F.E.A.R. has a visceral combat system with intelligent enemy A.I and realistic ballistics for weapons. Bullets will bounce around creating smoke and shrapnel. Grenades will create a shockwave, breaking apart and projecting everything in the vicinity outward. The enemy soldiers you face, have one goal, eliminate threat. That means fighting for their survival in any way they can. They work together, flank, take cover, use grenades, retreat, and move in a squad formation.

• The character that the player controls named Point Man has increased reflexes, which are far greater than any human. In game, the player controls these hightened reflexes by activating slo-mo. Slowing down time allows for a lot of fun potential gameplay scenerios, such as being able to throw a grenade and shoot it in midair causing it to explode. Having this ability at your disposal, also allows the enemies to move much faster and unpredictable than in most games.

A thick atmosphere envelopes the game world of F.E.A.R. Dark, grimy alleyways, abandoned offices with broken glass and flickering lights, dimly lit sewers with winding passageways and old machinery. You never know what might be lurking around the corner. Sometimes the game will suprise you with a little visit from Alma. Her presence is a constant reminder that she is following you and her and the player character are connected in a way.

• While this game is horror themed and does a great job at immersing the player and enveloping them in a thick atmosphere, F.E.A.R. is not very scary. It does, however, try to keep the player on edge with paranormal activity from Alma and Fettel, hallucinations, and scary noises. The low lighting and harsh shadows obscure parts of the environemnt creating heavy contrast between the light and dark areas, which is used to build atmosphere and tension. All of this makes the game creepy and unsettling, but never did I actually get scared while playing. Of course, thats just me.

While being a linear shooter, F.E.A.R. manages to squeeze in a lot of lore and worldbuilding throughout the game. Along the way as you traverse through the various sewers, offices, streets, underground facilities, etc, you will come across little bits of world building. These can come in form of voicemails, laptops, radios, hallucinations, or sometimes from other characters that you meet.

• As you progress through F.E.A.R., the mystery of the story is slowly unraveled. More of Project Origin is revealed and the point man's herritage revealed as well. You also learn more about the mega corporation Armacham and how they are connected to everything. The plot may seem a little rediculous to some, but I found it interesting.
• The voicemails that you can listen to sometimes add crutial details to the story. They can hint at Fettel's link with Alma, the water treatment plant being affected in the Auburn district which is where the Origin Facility is located, details on Harlan and Alice Wade's involvement with Armacham, and more. These messages make the world feel alive and help give the player a clearer picture on what is going on.

An iconic room in the sewers. The lighting casts harsh shadows in the two small tunnels at the end, which naturally peaks the curiosity of the player to investigate inside. It also opens the perfect opportunity to suprise the player with a quick visit from Alma when they turn around.		The rooftops of the Armacham building are beautiful. You can get a great view of the city from up here, as well as a view of the excellent skybox, which is something you don't see often in this game. The rooftops are also quite peaceful to explore once all of the enemies are dead. The outdoor areas in general are few and far between in F.E.A.R., but they are some of my favorite areas to get immersed in.
This small auditorium is really a minor location of the game. You pass through here early on during interval 4 and don't have any reason to stick around. I always found something about this room oddly captivating. The busted projector that is looping a short film of a satellite orbiting earth, is rather earie and mysterious. The room is also completely dark, with the only lightsource being the projector. This all helps add to the atmpshere and worldbuilding of F.E.A.R.		The cramped and dimly lit office cubicles really set a vibe in F.E.A.R. Wandering through the offices, peaking in every room and cubicle, seeing all of the trash and papers people left behind. It really is hard to explain why I find this satisfying. I guess there is something about the way the levels are designed in F.E.A.R. Places feel used and lived in. The levels, while feeling like real places, are still well designed for combat and linear navigation.
The top floor of the Armacham building is still under construction. The drywall is still visible, rooms aren't fully built, construction equipment and scafolding is left out around the environment. It's hard to explain, but I find this loacation satisfying to walk through. The texture change and more open enivronment also help break up the monotony of the offices.		Near the end of the game, you return to the location of the Origin Facility. After fighting your way through ruined apartments and grimy streets, you make your way inside a large abandoned industrial building. You hear the old weathered wood floors creak as you walk inside. The echo from your footsteps startles a crow which you hear cry and fly out the open window in the ceiling. This place is mostly empty and there isn't that much to it, but it feels special to me. The atmosphere is perfected, and it serves as a transitional location between the common streets and the high tech underground facility, which you reach via an old industrial elevator.