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F.E.A.R. stands for First Encounter Assault and Reconnaissance. Fear means "an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger." The game is a first-person shooter that tips the balance in favor of assault, but with plenty of fear sprinkled from end to end, resulting in one of the best and most unique first-person shooter experiences to hit the PC in years.
On its' surface, F.E.A.R. plays like most other first person shooters. You move from area to area, destroying everything in your path, as a plot unfolds in the wake of your destruction. At the same time, it shows that it is a modern game in what it doesn't do. There is no forced stealth level, no sniper level and no babysitting missions. In fact, there are no levels or missions as such. The plot and game flow are pretty much continuous, separated into areas which load separately. The graphics are tremendous. Everything is well-modeled, rendered and lit. Everything and everyone you see look and behave realistically, and the environments are believable. The sounds are haunting and very well-integrated into the game. The soundtrack provides the pulse and sets the mood throughout the game. Also, the combat system works well. You are allowed three weapons, and the variety of weapons allows you to have an arsenal to be ready for any situation. The controls are intuitive and very flexible to facilitate a variety of combat styles. The ability to change tactics on the fly is needed to deal with the strong enemy intelligence system, in which the enemy squads work together using advanced tactics to surround, flank, and flush you out. The game never shows signs of ﾑcheating', and never resorts to having enemies appear from impossible locations or teleport in from nowhere.  The game is not without flaws. You make an awful lot of noise for an elite soldier. The interaction system can get a bit hyperactive, and you find yourself stumbling through soda cans and knocking over chairs as you work your way through the office environments. Fortunately the enemy does not react to those sounds. Another issue is the variety of environmentsﾗthere aren't enough. While everything looks good, there are only two or three main area types and everything else looks the same. The enemy is intelligent, but there are only so many combinations of tactics and area layouts, so that by the middle of the game you pick up clues regarding enemy tactics from the layout, which can be confirmed by listening to the squad chatter. This makes some sections during the middle of the game feel like a grind. They are exciting, intense, and are broken up by some interesting stuff, but the firefights become hard work rather than intense fun. The single player game lasts about eight to ten hours. That's a fairly standard length for first-person shooters, F.E.A.R. offers some robust multiplayer modes, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag, each also available in ﾑSloMo' mode, which features a single reflex booster powerup that gives the player or team that carries it the ability to slow timeﾗa huge advantage. There are also Elimination and Team Elimination. These modes focus on stayng alive while taking out enemies. Once you are killed you are done for the round.  F.E.A.R. is the best first person shooter for the PC since Half-Life 2. It also takes the first person shooter genre to new areas by incorporating some of the best ideas from previous games and taking them to the next level. The result is an intense story that never takes you out of the driver's seat while providing a thought-provoking and nail-biting action gaming experience. This game is well-suited to playing at night with headphones in a darkened room, as long as you don't mind jumping out of your skin when the cat hops up next to you. 
F.E.A.R. is scarier, tenser and more disturbing than any other first person shooter. The action is fierce and the visuals are very gory. This game is very appropriately rated M, and recommended by GamerDad for Adults. This game is not recommended for kids.
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