History VideoGame / FirstEncounterassaultRecon

* SequelDifficultyDrop[=/=]SequelDifficultySpike: ''F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin'' is noticeably easier than the first game; health and armor pickups restore 100% instead of just a partial amount, enemies can survive less damage, and the developers have admitted that the A.I. was dumbed down to compensate for the slower aiming of a console controller compared to mouse aiming. Conversely, ''F.E.A.R. 3'' brings the difficulty level back up, with dramatically improved A.I. that's noticeably faster, smarter, and more mobile than in ''Project Origin''. Also, while you have regenerating health, you no longer have armor, and can survive less damage in one go.

* UpdatedRerelease: The first game is rather odd in this in that it technically has ''four'' of these: the Director's Edition, the Gold Edition, and then the Platinum and Ultimate Shooter editions. Each differs primarily by incremental updates - each has what was at the time the latest patch for the main game alongside a "making of" documentary, a "director's commentary" video where five of the lead designers commentate over a playthrough of the game's demo, a short live-action prequel film centered around Alma, and a bonus episode of the [[Creator/RoosterTeeth P.A.N.I.C.S. machinima series]]. Beyond that, the only differences are in one or two extras: the Director's Edition includes a comic adaptation of the intro cinematic by Creator/DarkHorseComics, the Gold Edition packs in the ''Extraction Point'' expansion, and the Platinum and Ultimate Shooter editions both add on ''Perseus Mandate'', differing only in distribution method (Platinum is a physical release like the others while Ultimate Shooter was for digitial distribution via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}).

* VersionExclusiveContent: The Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] versions of the original game each had their bonus mission starring a character who doesn't have Point Man's slo-mo powers and an exclusive weapon. On the 360, this consisted of a bonus mission starring Douglas Holiday and the [=SM15=] Machine Pistol, which replaced half of the available RPL SMG stocks to be usable across the game and its expansions, while the [=PS3=] had a mission starring two Delta Force operators and the Watson Automatic Shotgun, which is only found in the bonus mission and a single enemy near the end of the campaign.

F.E.A.R. is a FirstPersonShooter set up as a horror movie. The player must survive long enough to unravel the secrets of Project Perseus and its parent, Project Origin, while battling the Replica forces, ATC security teams and experiencing increasingly disturbing visions. It is not a SurvivalHorror game, however, but a near-future sci-fi action game with strong horror elements. The main element of the gameplay is the slow-motion reflexes feature. At will, the player can slow down time for about six or so seconds before time returns to normal. In it, you can aim and fire much faster than your enemies can, but your low health means that frontal assaults with this tactic is discouraged. Instead, the game incentivizes HitAndRunTactics, which are facilitated by the Replica's deceptively intelligent and persistent A.I, and their abilities to adapt and coordinate with one another on the fly. Couple this with the fact that most of the game's shootouts take place in cramped, enclosed environments, and you get one deadly game of Cat and Mouse.

The sequel, titled ''F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin'', was released in Spring 2009. In this game, the player controls a Delta Force operative named Michael Becket, who is sent to capture Genevive Aristide, CEO of Armacham Technology. [[FromBadToWorse Things get worse.]] Becket undergoes a brutal surgery and experimentation that leaves him a target for Alma, who hunts him down while he himself tries to evade ATC troops and Replica soldiers in order to destroy Alma for good.

The DownloadableContent ''F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn'' was released in Fall 2009. In this DLC, the player controls a Replica called Foxtrot 813, who goes rogue after an encounter with the ghost of Paxton Fettel, slaughtering his entire squadron while hallucinating that they are dangerous creatures trying to kill him.

A Korean-developed free-to-play game, ''F.E.A.R. Online'', was released by Aeria Games in October 2014. The game uses the ''F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin'' engine and has a ''VideoGame/CombatArms''-style free-to-play model with a crafting system and a number of weapons, items, and characters that can be purchased with in-game gold or real money. The game features both PVP (team deathmatch and various other modes), and a 4-player co-op mode taking place immediately after the ending of ''F.E.A.R. 2'' and featuring a team of Delta Force operatives fighting their way through Fairport in the wake of Dark Signal's failed attempt to stop Alma. It was shut down in May 2015 due to poor reviews and a lack of support.

