F.E.A.R.
Developer(s)	Monolith Productions
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal
Distributor(s)	CD Projekt
Designer(s)	Craig Hubbard
Engine	Lithtech: Jupiter EX
Latest version	1.05 (May 25, 2006)
Release date(s)	October 18, 2005 (NA/EU)
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature (17+) BBFC: 18 PEGI: 18+
Platform(s)	Windows, Xbox 360
Media	CD (5), DVD (Director's Edition)
System requirements	Windows XP/2000 with Service Packs, Pentium 4 1.7 GHz or equivalent, 512 MB RAM, 5 GB hard disk space, DirectX 9.0-compliant sound card, 64 MB GeForce 4 Ti or Radeon 9600 or equivalent with hardware T&L and PS, DirectX 9.0c April edition (Included)
Input	Keyboard, Mouse

F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) is a horror themed first-person shooter computer game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Vivendi Universal. It was released on October 18, 2005 for Windows with a single player demo released on August 5, 2005, and a multiplayer demo on September 29 of the same year. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (488x698, 510 KB) This is the cover art for a video or computer game. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Monolith Productions is a Kirkland, Washington based video game developer. ... Video game publishers are companies that publish video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. ... Vivendi Universal (VU) is a French conglomerate active in media and communications with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications and the Internet. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Poland. ... CD Projekt is a Polish computer game publisher. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... A game engine is the core software component of a computer or video game or other interactive application with real-time graphics. ... LithTech Jupiter-EX logo Lithtech is a game engine which was initially developed by Monolith Productions in collaboration with Microsoft. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... This is a listing of computer and video game genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ... It has been suggested that Doom clone be merged into this article or section. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... A multiplayer game is a video game in which multiple people can play the same game at the same time. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games in the United States. ... The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the organisation responsible for film classification (see Motion picture rating systems and History of British Film Certificates) within the United Kingdom. ... PEGIs logo Pan European Game Information, or more commonly PEGI, is a European system for rating the content of computer and video games, and other entertainment software. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... The Xbox 360 (three-sixty), known during development as the Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox Next or Nextbox, is the successor to Microsofts Xbox video game console. ... The CD-ROM (an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (ROM)) is a non-volatile optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... New Intel Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading logo The Pentium 4 is a seventh-generation x86 architecture microprocessor produced by Intel and is their first all-new CPU design, called the NetBurst architecture, since the Pentium Pro of 1995. ... Sharma Ram (disambiguation) Ram Sharma is an amazing, talented teenager that lives in Canada His talents include rapping, comedy, and cooking He is bound to success! ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... DirectX is a collection of APIs for easily handling tasks related to game programming on the Microsoft Windows operating system. ... A GeForce 4 (codenames below) is a fourth-generation graphics processing unit (GPU) manufactured by NVIDIA which forms the basis of many computer graphics cards. ... Radeon is a brand of graphics processing units (GPU) that has been manufactured by ATI Technologies since 2000 and the successor to their Rage line. ... Transform and Lighting is a computing term used in computer graphics, generally used in the context of hardware acceleration (Hardware T&L). Transform refers to the task of converting coordinates in space, which in this case involves moving 3D objects in a virtual world and converting 3D coordinates to a... Vertex and pixel (or fragment) shaders are shaders that run on a graphics card, executed once for every vertex or pixel in a specified 3D mesh. ... A computer keyboard is a peripheral modeled after the typewriter keyboard. ... Operating a mechanical mouse. ... Horror fiction is, broadly, fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle or horrify the reader. ... It has been suggested that Doom clone be merged into this article or section. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Monolith Productions is a Kirkland, Washington based video game developer. ... Vivendi Universal (VU) is a French conglomerate active in media and communications with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications and the Internet. ... 2005 2005 in games 2004 in video gaming 2006 in video gaming Notable events of 2005 in video gaming. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... Demo disc released with a magazine. ... A multiplayer game is a video game in which multiple people can play the same game at the same time. ...

The game's story details the events following a paranormal crisis that the Special Forces team F.E.A.R. is called to contain. The player takes on the role of the F.E.A.R. Point Man, gifted with lightning fast reflexes, as he fights against an army of clone soldiers and their rebellious leader, uncovering at the same time the secrets of the paranormal menace which has the form of a mysterious little girl. An anomalous phenomenon is an observed phenomenon for which there is no agreeable rational explanation. ... Special forces or special operations forces are military units which are formed and trained to conduct missions involving unconventional warfare, Counter-Terrorism, reconnaissance, direct action and foreign internal defence. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. ...

