F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon

The Basics:
Platform: PC
Developer: Sierra
Price: $49.99
ESRB rating: M (Mature)

Summary: Terrifying and bloody first person shooter. Adults only.

Note: Parents can expect to see many gruesome images in this game-from a man feasting on a corpse to guards being disintegrated into skeletal remains and pools of blood. Extreme vulgarity abounds, with enemies screaming the "f" word when hit. Disturbing cut scenes are scattered throughout the game-some involve a young child. Overall the purpose of the game is to terrify and scare and it would undoubtedly cause nightmares in many younger players.

Families who do decide to play this game may want to discuss the horror genre of films and games. Why is it fun to be scared while watching a movies or playing a game? Does a lot of blood and gore make the game/movie scarier or not? Is it different in a game vs. a movie, since you can control part of the action?

Further Breakdown:
Overall rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Best for ages: 17+
Playability: Very good. The difficulty can be changed from very easy to extremely difficult.
Graphics: Excellent: amazing details, lighting affects and shadows.
Entertainment value: Very Good. The AI in the game is very challenging and intelligent.
Educational value: None
Reading Level: 65+.
KidScore Rating

Ages 3-7: Red
Ages 8-12: Red
Ages 13-17: Red
Violence Amount: Red
Fear: Red
Illegal/harmful: Green
Language: Red
Nudity: Green
Sex: Green

Review:
Borrowing themes from many different horror films, including The Ring and Hannibal, F.E.A.R. mixes first-person-shooter (FPS) action with terrifying and disturbing imagery. From the opening sequences, and throughout, the game does its best to scare the player, using every trick of the horror genre trade.

The protagonist takes the role of a newbie F.E.A.R. grunt, sent in to investigate the mysterious take over of a high-tech aerospace compound. Voicemail messages and wounded personnel left in the facility begin to make it clear that a government-sponsored military program has gone horribly wrong. Cloned soldiers under the control of the cannibal Paxton Fettel have locked down the entire plant and are doing their best to kill the player and anyone else who enters. Meanwhile, the protagonist keeps experiencing sudden and random visions: visions of horrible medical experiments, tortured and bloodied victims, flooded rooms, fires and a mysterious little girl in a red dress. Each scene seems to get more horrific than the one before.

The atmosphere and mood is everything in this game-far more important than the actual plot. And as the player battles their way through the levels, they will discover a very dark and bloody mood indeed. Corpses are left rotting in the hallways, appendages fly from enemy soldiers as they are shot and pools of blood are found everywhere. The cut scenes are often very disturbing. In fact, the opening cut scene shows Paxton feasting on a dead body, complete with sound effects of the flesh being torn from the bone. Other clips (many of them flashed suddenly and unexpectedly) show people burning to death, or undergoing some sort of terrible medical experiment. Although the game has an option to turn off some of the blood effects, it's clear that this is a crux of the game-use as much carnage as needed to add to the scare factor.

The game's outstanding sound effects and background music also add to the disconcerting atmosphere of the game. The music changes, depending on what is happening-building during action scenes, and becoming eerie when the player is exploring. The effects are also designed to be unsettling. Bodies make squishing noises as they fall from walkways and enemy soldiers scream obscenities, including the "f" word, during combat.

The plot isn't anything all that new, nor are the weapons, but the artificial intelligence (AI) in this game adds a whole new element to FPS gaming. The computer-controlled players are ruthless and smart and they work together to flush you out and hunt you down. Even on easy, players shouldn't expect to rush through the levels, guns blazing, and hope to make it out alive. The game requires strategy and conservation of ammo, health packs and grenades.

Overall, while it is clear the game does what it is supposed to do-scare the daylights out of anyone-it clearly deserves its mature rating, and is not a good game for anyone under 17. Teens interested in FPS action should check out games such as Battlefield 2 or the Medal of Honor series of games, as an alternative.