** Monolith considers the two expansions, which were made by other developers, non-canon. Some gameplay and story elements have been utilized in the proper canon, however, such as the laser weapon and the ability to [[DynamicEntry punch open doors]] with melee or explosives. Most are noticeably different, however; the cargo plane that crashes in teh city comes down noticeably earlier in ''2'' than in the expansions, Auburn Memorial goes from a regular hospital used as the eponymous extraction point to a front for the underground Harbinger Facility, the Replica reactivate due to Alma taking control of them rather than because of Fettel's ghost, Fettel coming back by possessing a Replica soldier rather than just coming back as a ghost, etc.

* ArtificialBrilliance: The ''F.E.A.R.'' [[VideoGameAI A.I.]] is actually a good example of emergent behavior, which is programmer-speak for "we didn't program it specifically to do that, but for some random reason it does it anyway, and it's really, really cool that it does!". In other words, a relatively simple set of rules intended for a limited set of functions actually provides for more complex behavior than intended. Specifically, the A.I. is programmed for a limited number of simple behaviors: moving in coordinated squads, providing covering fire, seeking cover, and repositioning itself based on the player's movement and position. The A.I. isn't actually programmed to flank or circle behind the player, but its tendency to seek cover and reposition itself based on the player's movements results in flanking and circling behaviors occurring naturally without "conscious" effort on the A.I.'s part (mostly due to the A.I.'s high mobility combined with its preference for seeking lateral cover rather than charging the player directly). In fact, the A.I. of the Replica Soldiers was toted as perhaps the best enemy A.I. seen in a FPS game to date, and it still holds up more than a decade later. Its only [[ArtificialStupidity failings]] are that the AI is not designed to fight one another (which only happens twice overall in the entire series for this reason, once in the original game between Replica and ATC, and once in ''Perseus Mandate'' where friendly Delta Force soldiers assist you in fighting Replica); that they are completely blind to mines or remote bombs set by the player, even if you plant them in full view of the entire squad, in spite of their ability to recognize and actively avoid regular grenades; and that they don't quite know how to deal with transparent but bulletproof surfaces, often causing them to simply stare you down through them if there isn't an immediately-obvious way to navigate around it from their position.

** At the end of ''Perseus Mandate'', it's revealed the Nightcrawlers succeeded in bringing the Senator the DNA of Paxton Fettel, with the casualties inflicted upon them by you being deemed "acceptable".

* SuperSoldier: The Replica soldiers, as well as the Point Man, and the entire Project Harbinger team. The Point Man takes this up a notch in ''3'': at the highest level, he has ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s level of RegeneratingHealth, can kill with a single kick, enter BulletTime for 13 seconds at a time and take shotgun blasts without flinching.

** GiantMook: Replia Heavy Armor soldiers are more than 6 and 1/2 feet tall, wear a heavy suit of armor plates and can absorb more than a full drum mag of assault rifle fire before dying. In the expansion packs, ones with even heavier armor show up, and they're armed with miniguns.

* ShoutOut: The subway levels in Project Origin look ''exactly'' like the subway levels from ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins''. Given that Monolith made both games, it's highly likely they used the same level resources.

** Some of the insignias in F.E.A.R.'s multiplayer are shout outs to other games by Monolith, among them one that has [[VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever Cate Archer's face]], and another that has [[VideoGame/{{Blood}} a bloody handprint]].

** The Replica's use of Hind-D helicopters and the plot point of Fettel [[spoiler:being the Point Man's brother]] are likely both homages to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.

* StealthPrequel: To ''Shogo'', possibly.

** At the end of ''Perseus Mandate'', it's revealed the Nightcrawlers suceeded in bringing the Senator the DNA of Paxton Fettel.

** Since ''Extraction Point'' is non-canon, Sergeant Douglas Holiday is also a victim of this trope, as was Jin until she reappeared in the third game.
** Norton Mapes. It's never confirmed, but most likely he is dead, between the [[spoiler:Origin explosion]] and the fact that, even if he survived that, he'd have Armacham's Black Ops hunting him. It should be noted that the non-canon ''Extraction Point'' shows him to be still alive... though it also has an EasterEgg that lets you kill him.