A special "Director's Edition" DVD was also published, enriched by the inclusion of a "making of" documentary, a director's commentary, a short live-action prequel and related Dark Horse comic book, and the exclusive first episode of the promotional P.A.N.I.C.S. machinima. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book publisher, one of the largest independent publishers behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A scene from the popular machinima series Red vs Blue. ...

An expansion pack to F.E.A.R. titled F.E.A.R. Extraction Point was announced at E3 2006. It is in development by TimeGate Studios to be published by Vivendi Universal and released fall of 2006. An expansion pack is an addition to an existing game. ... F.E.A.R Extraction Point is a horror themed first-person shooter computer game developed by TimeGate Studios and published by Vivendi Universal. ... E³ logo Presented by the Entertainment Software Association, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known and composed as E3 (besides the organiser’s usage of E³, the superscript version is rarely used), is the worlds largest annual trade show for the computer and video games industry. ... Timegate Studios is a video game developer, focusing on games of the real-time strategy genre. ... 2006 2006 in games 2005 in video gaming 2007 in video gaming Notable events of 2006 in video gaming. ...

Features

The game is notable for its innovative features, the most prominent being reflex time (also known as "SlowMo"). This ability allows the player to slow down the game world while being able to look, aim, and react at normal speeds: this effect is used to simulate the player character's super-human reflexes, and is similar to the "bullet time" effect seen in the Max Payne series. Unlike Max Payne, F.E.A.R. utilizes a first-person perspective. Although F.E.A.R. is not the first FPS to feature a bullet-time effect (earlier examples include "adrenaline mode" in Chaser, "hero mode" in Die Hard: Vendetta, "Gun mode" in GUN and "spirit armor" in Geist), the title from Monolith differentiates itself through the heavily developed presentation of SloMo (including visual effects such as bullet trails and a significant interaction with the game's extensive particle effects), as well as SloMo being made a core component of F.E.A.R.'s gameplay due to the speed and skill of the computer artificial intelligence. Bullet-time is a concept introduced in recent films and computer games whereby the passage of time is slowed down so that an observer can see individual bullets flying throughout the scene at a conceivable rate, usually with their trails made visible. ... Max Payne is a third-person shooter computer game developed by Finnish company Remedy Entertainment, produced by 3D Realms and published by Gathering of Developers in July, 2001. ... 155 mm M198 howitzer USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. ... Geist is a video game the Nintendo GameCube video game console, released on August 15, 2005. ... Hondas intelligent humanoid robot AI redirects here. ...

F.E.A.R. features a highly advertised advanced A.I., allowing computer-controlled characters a large degree of action, especially if compared with scripted routines: when playing it is not unusual to notice various opponents acting as a team, taking back routes to surprise the player, taking cover if under fire or covering the advance of their allies. F.E.A.R. opponents have a variety of moves that allow them to navigate the game environment noticably better than the average first-person shooter enemy: they can duck to travel under crawlspaces, jump through windows, vault over low objects such as railings, jump down to a lower level, and climb ladders. F.E.A.R. opponents are also noticably more mobile than average by FPS standards: they constantly strafe and dodge instead of standing still, making them more difficult to hit.

The player character's reflexes are portrayed with the SlowMo effect. Notice the bullet trails.

Martial arts moves have been introduced for hand-to-hand combat: in addition to the use of weapons for mêlée purposes as seen in other games like Halo, the player can use specific combinations of keys to trigger a number of different moves, including a slide-kick, a jump-kick, and a roundhouse-kick. Image File history File links FEAR_screenshot3. ... Image File history File links FEAR_screenshot3. ... Mêlée generally refers to disorganized hand-to-hand combat involving a group of fighters. ... Halos protagonist, the Master Chief, in Halo: Combat Evolved. ...

F.E.A.R. utilizes an immersive perspective: there are no external cutscenes other than the short introductory movie, and the entire game is experienced through the eyes of the protagonist (a technique made famous by the 1998 blockbuster Half-Life). The game further improves immersiveness by providing a fully-present body for the protagonist, which is different from the more basic representations found in most other first person shooters. Looking down, a player can see the protagonist's torso and feet; during scripted sequences, such as the protagonist's rising from a lying position or his rappeling down a length of rope, the hands and legs of the protagonist can be seen performing the relevant actions. However, it should be noted that no movement whatsoever is observable during certain actions such as using computers and opening doors. 1998 1998 in games 1997 in video gaming 1999 in video gaming Notable events of 1998 in computer and video games. ... Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ...

