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F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R. is a first-person shooter psychological horror video game series created by Craig Hubbard in 2005. Released on Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, there are three main games in the series; F.E.A.R. (2005), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009), and F.E.A.R. 3 (2011). There are also two standalone expansion packs for the first game; F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (2006) and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (2007), but these games are no longer considered canon, as their plots were ignored in Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3. In 2014, F.E.A.R. Online, a free-to-play game, was released, but the servers were shut down in 2015 with the game still in open beta. Monolith Productions developed the original game and Project Origin; Day 1 Studios developed F.E.A.R. 3; TimeGate Studios developed Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate; Inplay Interactive developed F.E.A.R. Online. Initially, the series' publishing rights were owned by Vivendi Games, who published the original game and the two expansions under the Sierra Entertainment label. In 2008, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired the publishing rights and went on to publish Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3. Aeria Games published F.E.A.R. Online under license from Warner.

This article is about the video game series. For the first game in the series, see F.E.A.R. (video game). For other uses, see F.E.A.R. (disambiguation).

F.E.A.R.

First-person shooter, psychological horror

Craig Hubbard

F.E.A.R.
October 18, 2005

F.E.A.R. Online
October 17, 2014

The original game is set in the city of Fairport in 2025 and follows the fictional F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) unit, an elite group in the United States Army tasked with investigating supernatural phenomena, as they probe a private military company's secret research program, which has resulted in the unintended release of a dangerous and powerful psychic. The player takes on the role of the unit's newest recruit, Point Man, as he faces down not only the psychic, but so too a lethal and unpredictable paranormal menace in the form of a young girl, Alma Wade. Project Origin is set immediately after the conclusion of the first game, and follows Sgt. Micheal Becket of Delta Force, who awakens in a strange hospital only to find that Alma, now free from her confinements, has taken a keen interest in him. F.E.A.R. 3 takes place nine months after the conclusion of Project Origin. Alma's pregnancy is nearing its end, and when a resurrected Paxton Fettel (the psychic from the first game) rescues Point Man from captivity, the two head back to Fairport, with Point Man determined to prevent Alma from giving birth. Fettel, however, has an entirely different motive.


All F.E.A.R. games are first-person shooters and feature several common guns, projectiles, and game mechanics, the most notable of which is "reflex time" (a slow motion technique that allows players to aim and shoot in real-time). With the exception of F.E.A.R. 3, the campaign in each game is single player-only. F.E.A.R. 3 can be played in either single-player or co-op mode. F.E.A.R. 3 is also the only game to offer the player a choice as to the playable character.


Critical reactions to the games have been mixed, although leaning positive. The original game received very strong reviews and went on to be celebrated as a defining title in the FPS genre, both for its mechanics and its innovations in AI technology. Subsequent games were not as well-received; whilst their mechanics were generally lauded, a common complaint has been that the series' psychological horror elements have lost potency with each entry. The original game sold very well, but after F.E.A.R. 3 failed to meet commercial expectations, the mainline series has been on hiatus.

was developed by Monolith Productions for Microsoft Windows and published by Vivendi Games, under the Sierra Entertainment label. Released in October 2005, it was made available in both a standard edition and a Director's Edition, which included both a CD-ROM and DVD version of the game, a Dark Horse comic prequel, a live-action prequel, a "Making of F.E.A.R." documentary, a one-hour "Developers' commentary", and an episode of a promotional machinima. It was ported to the Xbox 360 in October 2006 and to the PlayStation 3 in April 2007, with both ports developed by Day 1 Studios and published by Vivendi. In March 2007, F.E.A.R. Gold Edition was released on PC, containing all the content from the Director's Edition, plus the Extraction Point expansion pack. In November, F.E.A.R. Platinum Collection was released, containing all the content from the Gold Edition plus the Perseus Mandate expansion pack. The complete F.E.A.R. series was released on Steam in July 2012, the Platinum Collection was released on GOG.com in February 2015, and the entire franchise was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility program, making the games playable on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S, in November 2021.

F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon

, a standalone expansion pack for the original game, was developed by TimeGate Studios and published by Vivendi, under the Sierra Entertainment label. Originally released for PC in October 2006, it was later included in both the Gold Edition and Platinum Collection re-releases of the game. It was released for Xbox 360 in November 2007, although was only available bundled with the Perseus Mandate expansion, under the collective name F.E.A.R. Files. The complete F.E.A.R. series was released on Steam in July 2012, the Platinum Collection was released on GOG.com in February 2015, and the entire franchise was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility in November 2021.

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point

, a second standalone expansion pack for the original game, was developed by TimeGate Studios and published by Vivendi, under the Sierra Entertainment label. Released for PC and Xbox in November 2007, it was made available for PC in both a standard edition and as part of the Platinum Collection re-release of the game. On Xbox 360, it was only available bundled with the Extraction Point expansion, under the collective name F.E.A.R. Files. The complete F.E.A.R. series was released on Steam in July 2012, the Platinum Collection was released on GOG.com in February 2015, and the entire franchise was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility in November 2021.

F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate

, which ignores the events of both expansions, was developed by Monolith for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in February 2009. In September 2009, Monolith released a single-player DLC pack, F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn, which continued the story. The complete F.E.A.R. series was released on Steam in July 2012, both Project Origin and Reborn were made available on GOG.com in March 2015, and the entire franchise was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility in November 2021.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

was developed by Day 1 Studios for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in June 2011. It was released on Steam in July 2012 as part of the complete F.E.A.R. series. The entire F.E.A.R. franchise, including F.E.A.R. 3, was added to Microsoft's backward compatibility in November 2021.

F.E.A.R. 3

F.E.A.R. Online, a online multiplayer shooter, was developed by InPlay Interactive and published by Aeria Games, under license from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The storyline of the game runs parallel to Project Origin. It entered closed beta in May 2014, and open beta in October.[1] The servers were shut down in May 2015 with the game still in open beta.[2]

free-to-play

Development[edit]

F.E.A.R.[edit]

F.E.A.R. was announced for Microsoft Windows at E3 2003.[54][55][56] The foundational concept was to make a game where the player felt like the hero of an action film.[57] This led to the development of reflex time, with Writer, director, and lead designer Craig Hubbard stating that he wanted "to make combat as intense as the tea house shootout at the beginning of John Woo's Hard Boiled". Defeating "enemies with style" was crucial to this.[58] Another key influence was the Wachowskis' The Matrix (1999).[56][57][59] In particular, the lobby scene was the team's initial point of reference for how the game's combat should look and feel.[60] In a 2008 interview, Hubbard explained,