** At the beginning of the first level of Project Origin, Beckett's teammate Redd Jankowski calls you out if you start acting bizarrely, i.e. swimming in the fountain or blowing up cars. If you go straight to the objective, he'll still bust your balls, but it's more of a friendly jab.
** In the first game, during the part where you use the elevator along with Alice Wade, leaving the elevator to fight the Replicas will result in getting comments from Alice like "You're going to get us killed!". And, after you've killed all the attacking Replicas, she says "You don't have to kill everyone!". Justified, as she's scared of getting killed and isn't used to the whole "getting escorted by one guy who has to kill several soldiers to make sure you don't get killed" thing, as she states after the second or third time the elevator stops and you kill a dozen people. Other AI partners also have some comments if you do odd things, such as standing near the explosive Holiday sets on a wall to get around a locked gate, which will cause him to mention that it might be a good idea to move away from it ''before'' he sets it off.

** In ''F.E.A.R. 2'', scoring a headshot with a sniper rifle blows an enemy's head clean off. In ''F.3.A.R. '', this can be done with any sufficiently powerful weapon.

%%* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even Genevieve Aristide finds the fact that [[spoiler: Harlan Wade supplied some of the DNA used to impregnate Alma]] to be absolutely sickening. (When does this happen?)
* EveryBulletIsATracer: At least in the case of the first ''F.E.A.R.'' game.

* EvilTowerOfOminousness: In F.E.A.R. 3, a huge tower in the center of the city seems to be the focal point of the game, with Alma's portal apparently being right above it, and the cutscenes showing you progressing closer and closer to the tower with it being presumably your final destination. [[spoiler: however, in one of the last levels the tower turns out to have absolutely no bearing on the plot, having been something of a red herring, and collapses without you even setting foot inside. The game continues on for 2 more levels.]]

* FourIsDeath: A (possibly) unintentional example in ''Perseus Mandate''. Interval 4, Devastation, takes place right after the city is razed by the Origin explosion; there is only one fight with "human" enemies in the whole interval (the rest is against Alma's supernatural apparitions); and [[spoiler:Lieutenant Chen dies]].

* ArtificialBrilliance: The ''F.E.A.R.'' [[VideoGameAI A.I.]] is actually a good example of emergent behavior, which is programmer-speak for "we didn't program it specifically to do that, but for some random reason it does it anyway, and it's really, really cool that it does!". In other words, a relatively simple set of rules intended for a limited set of functions actually provides for more complex behavior than intended. Specifically, the A.I. is programmed for a limited number of simple behaviors: moving in coordinated squads, providing covering fire, seeking cover, and repositioning itself based on the player's movement and position. The A.I. isn't actually programmed to flank or circle behind the player, but its tendency to seek cover and reposition itself based on the player's movements results in flanking and circling behaviors occurring naturally without "conscious" effort on the A.I.'s part (mostly due to the A.I.'s high mobility combined with its preference for seeking lateral cover rather than charging the player directly). In fact, the A.I. of the Replica Soldiers was toted as perhaps the best enemy A.I. seen in a FPS game to date, and it still holds up more than a decade later. Its only [[ArtificialStupidity failings]] are that the AI is not designed to fight one another (which only happens twice overall in the entire series, once in the original game between Replica and ATC, once in ''Perseus Mandate'' between friendly Delta Force and Replica, for this exact reason); that they are completely blind to mines or remote bombs set by the player, even if you plant them in full view of the entire squad, in spite of their ability to recognize and actively avoid regular grenades; and that they don't quite know how to deal with transparent but bulletproof surfaces, often causing them to simply stare you down through them if there isn't an immediately-obvious way to navigate around it from their position.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Project Origin allows Aristide to try to get her job back, and Alma is pregnant with who is essentially the Anti-Christ.]]

* BareYourMidriff: Lt. Stokes' uniform. To be fair, her actual body armor provides about as much coverage as those worn by the male members of Dark Signal. It's just her underlying shirt that's a few inches too short. [[spoiler:Genevieve bypasses the armor entirely by shooting her in the stomach at the end of the game.]]

