F.E.A.R

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Terrifying and bloody shooter for adults only.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that there are many gruesome images in this game: The opening cut scene shows a man feasting on a dead body, complete with sound effects of flesh being torn, and other clips show people burning to death or undergoing a terrible medical experiment, and some scenes involve a young child. Extreme vulgarity abounds, with enemies screaming "f--k" when hit. This game would undoubtedly cause nightmares for many younger players (and maybe adults). It is for mature players only. Kids can play online against other players, which Common Sense Media does not recommend for anyone under 12.

  • The plot includes irresponsible decision-making on the part of government officials and their contracted agencies.
  • Nonstop shooting, punching, exploding etc. Blood is everywhere, and corpses litter the hallways. Humans are disintegrated into skeletal remains. Blood drips from the ceiling.
  • Not applicable.

What's it about?

Players take the role of a newbie F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) grunt, sent in to investigate the mysterious take over of a high-tech aerospace compound. Voicemail messages and wounded personnel left in the facility reveal a government-sponsored military program gone horribly wrong. Cloned soldiers under the control of cannibal Paxton Fettel have locked down the entire plant, killing anyone who enters. Meanwhile, players experience sudden and random visions: horrible medical experiments, tortured and bloodied victims, flooded rooms, fires, and a mysterious little girl in a red dress.


Is it any good?

 

Borrowing from horror films including The Ring and Hannibal, F.E.A.R. mixes first-person-shooter action with terrifying and disturbing imagery. This game is thoroughly terrifying. It's well done, but it's for mature players only -- it is not for anyone under 17.

The plot isn't anything new, nor are the weapons. Mood is everything -- and as players battle their way through the levels, they can't help but feel unsettled. It's worth noting that the artificial intelligence in this game adds complexity to FPS gaming. Even on easy, players shouldn't expect to rush through the levels, guns blazing, and hope to make it out alive.


Explore, discuss, enjoy

Families can talk about the horror genre of films and games. Does a lot of blood and gore make the game/movie scarier or not? Where would you draw the line? Is gameplay more intense because you control part of the action? Are frightening games less appropriate for teens and kids?


This review of F.E.A.R was written by
Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
WOW great game NOT FOR KIDS
I loved this game. It had me jumping out of my seat at times. Sometimes, I was jumping to the escape button so my kids wouldn't walk in on the game. The ending kind of lacked, but I loved the gameplay. This is not a game for kids, I don't care how mature or well-watched the child is, this isn't for them. If they can't go to an R-rated movie on their own, them seek another game.

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Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Its okay for mature children....
I'm 15 and i got the game when i was 14, M ratings for me are not any issue when it comes to buying them unless it has something that is worst then just strong language,Intense violence, ect; it matters when the game has nudity and shows sex... To me F.E.A.R is to be played by teenagers, no one under 13 becuase of its blood and gore... language,kids can hear at school worst then just the f word or such...

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Top of the line terrifying shooter
F.E.A.R. is one of the best games all year, if not the 21st century. True gamers will want to stand up and applaud this triumph. The games amazing A.I. enemies are intelligent and tricky; they'll throw things over to hide behind, try to corner you, distract you while they try to flank you. The weapons are also spectacular, the shotgun just feels right. Parents should note, the game is violent, gory, disturbing, and has some severe language. You shoot up clones in full body armor with some spectacular effects. The graphics allow for realistic results, a shot to the left arm will jerk it back, sometimes even make the arm fall off. At proper distance, the shotgun vaporizes enemies. Beyond the gun play, there are some creepy cut scenes that feature a creepy little girl with the power to tear soldiers apart. Characters can also be heard shouting colorful phrases. The game is an intense adult shooter, appropriate only for older teens. Gamers should know that the game requires a lot from your PC, a gig of ram is recommended as well as a descent graphics card. In the end, F.E.A.R. is probably the best adult shooter I've ever played.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
HOLY SHNIKIES!!!
This game was nuts.. awsome!!!! would play it all the time... very violent and unbaleivably scary... GET IT NOW!!!!!

