From the ‘90s boomer shooter heyday to around the mid ‘00s, FPS games on the PC were unstoppable. Inside 15 years you have Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Half-Life, Unreal, No One Lives Forever, Counter-Strike 1.6, and Half-Life 2. It’s a golden era. Maybe I’m nostalgic and getting a little old, but if you want superb, single-player shooters, that roughly decade and a half between id Software’s first opus and Valve’s groundbreaking sequel is where you need to look. There’s one FPS, however, that compared to some of its contemporaries has perhaps been a little forgotten. With incredible bullet time effects, spectacular body physics, and the best shotgun in the business (barring perhaps Doom 2’s double-barreled icon), this superb slice of FPS history is now yours for just over $1.
FEAR, which in universe is the wonderfully contrived acronym ‘First Encounter Assault Recon,’ is the FPS game masterpiece from Shadow of Mordor and current Wonder Woman developer Monolith. Originally launched in 2005, it follows the enigmatic Point Man as he investigates a series of supernatural disturbances across a decaying, almost dystopian American city.
Abandoned apartment buildings, office blocks dimly illuminated by fluorescent light tubes and computer screensavers – FEAR’s environments still leap off the screen courtesy of the wonderfully crisp Lith Tech, variations of which also powered Monolith’s later Condemned series. The real joy here, however, is the combat.
To this day, almost 20 years later, FEAR is unmatched when it comes to slow-motion shooting. Every gunshot sounds like an explosion. Bodies burst into bits and fly through the air. FEAR’s interpretation of the SPAS 12 shotgun belongs in some kind of gallery – it is magnificent.
Likewise, each battle feels tense and charged owing to Monolith’s extremely smart enemy AI. It’s not that they behave like real, thinking soldiers. It’s better than that. The way that bad guys behave in FEAR, it’s like they’re designed to always maximize the thrill and the momentum of the shootout. They’ll flank you and take cover, but they’ll also charge at you and stand right out in the open. Everything is designed to make the shootouts soar.
And now, you can get FEAR for just $1.19 / 99p. Click the button below, and you get the base game as well as the two add-ons, Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate. If you’ve never played FEAR before, or want another go around, this is the perfect opportunity.
Alternatively, relive the classic era of the PC with the best old games, or maybe get the best horror games if you want to spook yourself out.
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