It is said that F.E.A.R can drive men mad, causing them to think and act irrationally. Developed by Day 1 Studios, the newly released F.3.A.R sets out to resurrect the very sense of the title. Unfortunately, F.E.A.R. 3 misses as a horror game, lacking in the fundamental element of effective scare. Players expecting to lay awake at night with a light on and closet door closed will greatly be disappointed. The inability to scare the player significantly hurts the game play, since after all the terror factor is the key reason gamers buy a game like F.3.A.R. While players may never experience an overwhelming feeling of fear, they can, however, expect to be horrified by the scenery–sickly grotesque images that serve as local color.
Continuing the narrative established in its prequels, F.3.A.R starts the gamer as Point Man, captured by Armacham Security in a prison-esque asylum that feels far darker and deadlier than mythic Alcatraz. Viciously interrogated, Point Man is saved by Paxton Fettel, his telepathic, cannibalistic brother. Point Man and Paxton Fettel work uneasily together, fighting heavy resistance mounted by Armacham Soldiers to arrive at an escape route through the slums of Fairport, an ironic name for a place as hellish as the unnerving asylum, where the word evil as a descriptor does not do the setting justice.