Gameplay

Like the vast majority of modern FPS games, F.E.A.R. features both a singleplayer mode and a multiplayer mode for LAN or online play. In singleplayer mode, the player takes control of the F.E.A.R. team's newest recruit and leads him through the game's story. Gameplay depends on level exploration and the firefights against the enemy computer-controlled soldiers. The levels themselves are indoor environments that are quite linear in structure, there's rarely more than a single route to reach a specific location and there is only one way to complete each level. Lan can stand for several things: A local area network Lan (airline) formerly LanChile Lan Peru Län, a kind of administrative division used in Sweden Lan Mandragoran, a fictional character in the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan. ...

Multiplayer in F.E.A.R. relies on the usual gameplay modes popularized by previous titles, such as Deathmatch, Team deathmatch, Capture the flag and Last man standing. Additionally, with the 1.05 upgrade the Control and Capture All gametypes are introduced, featuring rules similar to the Domination gametype popularized by Unreal Tournament; during Control matches teams compete for the domain over several check-points and victory is assigned to the team who controlled the points for more time, while in Capture All victory is claimed by the team who controls all the check-points. However, the most innovative element introduced by F.E.A.R. is the usage of the multiplayer "SlowMo" effect, thus game modes with the bullet time-like effect appear alongside the usual modes: SlowMo Deathmatch, SlowMo Team deathmatch and SlowMo Capture the flag. Unlike the singleplayer mode, where players can activate the SlowMo feature whenever they want, in multiplayer a power-up must be collected to enable the special feature. Since there is only one such power-up on each level, acquiring it gives a player, or their team, a serious advantage over the opponents. To compensate for this, on most servers the position of the SlowMo power-up (whether it is held by a player or not) is visible to all players at all times. Deathmatch (abbreviated DM) is a widely-used gameplay mode very well integrated into first-person shooter computer games. ... Capture the flag is a traditional outdoor game often played by children where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other teams flag, located at the teams base, and bring it back to their own base. ... Last man standing (LMS) is a multiplayer gameplay mode featured in the vast majority of the more recent first-person shooter computer games. ... Unreal Tournament, UT, or UT99 is a popular first-person shooter video game. ...

Atmosphere

A core element of F.E.A.R. is its horror theme, which seems to have been heavily influenced by Japanese-style horror movies, just as well as computer games like Thief: Deadly Shadows, with reference to its level "The Shalebridge Cradle". This is apparent in that F.E.A.R. uses the idea of a disturbing little girl, Alma, instead of the more obvious first person perspective scare tactics used in horror-survival games such as Doom. Admittedly, this concept is relatively common in horror films. As noted, the game's story borrows extensively from two Japanese films: Akira and Ringu (or The Ring). The debt owed to The Ring is obvious throughout the entirety of the game, especially in the design of Alma herself, her menacing walking and crawling animations and the way in which her long hair constantly covers her eyes. The Akira references are most obvious at the end of the game, when both storyline and stylistic influences become apparent. In particular, the styling of Alma's cryo chamber, and the long inclinator ride down towards it are obvious borrowings. It must be noted that the ending of the game has more in common with the Anime version of Akira than the Manga version. Poster for Dark Water J-Horror is a term used to refer to Japanese contributions to horror fiction in popular culture. ... Thief is a series of mainly first-person computer games where the player takes the role of Garrett, a thief in a steampunk world resembling a cross between the Late Middle Ages and the Victorian era, with some primitive technology thrown in. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is among the landmark titles in the first-person shooter genre. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... Akira ) is a 1988 anime film by Katsuhiro Otomo based on his manga of the same name. ... Ring ) is a 1998 Japanese horror mystery film from director Hideo Nakata, adapted from a novel by Koji Suzuki of the same name. ... The Ring is a 2002 American remake of the 1998 Japanese film, Ring. ... // A scene from Cowboy Bebop (1998) Anime ), which is short for the English word animation, in the western world most popularly refers (but not limited) to the medium of animation originating in Japan, with distinctive character and background aesthetics that visually set it apart from other forms of animation (e. ... For other uses, see Manga (disambiguation). ...

