few scary bits there wasn’t really anything much else. And a note to FPS designers everywhere, I seriously am going to just switch off the next one as soon as I come to the first ‘Abandoned Water Treatment Plant’ – each one has me going ‘Not AGAIN!’ Even the one in HL2 was kinda dull and considering how good that game is, that’s a very bad sign indeed…
Don’t forget the “warehouse on the docks”…
>>abandoned water treatment plant
that’s because a fully-manned and functioning water treatment plant would be even more dull.
>fully-manned
Are you sure? I mean some of the deserted ones I’ve been through are pretty damn dull. The mundane tasks of checking water quality and cleaning filters actually sound quite fun compared to some of the stuff I’ve had to do in them.
Oh and why does the clock think you posted at 9:30 when it is only 9:05?
I sometimes like to post from the future. So do you apparently.
Sorry, I was experimenting with time travel. Should be fixed now.