E3 Impressions - F.E.A.R. by Jason "Rodzilla" Rodzik   Posted on May 26, 2005   One of the games on the top of my list to play at E3 was definately First Encounter Assault and Recon, or possibly more appropriate to the game itself, F.E.A.R. F.E.A.R. is a first person shooter with elements of horror and suspense tied in. It delivers gamers an experience similar to System Shock 2, where the atmosphere of the environment is insanely creepy, and you never quite know what's going to happen, unlike games such as Doom 3 which turn out all the lights everywhere, have something jump out of nowhere, rinse, and repeat. Initially, F.E.A.R. looked to be nothing more than a typical shooter with physical interaction with objects and excellent sound and graphics. However, as the demo progressed, more of the creepier aspects of F.E.A.R. began to crop up. As I entered a hallway, the door in front of me was shut. Upon reaching the door I was unable to open it, and as I turned around at the other end of the hall there was no doorway, simply darkness, with a girl standing in the hall between myself and where I had entered. Paralyzed, I sat there as she walked toward me, and before I regained my senses her body crumbled into nothingness (which, I might add, was graphically really well done). I don't want to give too much away about the game, especially the scarier aspects of it, but let me assure you that my hallway encounter was only the tip of the iceberg. As I mentioned earlier, the graphics behind F.E.A.R. look great, and your ability to slow down time in the midst of action only emphasises this even more. There's just something about seeing an enemy cartwheel through a window as the glass shatters in all directions and there's sparks flying off of bullets impacting metal that adds something to a game. F.E.A.R. looks to deliver what many people hoped that Doom 3 would provide: an immersive action horror game that draws you in and makes you believe that you're actually a part of the world, making you tremble at the sheer thought of that girl, and looking great in the process. Why is it that little girls are so scary anyway?