* BoringButPractical: While you can carry 3 weapons, you're making it a harder for yourself if 2 of those weapon aren't the shotgun and assault rifle in the first game. These weapons don't do anything special, but they do the job, cover short and medium ranged battles and you can find plenty of ammo. Expect to be juggling weapons as you encounter ammo for them with the cooler guns.
** Depending on how accurate a shooter you are, you may wish to switch the assault rifle out with the Penetrator. The Penetrator has better armor-piercing ability at the expense of less readily-available ammunition and much slower fire rate.

** Any PowerArmor unit in either game.

* BulletTime: The Point Man and Becket have SuperReflexes, which is depicted in-game by allowing them to temporarily enter bullet time. In ''F.E.A.R. 3'', any time Point Man uses this ability, time also slows for Paxton Fettel- allowing him to use a special [[ShockwaveStomp psychic shockwave]] attack. [[ChallengeRun Completing the first game's campaign without using it]] nets you [[VideoGameAchievements an achievement]], "Real Time".

%%* TheDragon: Paxton Fettel.

* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The endings of both games. [[spoiler: F.E.A.R. ends with Fairport devastated by a nuclear explosion and Alma stowing away on the Point Man's evac chopper. Project Origin ends with Alma pregnant with Becket's child with the implication that the child is a strong psychic already, and she isn't even born yet.]]

--> ''"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."''

%%* EvenEvilHasStandards: Even Genevieve Aristide finds the fact that [[spoiler: Harlan Wade supplied some of the DNA used to impregnate Alma]] to be absolutely sickening.

* ArtificialBrilliance: The ''F.E.A.R.'' [[VideoGameAI A.I.]] is actually a good example of emergent behavior, which is programmer-speak for "we didn't program it specifically to do that, but for some random reason it does it anyway, and it's really, really cool that it does!". In other words, a relatively simple set of rules intended for a limited set of functions actually provides for more complex behavior than intended. Specifically, the A.I. is programmed for a limited number of simple behaviors: moving in coordinated squads, providing covering fire, seeking cover, and repositioning itself based on the player's movement and position. The A.I. isn't actually programmed to flank or circle behind the player, but its tendency to seek cover and reposition itself based on the player's movements results in flanking and circling behaviors occurring naturally without "conscious" effort on the A.I.'s part (mostly due to the A.I.'s high mobility combined with its preference for seeking lateral cover rather than charging the player directly). In fact, the A.I. of the Replica Soldiers was toted as perhaps the best enemy A.I. seen in a FPS game to date, and it holds up almost a full decade later. Its only [[ArtificialStupidity failings]] are that the AI is not designed to fight one another (which only happens twice overall in the entire series, once in the original game between Replica and ATC, once in ''Perseus Mandate'' between friendly Delta Force and Replica, for this exact reason); that they are completely blind to mines or remote bombs set by the player, even if you plant them in full view of the entire squad, in spite of their ability to recognize and actively avoid regular grenades; and that they don't quite know how to deal with transparent but bulletproof surfaces, often causing them to simply stare you down through them if there isn't an immediately-obvious way to navigate around it from their position.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Project Origin allows Aristide to try to get her job back, and Alma pregnant with who is essentially the Anti-Christ.]]

** One of the weapons used by the cultists - and Paxton, when he possesses them - in ''F.E.A.R. 3'' is the crowbar. The achievement for killing 20 enemies with a crowbar is called [[VideoGame/HalfLife "Head Crab Removal"]].

** The Replica's use of a Hind-D and the plot of Fettel[[spoiler: being the Pointman's brother]]. Are likely both homages to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.

* StalkerWithACrush: [[spoiler:Alma, toward Becket. But the reason doesn't become apparent until later in the game.]]