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Terrifying..... But yet one of the best of this year.
Lets start of by saying that this game is the stuff of nightmares. You start out this game on a wrong foot. things get hairy and then.... Well you'll have to play to figure it out. First, the plot is way too complicated for most kids to understand. It twists and turns like a roller coaster and is difficult to follow. The violence is the main problem here. Okay, lets clear this up, this game is very, very violent. It features exploding bodies, death, blood, gore, guns, killing, twisted government agencies, psychics, undercover armies and such. The language is also a major problem there is always some swearing going on either between your squadmates or your enemies. But along side the violence on of the main problems is the disturbing content. F.E.A.R. gives you no warning to the sudden images of terror. Some include: Death by fire, terrible medical experiments, brutal, disgusting torture, and sudden apparitions ( I won't give any away) Anyway, this is hands down one of the best games this year. But not the best for kids. If they watch movies such as: The Amityville Horror, Hollow Man, or even Saw for that matter, I still think that parents should take extreme caution when deciding if their kids shouls play this game. Overall, it's not the best idea.

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Teen, 17 years old
February 21, 2009
 
Another one of my favorites
I enjoyed this game very much. I think it's for mature audience because of the gore and terror. The story itself is what I like most about this game because it's different, tragic, and interesting. I also enjoyed the unique time slowing, or "reflex", thing you get to have. A nice advantage in gun fights. Though you fight the same clone dudes over and over, go long periods without gun fights, the thought of running into paranormal stuff keeps the suspense alive. Like the Silent Hill: Homecoming review I wrote, the tactics the game has for fright is the atmosphere and music. The music was a big part to me as it just struck weird nerves of tension for the appearance of paranormal things. The other was things actually popping and flashing out of nowhere. Actually, theres a theory that our eyes and brain are so used to spotting things on one side (I think it's the left) that if it comes from the other side suddenly, it causes shock or what I like to call being jumpy. So to expose F.E.A.R to a little kid would chance fright and posibly a nightmare, since you tend to run into scenes of gore. Love the game, just too bad you never see your character's face.

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Teen, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
 
A graphic, scary, disturbing shooter... But still Awesome!
If you can stand movies like "Saving Private Ryan", you should be fine. This game is VERY, VERY graphic. Make sure you can stand large amounts of gore before playing this game. Those who can, will enjoy this "classic in the making" to the fullest extent!

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Adult
August 20, 2011
 
F.E.A.R.
Fist of all, this game is scary for anyone who isn't used to creepy Your playing as a newbie in a secret task group called F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) From the very begining you see the worst of the blood in the game, it shows a man eating a corpse (well, not really shows, but you see a guy standing over a dead body and making sounds like he's eating something so it's not really a secret) Launguage is also very frequent and strong, don't get unless you are used to the dark side of human language Although when I played my scared meter didn't exactly hit red, this is actually good training if you are trying to learn to deal with creepy video games, it's thanks to this game that I can cope with other scary games and paranormal movies. The thing that got me to dislike this game is the plot The story has so many twist and turns I might as well of been on a rollercoaster, you have to have the best sense of awarness and understanding known to man to figure out what's going on At the end I was like "What the heck just happened?" Not kidding, this game is VERY hard to follow Not to mention the difficulty I played it on easy and died at least 45 times, the enemies are difficult and opprotunities to find health are hard to find, you have to have amazing patiance if you want to get through, as well as a sense of stratagy, you can't just run in gunz blazing, you have to run in, learn where everyone is and what weapons they have, if your lucky get back into cover, or just let them kill you so that you can go in again with more knolege of the enemy, make sure you know what your doing I would also reccomend that you rent this before buying, blockbuster or redbox might have it, if that's not available the game is old and very cheap, about $10 where I live
What other families should know:

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Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Like Bloodshot but a FPS!!!
Well i just got this game and i am 13 so yes and i am allowed to play this game 1st off the violence really isn't that bad if your kid has call of duty 4 then you will be fine in the story they say F**K ALOT so that is really the only problme. there is blood and it goes every where and the story is kind of creepy but if you played Condemned 1 and 2 BTW the people who made the Condemned seriese made F.E.A.R. and if you watch scary movies and alot of that stuff you will be fine but this is deffinatly for 13 and up.

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This review of F.E.A.R was written by
Platforms:Windows
Available online?Available online
Genre:First Person Shooter
Developer:Vivendi Universal Games
Release date:December 20, 2005
Price:$49.99
ESRB rating:M for (Windows)

This review of F.E.A.R was written by

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