With most horror games, they blow their load early and show you the scariest stuff in the first ten minutes. Over the course of the game, the player becomes desensitized to it, having to repeatedly encounter zombies and monsters across the span of 7-10 hours.

F.E.A.R. on the other hand is a game of build-up. It doesn’t start out especially scary, but as I kept playing it, it very gradually started to creep me out. I would hesitate to say that it outright scared me, because it takes a lot for a game to legitimately scare me. But as you creep around its desolate office complex, an unsettling feeling begins to seep in to your brain. It’s like being in a supermarket after hours - a place so obviously bustling with people and noise and life, now empty. You can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong and you really, really shouldn’t be here. Everything’s too quiet and you feel a little vulnerable.

Eventually the tension mounts and the creepy atmosphere pays off. The end of the game could’ve had a bigger finale with some sort of climactic boss encounter, but ultimately it doesn’t need one. The ending is unforgettable even without a big scary monster to kill - and maybe that’s for the best. I’d complain that F.E.A.R. ends on something of a cliffhanger, but all the best horror movies do, and so too does F.E.A.R.

Still the best FEAR game along with FEAR 2.

FLASHLIGHT..... TARGET SPOTTED!

17 years ago I played the downloadable demo for this. I probably played it 100 times over even though my PC at the time could barely run it. I had to adjust the settings to find a balance that was worthy to the eye and still playable. I ended up buying a retail copy of the game as soon as it released. To this day, it is still the best solo experience I've ever had in an FPS game. The Sci-fi horror element is legit, but I was more in it for the combat as the AI is still the most impressive I've seen. I'll never get over how they made clone soldiers feel more life-like and personable than any other AI TO DATE. The way they communicate and operate in fire teams will send shivers up your spine. They will call out when they see your flashlight, when you switch between cover they will actually identify what it is you're hiding behind. They will always lay down a stream of cover fire for each other. They will not fire if they are blocking each others cone of fire. They flank, crawl under obstacles, throw grenades to flush you out. If you kill members of the fire team, they will actually fall back to positions that don't allow you to flank them. The damage to the environment and enemy models is something I still haven't seen in many other shooters. Sometimes after fire fights you have to wait for the dust to clear to see the aftermath of the battle.

It's not perfect. It has flaws, but during a time when games had to be different to stand out from generic run of the mill COD clones, F.E.A.R absolutely delivered in a way that always brings me back to it.

Rest in Peace Monolith, you deserved so much better.

I'll raise a glass of .dll compatibility wrappers used to get LithTech engine games running in your honor.

F.E.A.R is up there with Half-Life and other classics for its sheer level of detail, polish and chaotic fun.

Even as we approach 2014, the visual fidelity of F.E.A.R is still something to behold. Firefights explode in a shower of particles and dust quite unmatched in most other games. You will rend various levels apart with bullets as you play as The Point Man, a member of First Encounter Assault Recon, and each encounter will have a level of cinematic mayhem that time has yet to have dulled. The inclusion of a bullet time mode really makes this shine as the chaos unfolds in slow motion, as well as being a useful tool in the games later, more challenging levels.

The game's AI is fiercely on-point, something which evokes Half Life 1 most strongly of all. Enemy soldiers will communicate with one another and actively work together to seek you out, relaying your position over radio and reacting to your strategies in compelling and exciting ways. This is a game with better AI than most modern shooters.

The horror elements of F.E.A.R are a little on the nose - sudden flashing images of a corpse are not exactly ways that the game 'earns' its jumps - but for each cheap shot it takes in this regard it generally more than makes up with a tense, often surreal, atmosphere and a solid number of "gotcha!" moments that aren't cheap at all. Alma has become quite the icon in horror gaming, and she does her part in providing the occasional terrifying moment.

With rock solid shooting, wonderfully dramatic effects - including great ragdoll physics - and servicable story, it's hard not to recommend F.E.A.R. Its quality and attention to detail set a high benchmark for its sequels, and indeed all other action titles.

If your game lags about 5 mins in the game. Here is a fix https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c563frrNxHQ

u can see ur feet

Masterpiece from the past, F.E.4.R please!

Game is fun thus far, but has some sort of FPS bug. If your going to get the game, follow this guide, otherwise your likely not going to be able to get above 40FPS

https://steamcommunity.com/app/21090/discussions/0/343785380897389173/

Perfect Horror FPS with great gunplay, great horror vibes very unique game. the ending was great