* UpdatedRerelease: The first game is rather odd in this in that it technically has ''four'' of these, each only differing by incremental updates or by distribution method. Each version includes the latest patch for the main game at the time of their release, a "making of" documentary, a "director's commentary" video where five of the lead designers commentate over a playthrough of the game's demo, a short live-action prequel film centered around Alma, and a bonus episode of the [[Creator/RoosterTeeth P.A.N.I.C.S. machinima series]]. The only other differences are that the Director's Edition includes a comic adaptation of the intro cinematic by Creator/DarkHorseComics, while the Gold Edition packs in the ''Extraction Point'' expansion and the Platinum and Ultimate Shooter editions add on to that with ''Perseus Mandate'' (these last two differing only in that Platinum is the physical release while Ultumate Shooter is the digital one).

* VersionExclusiveContent: The Xbox 360 and [=PS3=] versions of the original game each had their bonus mission starring a character who doesn't have Point Man's slo-mo powers and an exclusive weapon. On the 360, this consisted of a bonus mission starring Douglas Holliday and the [=SM15=] Machine Pistol, which replaced half of the available RPL SMG stock to be usable across the game and its expansions, while the [=PS3=] had a mission starring two Delta Force operators and the Watson Automatic Shotgun, which is only found in the bonus mission and a single enemy near the end of the campaign.
* VideogameFlamethrowersSuck: The Napalm Cannon in ''Project Origin'' has wonky hit detection, a relatively low rate of fire, and does fairly mediocre damage (although most human enemies are guaranteed to burn to death from one shot, it takes ''forever''). The ammo's also extremely rare, starting with twenty shots in the first one you find and ''maybe'' two others much later in the game. Notably, ''FEAR 2: Reborn'', which otherwise goes out of its way to give every weapon that the main game didn't make good use of a chance to shine, never once features the Napalm Cannon.

** In the first game, during the part where you use the elevator along with Alice Wade, leaving the elevator to fight the Replicas will result in getting comments from Alice like "You're going to get us killed!". And, after you've killed all the attacking Replicas, she says "You don't have to kill everyone!". Justified, as she's scared of getting killed and isn't used to the whole "getting escorted by one guy who has to kill several soldiers to make sure you don't get killed" thing, as she states after the second or third time the elevator stops and you kill a dozen people.

* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:In ''Project Origin'', Alma, towards Beckett. Most of the "[[SmashingSurvival interactions]]" you have with her are to stave off her sexual advances, rather than her trying to kill you. Not that it makes much difference.]]

** In TheStinger of the third game for the Point Man ending, this is taken to hilarious extremes, as soldiers pour into the room with tranquilizer guns and repeatedly have their heads blown up by Fettel.

* NoOSHACompliance: A lot of the environments seem to be designed to facilitate gameplay more than for their ostensible purpose. At one point in the first game, Point Man has to climb up a ladder in an elevator shaft, which leads to a closet, which leads to an office area. The doors are all unlocked, meaning that anyone can just mosey into the closet, misstep, and then fall to their death.

** The games make many, many references to ''VideoGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'', Monolith's first fully-3D first person shooter. In the first game in particular, Armacham Technology Corporation is named after one of the three companies that merged to create the UCA in ''Shogo'', the VK-12 shotgun is attributed to the same manufacturer as ''Shogo''[='=]s shotgun (and is incidentally based on the same real-world weapon), and two other weapons are also based on ones from ''Shogo'', the MOD-3 rocket launcher working similarly to the Bullgut (also being attributed to Andra, the manufacturer of the "Predator" in ''Shogo'') and the MP-50 repeating cannon based on the Juggernaut. A secret room in one of the final levels has a texture from ''Shogo'' (a whiteboard with a silly drawing on it next to a note saying "no drawings!") and a radio that plays a radio report from ''Shogo'' (one about a pile-up caused by an overly-bright and chromed vehicle blinding other motorists), then the ''Shogo'' theme song. Several more weapons in ''Project: Origin'' are also apparently manufactured by companies from ''Shogo'' (Andra particularly again), and Snake Fist wears a ''Shogo 2'' T-shirt. Also, newspapers found throughout the game make reference to the formation of the UCA, the One World Government from ''Shogo''.

** While Monolith explicitly rejected the plotline of the first game's two outsourced expansion packs as non-canonical, ''Project Origin'' has several scenes and gameplay additions that echo similar ones introduced in the expansion packs, indicating there's not complete bad blood between the teams. Examples include the laser weapon, being able to open doors [[DynamicEntry with melee or explosions]], the hospital and subway levels, and the crashing airplane.