A fallen replica soldier with Alma in the background

Interestingly, the game design has been developed to take full advantage of its underlying horror element; the entire story of F.E.A.R. takes place approximately over a single night, starting at dusk and ending the next day, hence providing a conveniently dark atmosphere, reliant entirely upon artificial lighting. This reliance is further exploited to provide a feeling of horror: as the game renders shadows in real-time, a light source that is moving, damaged, or hit will cause shadows to dance wildly over surfaces and cause disorientation, especially if the effect is sudden and presented suggestively in the game as a supernatural phenomenon. Often, this is used to keep the player wondering whether an effect was due to supernatural forces or can be explained rationally, thereby enhancing dramatic tension. Image File history File links FEAR_screenshot1. ... Image File history File links FEAR_screenshot1. ...

The levels of the game take place primarily indoors and even the outdoor areas are small and narrow to provide a feeling of claustrophobia. Passing through certain areas will trigger scripted hallucinatory sequences that include childish laughter, unearthly whispers, voices from nowhere, simulated projections of characters, visions of recent events, and also include full-blown virtual sequences, always of a medical facility, burning and blood-drenched. The music changes appropriately to suit the sequences as needed. Sign warning of a claustrophobic area Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder that involves the fear of enclosed or confined spaces. ... An hallucination is a sensory perception experienced in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. ...

The more expressive sequences are not without prior warning. The sudden music shift and a new dream-like quality of the view are obvious signs that a sequence is occurring. Edges of objects and persons become extremely blurred, phantom light sources may appear, all existing lighting becomes abnormal, and colors become dull and washed-out. Static white noise is a common indicator. Basic surprise sequences such as sudden appearances often occur with no warning signs in order to preserve their shock value. For other uses of the term white noise, see white noise (disambiguation). ... Shock value is the potential of an image, text or other form of communication to provoke a reaction of disgust, shock, anger, or similar negative emotion. ...

Story

Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC) is a hi-tech weapons industry with billions worth commissions for the US government. Currently a serious crisis is taking place inside one of the facilities owned by ATC: a battalion of clone supersoldiers, under the telepathic control of a man named Paxton Fettel, has taken control of the structure, killing anyone who was there. A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... High tech refers to high technology, technology that is at the cutting-edge and the most advanced currently available. ... The word billion and its equivalents in other languages refer to either one million million or one thousand million, depending on whether the writer is using the long scale or the short scale. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO code In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ... Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an original. ... Supersoldier is a fictional term often used to describe a soldier that operates beyond normal physical human limits. ... Telepathy (from the Greek τηλε, tele, distant; and πάθεια, patheia, feeling) is the claimed ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ...

After a phone call between ATC president Genevieve Aristide and a mysterious senator, agents from the secret special operation team F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) are called in action to contain the crisis. Commissioner Betters briefs his team, composed by the new Point man (the main character) and veterans Jankowski and Jin Sun-Kwon, about the mission objective: eliminate Fettel, thus severing the mind link between him and the soldiers, who should shut down once they no longer have an objective. A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ...

A firefight against replica soldiers

Fettel is located by means of a satellite tracking device implanted in his head and F.E.A.R. rushes to intercept him, but the agents fail to catch the villain, rather remaining caught in the chaos of the crisis, as several civilians and ATC employees are found dead and units from Delta Force are killed by unexplained paranormal phenomena. To make matters worse, Jankowski disappears and the Point Man is constantly plagued by sudden hallucinations. Nonetheless, he is still able to follow Fettel to the Armacham HQ where, in order to save hostages Aldus Bishop and Alice Wade, he is forced to deal both with the replica soldiers and ATC security, who, in their haste to cover up the corporation's secrets, are more than willing to fire upon anyone. However, some of these secrets are uncovered and the F.E.A.R. team learns terrible details about the crisis: Fettel is the second prototype of a project known as Origin, aimed at creating telepathic commanders for military purposes; these individuals were to be obtained by impregnating a powerful psychic, a girl named Alma. While the first prototype was deemed a failure, the project was successful with Fettel, but the researchers had not taken into account Alma's power; the woman, in the attempt of exacting revenge for what she had been subjected to, used her psychic powers to take control of Fettel and turn him against ATC. Armacham decided to solve the problem by removing life support to Alma's cryo-chamber in the Origin facility; she was believed to be dead and Fettel under control, until ATC president Aristide re-opened the structure, triggering the new crisis. Image File history File links FEAR_screenshot2. ... Image File history File links FEAR_screenshot2. ... A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (Airborne) (1st SFOD-D (A)), commonly known as Delta within the U.S. Army or Delta Force by the general public, (and known in the Pentagon officially as the Combat Applications Group) is a Special Operations Force (SOF) of the Joint Special Operations... Headquarters (HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are concentrated. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... Prototypes or prototypical instances combine the most representative attributes of a category. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ...

