F.E.A.R. simulates combat from a first-person perspective. The protagonist’s body is fully present, allowing the player to see his or her character’s torso and feet while looking down. Within scripted sequences, when rising from a lying position or fast-roping from a helicopter for example, or climbing ladders, the hands and legs of the protagonist can be seen performing the relevant actions. The game’s environments are largely urban-styled and indoor; this element has received criticism.
The player character uses reflex time while firing on a group of soldiers.
A prominent gameplay element is “reflex time,” which slows down the game world while allowing the player to aim and react at normal speeds. This effect is used to simulate the character’s superhuman reflexes. Reflex time is represented by stylized visual effects, such as bullets in flight that cause air distortion or interact with the game’s particle effects. F.E.A.R. lead designer Craig Hubbard stated that Monolith Productions’ primary goal was “to make combat as intense as the tea house shootout at the beginning of John Woo’s Hard-Boiled.” He continued on to say that “defeat[ing] … enemies … with style” was crucial to this goal and that reflex time plays a large role in “mak[ing] the player feel like an action movie hero.”
The game contains weapons based on non-fictional firearms, such as pistols, assault rifles and submachine guns, as well as entirely fictional armaments like particle beam weapons. Each firearm differs in terms of ammunition type, accuracy, range, fire rate, damage and bulkiness. The latter characteristic affects the player’s character, as more cumbersome weapons slow the player’s maneuvers. Monolith Productions stated that it aimed for “a balanced arsenal where each weapon serves a specific function,” rather than “just going with a bunch of real-world submachine guns and assault rifles.”[9] F.E.A.R.’s heads-up display crosshair’s size dynamically shows where shots will fall based on movement, aim and the weapon in use. The player may carry only three firearms at a time; thus, strategy is required when using and selecting weapons. All weapons possess mêlée attacks, and a hand-to-hand combat system allows unarmed players to attack with maneuvers including punches and kicks.
F.E.A.R.’s artificial intelligence allows computer-controlled characters a large degree 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. Various opponents may act as a team, taking back routes to surprise the player, using suppressive fire or taking cover if under fire. The game’s artificial intelligence is often cited as being highly advanced,[ and its efficiency helped the game win GameSpot’s “2005 Best AI Award.”