** GiantMook: Replia Heavy Armor soldiers are more than 6 and 1/2 feet tall, wear a heavy suit of armor plates, can absorb more than a full drum mag of assault rifle fire before dying, and in the expansion packs some are armed with miniguns.

* UndergroundMonkey: The Shades in the Vivendi expansions are the supernatural equivalents to the Replica Assassins, down to the acrobatic moveset and vaguely similar VisibleInvisibility. They start appearing after the Origin facility goes up in radioactive smoke. Assassins are still encountered, and in bigger packs, but the Shades come up more frequently.

** Lieutenant Keira Stokes. [[spoiler:Like Mapes and Jankowski, she is probably dead.]]
** Genevieve Aristide after the second game is not so much as mentioned. In that same vein, the mysterious Senator that she was working with, David Hoyle, also was forgotten, except for ''maybe'' an anonymous email sent to her you can read in the first game. In this case this is most likely because he's deliberately [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere getting as far away as possible]] so nobody will come after him for anything related to what happened in Fairport. In the non-canon Vivendi timeline, he's the one responsible for recruiting the Nightcrawlers and the one they deliver Fettel's DNA sample to.

** In the first game, during the part where you use the elevator along with Alice Wade, leaving the elevator to fight the Replicas will result on getting comments from Alice like "You're going to get us killed!". And, after you've killed all the attacking Replicas, she says "You don't have to kill everyone!". Justified, as she's scared of getting killed and isn't used to the whole "getting escorted by one guy who has to kill several soldiers to make sure you don't get killed" thing, as she states after the second or third time the elevator stops and you kill a dozen people.

* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: [[spoiler:Harlan Wade]] has extremely little affection or caring for Alma or her children, and despises them for what they have become.

Two mostly [[CanonDiscontinuity non-canon]] expansions, ''Extraction Point'' and ''Perseus Mandate'', were released just about one and two years after the original game. The former chronicles the Point Man's efforts to escape the city following the events of the main game, while the latter concerns [[GaidenGame a second F.E.A.R. team's attempts to secure sensitive information about Project Perseus near the end of the original game.]] Both expansions were originally exclusive to PC, but were later ported to Xbox 360 as a {{compilation|rerelease}} titled ''F.E.A.R. Files''.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Replica Soldiers can shred the player's health in a few seconds, especially on higher difficulties. To prevent the player from walking around corners and being killed instantly, forcing extremely careful gameplay or SaveScumming, Replica encounters are usually preceded by loud radio chatter, letting you prepare for the fight, and will rarely happen in narrow corridors or hallways. They are also usually unaware of the player's presence, allowing you to move into a better position before engaging.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In the first game, different weapons have different armor penetration values, with the battle rifle, HV Penetrator, and railgun standing out. In the second game, only the penetrator and sniper rifle have partial armor penetration, while the laser rifle completely bypasses armor. In the third game, the laser has partial armor penetration, while Fettel's psychic projectiles have full armor penetration. In fact his psychic blasts are the most powerful attacks in the game against Mechs, and in fact in a Mech fight he's actually much more effective on his own rather than possessing a body.

* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler: Any time Becket has to fight Alma hand-to-hand in ''F.E.A.R. 2''. The ending, unfortunately, makes it successful rape.]]

* BackStab: In both games, shooting an unaware enemy typically results in an instant kill; in the third game, this is literal, through the Point Man's knife or Fettel's psychic attacks. This doesn't work on the {{Giant Mook}}s, though.

*** Hell, the Replica will swear at the drop of a hat. Even to each other. "Do you see anything?" "Shut your fucking mouth!"

* CompilationRerelease: The expansion packs for the first game, ''Extraction Point'' and ''Perseus Mandate'', were originally exclusive to PC, but were later ported to Xbox 360 as a stand-alone entry titled ''F.E.A.R. Files''.

