Fear 1 Gameplay

[Gigí Ruais]

Lastyear, the studio revealed Layers of Fears, a "psychological horror chronicle built upon the foundations of the original Layers of Fear, Layers of Fear: Inheritance, and Layers of Fear 2." This new game is essentially an Unreal Engine 5 collection of Bloober Team's Layers of Fear series, unified with new elements that tie the overall story together.

Bloober Team revealed last month that Layers of Fears is now called Layers of Fear and will release sometime this June. Now, you can check out the game in action in the new Layers of Fear gameplay trailer below:

"Layers of Fear (2023) is a tribute to our fans," the studio writes in a press release. "The game has shaped the way in which we strive to make the best horror experiences possible, and we're hopeful that our community will enjoy what we consider to be the series' crowning work."

Bloober Team says that Layers of Fear features "the original Layers of Fear, Layers of Fear 2, as well as all DLCs (including a new chapter entitled 'The Final Note' that provides an alternate perspective on the first game's storyline)," and that the game "will also introduce the never-before-told story of The Writer, a harrowing tale that ties each entry in the series together."

The game's story revolves around the fictional F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) unit, an elite group in the United States Army tasked with investigating supernatural phenomena. When a private military company's secret research program goes wrong and a dangerous and powerful psychic is unleashed, F.E.A.R. are called in, with the player taking on the role of the unit's newest recruit, Point Man. However, it soon becomes apparent there is much more going on than a rogue psychic as Point Man finds himself facing a lethal and unpredictable paranormal menace in the form of a young girl with extraordinary destructive power.

Although the atmosphere of the game was heavily influenced by Japanese horror, Monolith's primary goal with F.E.A.R was to make the player feel like the hero of an action film. To this end, they combined a slow-motion technique called "reflex time", a semi-destructible environment, and a highly detailed particle system in an attempt to create as immersive an environment as possible. Another vital element in this is the game's AI, with Monolith employing a never-before-used technique to give hostile NPCs an unusually broad range of actions in response to what the player is doing. This results in NPCs who can also work as a team, such as performing flanking maneuvers, laying down suppressive fire, and attempting to retreat when under heavy fire.

Upon its initial Windows release, F.E.A.R. was very well received, with the AI garnering especial praise. Critics also lauded the graphics, atmosphere, sound design, music, and combat mechanics. Common points of criticism were a lack of enemy variety, a weak plot, and repetitive level design. The Xbox 360 version was also well received, but the PlayStation 3 version met with mixed reviews, with many critics unimpressed with the port's technical issues and graphical inferiority. It has gained a cult following and is considered one of the greatest video games ever made. It was also a commercial success, selling over three million units worldwide across all three systems.

F.E.A.R. is a first-person shooter in which the player's arsenal includes handguns (which the player can dual wield[12]), an assault rifle, submachine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle, nail gun, repeating cannon, rocket launcher, and particle beam.[13][14][15] Each weapon differs in terms of accuracy, range, rate of fire, damage, and weight.[15] The latter characteristic is important, as the more powerful weapons (rocket launcher, cannon, and particle beam) tend to be more cumbersome and slow the player's movement and reaction speed.[12] Only three different firearms can be carried at any one time.[12][16] The player also has access to three different types of explosive - frag grenades, proximity grenades, and remote bombs. The player can carry five of each type, and can carry all three at once (allowing for up to 15 explosives), but only one type may be equipped at any one time. Additionally, when using the remote bombs, the player must holster their weapon.[12][16]

Compared to other shooters where melee combat is often a last resort, F.E.A.R.'s melee system is a viable combat alternative.[17] The butts of all firearms can be used in close combat; lighter weapons, although less powerful, allow the player to move around more quickly and increase the chances of a successful melee attack.[15][18][19] Movement speed is maximized if a player holsters their weapon, which allows them to engage in hand-to-hand combat.[15][19] As well as the basic melee attack, players can also perform a jumping kick and a sliding tackle, both of which, if landed correctly, instantly kill regular enemies.[20]

