All racers to the starting line!
As far as persistance/progression goes, there is a point/level system present in the game. Players can garner points throughout campaign chapters or multiplayer maps basically via an achievement system. For example, if you complete the “Et tu, Brute?” challenge for a chapter or map (stab 3 enemies in the back) you’ll get 1,000 points. A certain number of points are required to level up with a total of 21 ranks. Ranking up gives you bonuses such as increased health, ammo capacity, and possession/slo-mo time.
All in all, F.E.A.R. 3 is a good game. The co-op campaign borders upon a the truly great, but if you did the math when I mentioned the target time for each chapter, you’ll have noticed its biggest shortcoming: it’s a very short game. It took me about 6 hours to beat and that’s including reloads when we screwed up. To be fair, there’s certainly a good replayability factor for at least one more run through the campaign (I wouldn’t mind going back and playing as Fettel), and there are a total of 4 difficulties (which I assume correspond to Casual/Newbie, Normal, Hard, and Masochist levels of difficulty) you can challenge yourself with. There’s also the leveling system to consider if you truly want to buff up your character and try the hardest difficulties.
This kid needs to get outdoors and play more....
Contractions and F**king Run certainly add more bang for your buck, but I personally wonder how often I’ll play these modes a month or so after release (of course, your mileage may vary). They can certainly be fun, but I feel like they’re variations on tried and true favorites, ones that most of us have already played any number of times. It seems like a shame that the more original ones were confined to competitive modes. Also, on the nit-picking side of things, I had a small complaint about the interface in the multiplayer: when a map is failed, there’s no way to immediately restart the map. You have to return to the lobby and launch it again which can get extremely tiring if, for example, you’re playing F**king Run with only two people and you keep getting incapped pretty early in. Since these matches can only last minute, you end up staring at a loading screen longer than you are playing. Other editors had issues with the controls on the console version, unable to tweak them just the way they like.
If you’re an FPS and or Survival Horror fan and want a great co-op campaign game, I’d say there’s no way you can pass up playing this game. If you want to go for the persistent ranks or higher difficulties or if you think you’ll play a good amount of Contractions and/or F**king Run, definitely buy the game; however, if you think you’re more likely the one-playthrough type, it may be better to wait for a price drop or to rent it.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Players can take the role of point man, the main character from previous FEAR titles or Fettel, a pscho-kintetic character that can inhabit the bodies of enemies in two player local or online co-op.In addition the game features two survival style online co-op modes for four players.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.