The F.E.A.R. Point Man heads to the Origin facility, since Fettel is likely going there himself, presumably to free his mother Alma; fighting back both the cloned soldiers and ATC alike, he finally comes face to face with the villain. The final showdown takes place in form of a vision, during which the protagonist is revealed to be Origin's first prototype; in spite of the sudden revelation, he is able to shake off the hallucination and kill Fettel. The replicas stop and all seems well, until ATC researcher and Origin's mastermind Harlan Wade makes his appearance. The man was hiding in the structure too, and now he is bent on opening Alma's chamber, something the protagonist is unable to avoid, much to his dismay; shortly after, a figure of a bloody, naked and emaciated woman makes her appearance killing Harlan Wade and summoning evil spirits into reality. The main character finds himself forced to sabotage the structure's power plant in order to destroy the Origin facility; while Alma's visions and apparitions try to hinder the attempt, the sabotage is successful, but the protagonist is unable to flee to safety and he is caught in the ensuing explosion. By some miracle he is still alive however, and he is then rescued by a Delta Force UH-60 Black Hawk. As the vehicle flies over the area, Alma appears over the side of the helicopter, preparing to pull herself up into the cabin: it seems that something is still unfinished in her restless soul... A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters eqipped with M60 machine guns near Najaf, Iraq in May 2005 The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-turbine engine, single rotor, semi-monocoque fuselage, rotary wing helicopter. ...

After the game's credits, a phone call between the senator and Genevieve Aristide is overheard, explaining the project is now under control, and that the first prototype (ostensibly the Point Man) is a success.

Characters and organizations

Main article: List of F.E.A.R. characters & organizations.

Throughout the game the player will come across, and eventually interact with, a number of different characters from various organizations. Some of them are allies or friendlies, like the F.E.A.R. and Delta Force team members, while others will be plainly hostile or try to sabotage the player's progress, like Fettel's soldiers and some ATC personnel. A list of characters & organizations is supplied here with descriptions of both characters and the organizations they belong to from the Monolith Productions computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ...

Arsenal

Main article: List of F.E.A.R. weapons.

The weaponry available in the game is mostly based on real-life equivalents, though the token overpowered weapons of first person shooters, such as rocket launchers, are present as well. F.E.A.R. limits the number of firearms the player can bring along to three, in addition to the three types of different grenades available in the game; this means that the player will be forced to drop one of the weapons in his possession if he wishes to collect a new one. Also, each firearm differs from the others in terms of ammo type, accuracy, range, fire rate, damage and bulkiness; this latter characteristic has an impact on the agility of the player character, since wielding a light weapon, such as a pistol, results in better speed and smoother movements when compared to handling a cumbersome rocket launcher. All taken together, these aspects contribute to add a minor tactical detail to F.E.A.R., in that the player, before discarding or picking up a weapon, is called to consider carefully the effectiveness of a firearm in terms of its performance in the environment or situation he is about to face, availability of ammunition and impact on the Point Man's agility as well. This list of weapons describes the weapons available for use in Monolith Productionss computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... A WWII-era MkIIA1 pineapple fragmentation hand grenade A hand grenade is a small hand-held bomb designed to be thrown by hand. ... This list of weapons describes the weapons available for use in Monolith Productionss computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ... This list of weapons describes the weapons available for use in Monolith Productionss computer game F.E.A.R. - First Encounter Assault Recon. ...

Engine technology

Main article:

F.E.A.R. uses a totally new game engine. Codenamed "Jupiter EX", the F.E.A.R. engine is driven by an all-new DirectX 9 renderer and has seen major advancements from its direct precursor "Jupiter". The new engine includes Havok physics that lets the game portray realistic physics. In addition to Havok's character dynamics, Jupiter EX includes the Havok "Vehicle Kit", which adds support for common vehicle behavior (although F.E.A.R. does not actually feature any vehicles, apart from a couple pre-scripted sequences in which the player has no control). The Havok Game Dynamics SDK, better known as simply Havok, is a middleware physics engine (in this case Dynamical simulation) designed for computer and video games by allowing interaction between objects or other characters in real-time. ...

