F.E.A.R. Platinum

To me, one of the best shooters in the early 2000's. Advertised as an horror game, I think its more like your typical FPS but whit a some horror vibes splashed on top to flesh out the story a bit. Expect jump scares here and there but nothing really terrifying, though I gotta say the general atmosphere was great overall. Great gunfights, great AI that will try to flank and corner you, great use of particle and smoke effects, really satisfying gun sound effects. Graphically is almost 20 years old but I think it holds up pretty well to this day. Unfortunately running it on Windows 10 proved difficult since I had massive performance issues even though my hardware was obviously overkill for a game this old. After some investigation, I solved the issues setting the game to run in XP SP3 compatibility mode and installing this .dll file on the games folder: https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/789-directinput-fps-fix/

Wonderful combination of excellent shooting, generous amount of bullet time and incredible sound design. The enemies are very chatty , yelling things like"He's trying to flank us", "He wiped out the whole squad!" with their radio-distorted voices, which gives each encounter a personal feel. Their death roars are vicious, and they flail when a nailgun bolt staples them to a wall. This game was designed to put a smile on your face. Do yourself a favor and play it.

Great atmosphere, decent graphics, good story and amazing gameplay. It tops most FPS campaigns. Holds up well, worth a playthrough! 8/10

I remember playing FEAR the year it got out. It was a random pick at the store, and I never regretted it. It was - and still is - an shining example of just how horrifying and exciting FPS can be. Its AI was capable of outsmarting you, staying in a corner for too long was a recipe for disaster, and rushing in (even with slow-mo) was a suicide. It was predictable at times, but even at moderate settings game provided more than enough challenge. Although story got really over the top with expansions and further installments, the original was pretty decent in that regard. The atmosphere, the corpses laying around, telephones beeping with messages explaining the backstory, smashed offices... It was believable. And there was "Unknown origin", Alma, and numerous flashbacks, hallucinations, and other scares that made FEAR what it is. Even at repeated playing the game is scary. Beating this game truly is a rewarding experience. Expansions, on the other hand... Well, they are fun. There are some cool new weapons, new enemies, but... Story expands in a boring, over the top way. And scares are barely there for the most part. Unlike FEAR in which at moderate setting you still had to watch over every medkit and bullet, the Perseus Mandate is childplay at moderate. I don't even want to know what is it like on easy... Overall, Original: 5/5, Extraction Point -haven't played (no 1080p, a big no-no), Perseus Mandate (has 1080) 3/5.

Agree with Fossilfern (first review). The rest of the series is ok, but they don't have the appeal (for me ) that this first one did.