* DestructibleProjectiles: It's also hinted, in fact, that stuff like grenades, mines, bombs and even mid-flight rockets can be destroyed. In other words, you trying to explode an incoming enemy rocket early at its owner's face for a kill is an encouraged mechanism. A more effective use of grenades, as well, is to throw one, enter slow-mo with an accurate weapon like the Penetrator, and shoot it when it's close to who you threw it at.

** The first game have Replica Elites, who are tough enough to (barely) survive a OneHitKill shot from the plasma sniper or a frag grenade, and who sometimes carry the {{BFG}} MP-50 auto cannons.

** The Replica become these in ''F.E.A.R. 3'' for ATC. Generally, most squads from Interval 05 and onward will have a mixture of both lighter ATC mercenaries and heavily-armored Replica troops who are far tougher and stronger.

F.E.A.R. is a FirstPersonShooter set up as a horror movie. The player must survive long enough to unravel the secrets of Project Perseus and its parent, Project Origin, while battling the Replica forces, ATC security teams and experiencing increasingly disturbing visions. It is not a SurvivalHorror game, however, but a near-future sci-fi action game with strong horror elements. The main element of the gameplay is the slow motion reflexes feature. At will, the player can slow down time for about six or so seconds before time returns to normal. In it, you can aim and fire much faster than your enemies can, but your low health means that frontal assaults with this tactic is discouraged. Instead, the game incentivizes HitAndRunTactics, which are facilitated by the Replica's deceptively intelligent and persistent A.I, and their abilities to adapt and coordinate with one another on the fly. Couple this with the fact that most of the game's shootouts take place in cramped, enclosed environments, and you get one deadly game of Cat and Mouse.

Two mostly [[CanonDiscontinuity non-canon]] expansions, ''Extraction Point'' and ''Perseus Mandate'', were released just about one and then two years after the original game. The former chronicles the Point Man's efforts to escape the city following the events of the main game, while the latter concerns [[GaidenGame a second F.E.A.R. team's attempts to secure sensitive information about Project Perseus near the end of the original game.]]

* BulletTime: The Point Man and Becket have SuperReflexes, which is depicted in-game by allowing them to temporarily enter bullet time. In ''F.E.A.R. 3'', any time Point Man uses this ability, time also slows for Paxton Fettel- allowing him to use a special [[ShockwaveStomp psychic shockwave]] attack. [[SelfImposedChallenge Completing the first game's campaign without using it]] nets you [[VideoGameAchievements an achievement]], "Real Time".

* IdiotBall: in F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, so your enemy's trying to steal your mother's DNA to clone and experimente with it and a guy's trying to stop him... The obvious solution for Fettel is to move all your soldiers to fight the good guy.

[[quoteright:335:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fear_4822.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:335: Now do you know the true meaning of [[{{Pun}} FEAR?]]]]

Make sure to check out the [[Characters/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon character sheet]]. Not to be confused with the name for [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} a certain Ratatta moveset]].

** Spencer Jankowski in the first game. It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:he was killed by Alma, but the reason for seeing his apparitions throughout the game as well as his vital signs remaining active is never elaborated upon. WordOfGod confirmed he's dead; the player was originally intended to find his body, but it was cut when it was realized it was much scarier when it remained ambiguous.]]
** Rodney Betters, your MissionControl commander, is also gone after the first game except for, again, the expansion packs, where he speaks up at the very end of ''Extraction Point''. Perhaps he may have been one of the casualties of the [[InferredHolocaust Fairport explosion at the end of the first game.]]