Graphically, F.E.A.R. utilizes normal mapping and parallax mapping to give textures a more rounded, realistic appearance. Volumetric lighting and lightmapping are included with the addition of a per-pixel lighting model to allow complex lighting effects to be developed. Vertex, pixel, and high-level shaders, including a host of additional special effects are also featured in Jupiter EX. The game makes heavy use of particle effects: in combat, the environment becomes saturated with dust clouds, debris, fire, and airborne blood splatter. Normal Mapping used to re-detail simplified meshes. ... Parallax Mapping (also, Photonic Mapping, Offset Mapping or Virtual Displacement Mapping) is an enhancement of the bump mapping or normal mapping techniques applied to textures in 3D rendering applications such as video games. ... Volumetric lighting is a technique used in 3D computer graphics to add lighting to a rendered scene. ... A Lightmap is a data structure which contains the brightness of surfaces in a game. ... In computer graphics, per-pixel lighting is commonly used to refer to a set of methods for computing illumination at each rendered pixel of an image. ... This article or section may be confusing for some readers, and should be edited to be clearer or more simplified. ...

Director's Cut contents

Alongside the "basic" F.E.A.R. version, a "Director's Cut" edition of the game has been released with a number of extra features. The Director's edition comes on a single DVD disc, rather than the 5 CDs of the basic edition, and contains the following:

• Comic book: a special F.E.A.R. comic book from Dark Horse Entertainment whose contents help clarify a number of plot elements depicted in the game. It should be noted this item was not included in the DVD edition published in some countries (e.g. Italy).

• Prequel movie: a series of live action vignettes filmed as a prequel to the events in the game. The movie centers on an interview with Alma conducted by Dr. Green: the ATC scientist initially tries to develop a rapport with her interviewee, but gives up when Alma is clearly unreceptive to her questions and, in the end, she is slowly driven insane by Alma's psychic powers.

• Making of F.E.A.R.: a documentary with interviews to Monolith and VU employees who talk about the developement of the various elements of F.E.A.R., such as game AI, music accompaniment, quality testing and marketing. Between interviews game footage from F.E.A.R. is shown along with some scenes removed from of the game.

• Developers' commentary: another documentary where F.E.A.R. developers at Monolith describe some "behind the scenes" facts about the game. Among these a planned car chase sequence that was later dropped, the presence of a second bad guy, Conrad Krieg, whose traits and jacket were later integrated into Fettel, and the game's intro music which was supposed to be simply a placeholder piece, but became official when the developers found it really suited the initial scene.

• F.E.A.R. Machinima: the exclusive Episode 0 of the F.E.A.R. machinima P.A.N.I.C.S., created by "Rooster Teeth Productions", authors of the well known Halo machinima "Red vs Blue". This episode presents the members of a Special Operations team about to investigate some mysterious happenings.

Rooster Teeth Productions is a production group from Buda, Texas, near Austin, Texas, that specializes in machinima movies. ... Red vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, sometimes abbreviated as RvB, is a science fiction comedy video series created by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed via the Internet and DVD. The series is produced primarily by using the machinima technique of synchronizing video footage from computer and video games to...

Reaction

Even before hitting the shelves, F.E.A.R. generated a lot of hype ^{[1] [2]} in the computer gamers community, attracting much interest thanks to those details about its background story and artificial intelligence that had been unveiled. Upon its release, F.E.A.R. lived up to this reputation and was very well received by the press, with reviews generally getting high ratings (see Reviews) and praising the game's gameplay, engine technology, A.I. and sound ^[3]. Also, owing to successful critical acclaim, the game was awarded several "Best Game" titles. F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) is a horror themed first-person shooter computer game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Vivendi Universal. ...

As with all things however, the game received a fair share of criticism. Chief among them being the Armacham HQ romp and type of horror used. So much of the game took place within Armacham headquarters that many felt it to be drawn-out, a problem compounded by the fairly-average map layout and repeated usage of the same approximate visuals room after room. Additionally, a good portion of the horror element relied heavily on graphic violence and surprise, traditionally seen as "cheap" ways to create a horror setting, as opposed to the more sophisticated methods such as well-done implementations of psychological horror. Another common source of complaint lies in the game's extremely demanding system requirements, which call for a very high-end system to adequately play the game with its features and details set to maximum ^[3]. Graphic violence is the depiction of violence in media such as film, television, and video games. ... It has been suggested that Psycho (genre) be merged into this article or section. ...

