Pre-E3 2010 F.E.A.R 3

The F.E.A.R. is returning but this time the Developer is different. After the lackluster response from F.E.A.R. 2, is this the way to bring the series back to dominance? That is what Developer Day 1 Studios is banking on in their attempt to resurrect this horror shooter franchise.

Fans of the franchise will find Point Man and Paxton Fettel returning. In the original F.E.A.R., Point Man, the hero, had to kill Paxton Fettel, the antagonist and brother of Point Man. Despite Fettel returning, he was killed in the first game by Point man. Now he is a ghostly presence that will haunt Point Man every step of the way.

A new feature in F.E.A.R 3 is the cooperative gameplay. The interesting part about this is we haven't really seen co-op work well in a horror shooter. Day 1 Studios know that the task to bring the tension of a single player shooter--to the second player--will be difficult. But they are confident that they will be able to pull this off.
When playing Point Man, the game will look and feel just like the past F.E.A.R titles. This time, there is a new sticky cover system that lets you quickly get in and out of cover with the use of a single button.

Controlling Fettel is quite a bit different. You view the world through a creepy HUD and players will have a different set of skills and gameplay mechanics. Since Fettel is a ghost and dead, he can attack with telekinetic powers and possess enemies. I guess being dead isn't all bad... Due to the skills Fettel has, this leads to several interesting different things that Fettel can do, in the world, that the other player will need. Even if both characters don't like each other, they need to work together or enemy soldiers will kill them both.

Though we still would have loved to see Developer Monolith come back to helm the development of F.E.A.R. 3, we are keeping our fingers crossed that Day 1 Studios can successfully bring the masses of fans back with this release. The new views the new Developer is bringing can be seen in the Mech Suit action sequences. Despite a lack of challenge and focus in the last game, we are assured these will be fun and enjoyable.

We hope to see more of F.E.A.R. 3 at E3 2010.