** In ''Project Origin'', in the beginning of the second level an ATC Black Ops lieutenant named Samuels shows up briefly, and is mentioned in dialogue a couple of times later. He has his own unique character model (whereas all other non-plot-important characters are carbon-copies of each other), which makes you think he'll show up again later in the game. He's never seen again.
** Manuel Morales, the driver of the Dark Signal squad, in ''Project Origin''. After dropping off Becket and Stokes at the Still Island facility he is never seen again.
** Lieutenant Keira Stokes. [[spoiler:However, like Mapes and Jankowski, she is probably dead.]]
** Genevieve Aristide after the second game is not so much as mentioned. In that same vein, the mysterious Senator that she was working with in the first game also was forgotten, except for the ''Perseus Mandate'' expansion of debatable canonicity and ''maybe'' an anonymous email sent to her you can read in the first game. In this case this is most likely because he's deliberately [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere getting as far away as possible]] so nobody will come after him for anything related to what happened in Fairport.
* WhatTheHellPlayer: At the beginning of the first level of Project Origin, Redd Jankowski (younger brother of Spen Jankowski from the first game) calls you out if you start acting bizarrely -- i.e. swimming in the fountain, or blowing up a few cars.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The precise location of Fairport is unspecified, and the city itself is so generic that it could be anywhere in the United States. ''F.3.A.R.'' implies that it is located somewhere in the southern parts of the country, as [[spoiler: the Point Man is able to fly a helicopter from the prison in the unspecified Spanish-speaking country to Fairport.]]
* WhoForgotTheLights: The game lets the player set the light level, but encourages ''just barely'' enough light to see. It's more atmospheric that way, after all.
* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: [[spoiler: Harlan Wade]] has extremely little affection or caring for Alma or her children, and despises them for what they have become.
-->''"My children... [[spoiler: Alma]]... you were to be my legacy... but you are all '''monsters'''."''
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Alma, possibly Paxton Fettel.
* WrenchWhack: Yet another weapon of the cultists.
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler:In ''Project Origin'', Alma.]]
* YourHeadASplode: In ''F.E.A.R. 2'' scoring a headshot with a sniper rifle would blow an enemy's head clean off. In ''F.3.A.R. '', this can be done with any sufficiently powerful weapon.
** In the stinger of the third game for the Point Man ending, this is taken to hilarious extremes, as soldiers pour into the room with tranquilizer guns and repeatedly have their heads blown up by Fettel.

** Randy Betters, your MissionControl commander, is also gone after the first game except for, again, the expansion packs, where he speaks up at the very end of ''Extraction Point''. Perhaps he may have been one of the casualties of the [[InferredHolocaust Fairport explosion at the end of the first game.]]

* HopeSpot: So, Becket's even more powerful than Paxton Fettel, and there's even a 50% chance he's psychically powerful enough to fight Alma and make [[YourHeadAsplode her head explode]]? [[spoiler: Yeah right, like they'd really [[JokerImmunity let you kill the series mascot]]. Sure enough, in the end you're not even given a chance to try.]]

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: ATC's Security and Black Ops units. Its [[SuperSoldier Replica soldiers]] were intended to be marketed as a PMC. Armacham also has a more conventional PMC element that appears in ''F.3.A.R.'' that acts as a private conventional military. The non-canonical ''Perseus Mandate'' expansion also goes a step further with the Nightcrawlers, described as a "private free-standing army".

* ArtificialBrilliance: The F.E.A.R. A.I. is actually a good example of emergent behavior, which is programmer-speak for "we didn't program it specifically to do that, but for some random reason it does it anyway, and it's really, really cool that it does!". In other words, a relatively simple set of rules intended for a limited set of functions actually provides for more complex behavior than intended. Specifically, the A.I. is programmed for a limited number of simple behaviors: moving in coordinated squads, providing covering fire, seeking cover, and repositioning itself based on the player's movement and position. The A.I. isn't actually programmed to flank or circle behind the player, but its tendency to seek cover and reposition itself based on the player's movements results in flanking and circling behaviors occurring naturally without "conscious" effort on the A.I.'s part (mostly due to the A.I.'s high mobility combined with its preference for seeking lateral cover rather than charging the player directly). In fact, the A.I. of the Replica Soldiers was toted as perhaps the best enemy A.I. seen in a FPS game to date, and it holds up almost a full decade later. Its only [[ArtificialStupidity failings]] are that the AI is not designed to fight one another (which only happens twice overall in the entire series, once in the original game between Replica and ATC, once in ''Perseus Mandate'' between friendly Delta Force and Replica, for this exact reason); that they are completely blind to mines or remote bombs set by the player, even if you plant them in full view of the entire squad, in spite of their ability to recognize and actively avoid regular grenades; and that they don't quite know how to deal with transparent but bulletproof surfaces, often causing them to simply stare you down through them if there isn't an immediately-obvious way to navigate around it from their position.