Awards

• E3 2005 Game Critics Awards: "Best Action Game" ^[4].
• 2006 Imagina Game Awards: Best Graphics, Best Technology ^[5].
• GameSpy Game of the Year 2005 Awards: Best Story ^[6].
• Winner of GameSpot's 2005 "Shooter of the Year."

The Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³ have been held annually at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³) since 1998. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Reviews

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... PC Gamer US April 2005 cover PC Gamer is a computer games magazine founded in 1993. ... PC Gamer US April 2005 cover PC Gamer is a computer games magazine founded in 1993. ... Maximum PC, formerly known as boot, is an American magazine published by FutureNet, focused on modern day PC hardware. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Weblogs, Inc. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Sequels

Monolith announced ^[7] that there will be a sequel to F.E.A.R.. This follow-up game will not be titled F.E.A.R. 2, due to Vivendi Universal Games owning the F.E.A.R. name, but will continue the storyline, keep the characters and stay in the game's existing universe. Monolith will be looking for a new publisher for the game, since they were purchased by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment in 2004 after development of F.E.A.R. was under way, after which Vivendi was dropped as a publisher. A sequel is a work of fiction in literature, film, and other creative works that is produced after a completed work, and is set in the same universe but at a later time. ... Warner Bros. ...

Even though Monolith owns the rights to the game's characters, VU Games is not done with the F.E.A.R. name, as the company recently confirmed rumors ^[8] of a Xbox 360 port of the original, which is to be developed by Day 1 Studios. It also announced an expansion titled F.E.A.R. Extraction Point to be released in the fall of 2006. The Xbox 360 (three-sixty), known during development as the Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox Next or Nextbox, is the successor to Microsofts Xbox video game console. ...

References to popular media

F.E.A.R. pays many homages to a number of different movies and computer games throughout the game. Various references to Office Space [6] can be found, such as the ATC logo resembling the film's "Initech" logo, Post-Its with "Chotchkie's" written on them, or "TPS REPORT" sheets on several desks. There is also a cubicle in an office, that is a direct replica of Milton's (a character from Office Space), complete with a red Swingline stapler, radio and many boxes of files. The notable science fiction movie THX 1138 is referred to by the presence of many "8311 XHT" fume hoods throughout the game's levels; also there are copies of a magazine laying around with the title "Event Horizon found" on the cover, a clear reference to the film Event Horizon. A subtle Star Wars quotation can be found in the level "First Encounter", where large crates feature black and white shipping tags with the code "IG-88", the name of a robot assassin hired to track down the Millennium Falcon. Office Space is a 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge, partially based on his 1991 animated short films named after the character Milton. ... A number of Post-it notes still glued together A Post-it note (or just Post-it) is a piece of stationery designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents, computer displays and so forth. ... Office Space is a 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge, partially based on his 1991 animated short films of the same name. ... A TPS report is a document used in software engineering, in particular by a Software Quality Assurance group or individual, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process. ... THX 1138 was George Lucas first full length movie. ... A common modern fume hood. ... This article is on the film Event Horizon. ... The cover of the 2004 DVD widescreen release of the modified original Star Wars Trilogy. ... IG-88 was a fictional character who first appeared in the movie Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back as a bounty hunter hired to track down the Millennium Falcon. ... The Millennium Falcon is a starship in the fictional Star Wars universe, piloted by Han Solo and Chewbacca after Solo apparently won it from Lando Calrissian in a high-stakes game of sabacc. ...