A prominent gameplay element in F.E.A.R. is "reflex time"; an ability which slows down the game world while still allowing the player to aim and react at normal speeds.[13][21] This effect is used to simulate the player character's superhuman reflexes, and is represented by stylized visual effects, such as bullets in flight that cause air distortion or interact with the game's particle system.[18][21] The duration which reflex time lasts is limited, determined by a meter which slowly fills up automatically when the ability is not being used.[13] The player can permanently increase the size of the reflex meter by picking up reflex boosters. Other pickups available during the game include medkits (of which the player can store ten), protective armor (reduces the amount of damage the player takes during combat), and health boosters (permanently increase the player's health meter).[13][15][22]

Reflex time is an important element of the game's combat mechanics insofar as F.E.A.R.'s artificial intelligence allows hostile NPCs an unusually large range of action; enemies can duck to travel under crawlspaces, jump through windows, vault over railings, climb ladders, and push over large objects to create cover, all in reaction to what the player is doing at any given moment.[18][23][24] Various opponents may also act as a team, taking back routes to flank the player, using suppressive fire, taking cover and often falling back if under fire, alerting one another as to the player's location, and giving one another orders (which may, or may not, be followed).[22][24][25][26]

The game's multiplayer can support up to 16 players, and initially featured deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination, team elimination, and capture the flag.[27] "Control" and "Conquer All" games were added later as free downloadable content.[28] Also added at a later date were game types specifically designed to allow players to use reflex time; SlowMo deathmatch, team SlowMo deathmatch, and SlowMo capture the flag.[16][27] These game types feature a reflex time power-up, which only one player can carry at a time, and when it is fully charged (it charges when it is being carried) that player can activate it and give themselves (and the rest of their team, if applicable) a considerable speed advantage over opposing players. However, whoever is carrying the power-up will have a bluish glow and will be permanently visible on all players' mini-maps.[16][20][27] The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game feature the same modes as the PC version (with both "Control" and "Conquer All" added after release).[29][30] Multiple new maps were made available for the Xbox 360 version throughout 2007, with the release of three major map packs; Nightmare, Synchronicity, and Bonus.[31][32][33]

In August 2006, F.E.A.R.'s multiplayer component was re-released on PC as a free download under the name F.E.A.R. Combat.[34] Incorporating the latest multiplayer patches, all ten gameplay modes, and all nineteen maps, F.E.A.R. Combat was compatible with the original PC retail edition's multiplayer, meaning those with only the download could play with those who own the full game.[35][36]

In 2002, the elite United States Army unit F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) was founded to "combat paranormal threats to national security". The game is set in 2025 in the fictional city of Fairport, and begins as the unit is joined by a newly assigned rookie (referred to only as Point Man). At a facility owned by Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC), a psychic operative named Paxton Fettel has gone rogue. Officially an aerospace manufacturer and medical research company, in reality, ATC are a hugely powerful private military company dabbling in cryogenics, nuclear technology, cloning, and telepathy.[37] They were attempting to develop a unit of telepathically controlled clone soldiers (known as Replicas), and Fettel was their commander.[38] However, he has now used the Replicas to seize control of the facility.[c] The mission of the three-person F.E.A.R. team (Point Man, 1LT. Spencer Jankowski, and CTO Jin Sun-Kwon) is to eliminate Fettel, which will automatically shut down the Replicas.

Point Man learns that Fettel's brain waves during his revolt were identical to those during the "first synchronicity event", which happened when he was ten and resulted in the termination of "Project Origin". This time, however, Fettel is infinitely more dangerous.[39][40] Meanwhile, Point Man finds that the Delta recon team have been massacred.[d] He then encounters an ATC survivor, Aldus Bishop, who tells F.E.A.R. that the Replicas were looking for Harlan Wade, a senior ATC researcher. A Delta Force team led by Sgt. Douglas Holiday is sent in to extract Bishop. They get him to a helicopter, but as he is boarding, he is shot by ATC security.[e] Point Man subsequently learns that Fettel was the "second prototype" resulting from Project Origin.[41][42] Shortly thereafter, Fettel tells Point Man "a war is coming. I've seen it in my dreams. Fires sweeping over the earth. Bodies in the streets. Cities turned to dust. Retaliation."

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