I purchased F.E.A.R. for the PC yesterday …
This the perfect game to release within two weeks of Halloween, with an interesting combination of first-person shooter action and the atmosphere of japanese horror movies like Ringu or even American classics like The Exorcist. Evidently, the critics seem to agree.
The game isn’t perfect, of course. Monolith delivers some amazing graphics, particularly in their use of bullet time effects, but much of the game world really could have used a bit more of the polish that Valve put into Half Life 2. On the other hand, the game nails its target atmosphere and succeeds at the fear-factor the hype machine assigned to Doom 3 before gamers got a hold of it.
Another spot in which the game really shines is in enemy AI. Opposing soldiers will sneak around obstacles, move objects out of their way and into yours and generally be annoyingly good at close-quarter tactics.
If you’re looking for a good spot of intense single-player action and horror for the PC and have a machine with enough power to run it, get F.E.A.R. now while the Halloween mood is at its strongest.