F.E.A.R. also contains references or shares similarities with several other game titles developed by Monolith. The Armacham name and a couple of weapons come straight from Shogo: Mobile Armor Division; it's even possible to listen to the Shogo theme song in one of the offices and the game desktop icon is seen in most of the Armacham laptops. Similar to what is seen in Blood and its sequel Blood II: The Chosen, the player can shoot off heads from his adversaries using the shotgun and kick them around. Another similarity with the Blood series is the presence of humorous signs, such as "Please help to keep this room tidy" in a more than obviously messy room, just like a "Employee's must wash hands" sign in an extremely bloody room was seen in Blood. In F.E.A.R. multiplayer mode, players are given the option to choose a symbol to represent their character: among these the Blood front cover is available. Monolith's No One Lives Forever is paid homage as well, with the presence of "Heater And Refrigerator Maintenance" signs referring to the H.A.R.M. organization from the above mentioned game. The "Fizzy Cola" vending machines seen in F.E.A.R. also appear in No One Lives Forever and in the more recent Condemned: Criminal Origins. F.E.A.R. references Doom directly through it's "kfa" cheat, with its similarity to Doom's "idkfa" cheat; this could also be a small in-joke regarding Doom, like the "mpkfa" cheat found in Shogo and Blood II: The Chosen. There are also minor relations to other, regular, gaming terms such as, "Number of giant rats in pump" or "Coins collected", that can be found on certain machine labels scattered throughout the game. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A pump-action and two semi-automatic action shotguns, 20 boxes of shotgun shells, a clay trap, and three boxes of clay pigeons. ... No One Lives Forever, commonly abbreviated NOLF, is the name of a computer game and video game series by Monolith Productions. ...

Trivia

• It is revealed in the Special Edition DVD that during game development, the lead level designer John Mulkey reported seeing a shadow in the office's restroom mirror. A colleague investigated and would only agree that the restroom was "creepy", with one non-working light and a flickering one. Mulkey insists that he saw it and though no one seems to believe him, they don't go to that restroom much anymore.

• The original E3 video, in which Alma slaughters a team of three in a corridor, was placed at the beginning of the "water purification plant" level of F.E.A.R. final build.

• As very prominent product placement, the laptops in the game bear the Alienware logo and name. Additional non-ingame advertising includes the SoBe No Fear energy drink, the Masters of Horror TV series, the Sound Blaster X-Fi card, the D-Link DGL-4300 router and a F.E.A.R.-specific Alienware rebate ad.

• The game contains a number of "funny" objects scattered through its levels, such as a sign that reads "Remember/It's Quantity/Quality/Safety/In that order" in the Vault facility, as well as a photocopy of somebody's buttocks.

• There is an office where a radio plays a news segment about a totally chromed motorcycle entering the freeway, blinding all the drivers and causing a large accident. The radio voice signs off as "Radio Free Chronus". In the same office there is a white board with a drawing of a cowboy on a horse, with names such as "tex.abc" and "chaps.dtx" with arrows drawn, this is also seen in Shogo. Among other things, there is a sign on the whiteboard that says "Sheepskin Vent".

Product placement(PPL) is a promotional tactic used by marketers in which a real commercial product is used in fictional media, and the presence of the product is a result of an economic exchange. ... An Acer laptop with touchpad A laptop computer or simply laptop (also notebook computer or notebook) is a small mobile personal computer, usually weighing from one to three kilograms, depending on size, materials and other factors. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... SoBe (1996) is a drink brand of teas, elixirs, and energy drinks produced and distributed by PepsiCo. ... A variety of energy drinks are available; the skinny bullet can shape is popular. ... The Sound Blaster family of sound cards was for many years the de facto standard for audio on the IBM PC compatible system platform, before PC audio became commoditized, and backward-compatibility became less of a feature. ... A rebate is a type of sales promotion used by marketers, primarily as incentives or supplements to product sales. ...

References

1. ^ GameSpot preview. gamespot.com.
2. ^ F.E.A.R. PC preview. 1up.com.
3. ^ ^a b GameSpot review. gamespot.com.
4. ^ 2005 Winners. gamecriticsawards.com.
5. ^ IGA Awards. gamesutra.com.
6. ^ GameSpy Awards. GameSpy.
7. ^ F.E.A.R. sequel announcement. gamespot.com.
8. ^ Xbox360 port announcement. gamespot.com.

External links

• Official F.E.A.R. website
• Gofear - F.E.A.R. community website
• Official F.E.A.R. community website
• F.E.A.R. Portal
• F.E.A.R. Wiki at FEARgame.net
• F.E.A.R. mapping website
• F.E.A.R. at IGN
• F.E.A.R. at MobyGames
• F.E.A.R. Tweak Guide
• F.E.A.R. fan fiction contest at The Horror Channel
• Interview with John Carpenter about F.E.A.R. at The Horror Channel
• F.E.A.R. unofficial novelization by Justin Vroone
• F.E.A.R. game review at The Shadow Sun