By John Walker on February 3rd, 2011 at 10:44 am.
F.E.A.R. 3, as Monolith still insist on naming it, is out at the end of March. The March Of A Million Games, as I will now start calling it. Copyright. Trademark. Patent. But what, you scream at the sky, does it look like? Well, if you’ll make your way downstairs to the creepy, poorly lit basement, you’ll find eleven new creepy, poorly lit screenshots.
There were more images than this released, but my goodness, the usual awful standard of screenshots being put out is taking an impressive dive even lower of late. I mean, they seriously chose to release this to promote their game. If I had submitted that a screenshot to a magazine (remember them?) I’d have been arrested by the art editor and left to die in a cold prison. Here are the slightly better ones:
03/02/2011 at 10:49 JohnH says:
I just hope the game is as good as the screenshots! *coughs*
03/02/2011 at 11:42 HermitUK says:
Even Alma in screenshot 1 looks thoroughly bored with the whole affair.
03/02/2011 at 13:25 Dhatz says:
id be bored if i was alma
03/02/2011 at 10:50 Initialised says:
Ohhh creepy.
03/02/2011 at 10:51 l1ddl3monkey says:
Stopped being interested in this franchise about an hour into FEAR 2, they’ve yet to do anything to entice me back.
03/02/2011 at 11:22 Njordsk says:
That.
Yet I forced myself to finish fear 2, and the ending was abysmally aweful.
03/02/2011 at 11:44 HermitUK says:
The ending was abysmal. It’s a shame such an amusing moment of absurdity was tucked away at the end of the game, where a lot of people probably missed it. Hell of a way to jump the shark, though.
03/02/2011 at 10:59 Ruuster says:
The first screenshot of what I assume to be the ‘player’ character I thought it was a girl.
You know what I’d love to see? The character getting increasing splattered by gore as he plowes through the story (and if it’s like F.E.A.R. 2, craws through ducks covered in the stuff). Then at the end, when he looks like one of the ravening horde, a squeakly clean ‘level 1′ version of himself mistakes him for one and shoots him.
03/02/2011 at 12:38 noom says:
“and if it’s like F.E.A.R. 2, craws through ducks covered in the stuff”
That is my favourite misspelling in a long long time.
03/02/2011 at 13:33 aerozol says:
I feel like I need to play FEAR 2 now…
03/02/2011 at 14:44 DJ Phantoon says:
What, like Night of the Living Dead, with racism replaced with paranoia?
03/02/2011 at 11:00 Dominic White says:
That last shot… Zombies. They added zombies? Seriously? I mean, cloned supersoldiers under the control of an Akira-esque psychic savant, that’s pretty cool, but generic undead fodder? Fuck that shit.
03/02/2011 at 12:13 Subject 706 says:
Perfect example of a publisher (hopefully not developer), under the influence of the ‘me too’ effect. “Zombies have been popular in other games, therefore we need zombies in this game” – reasoning.
How I hate it.
03/02/2011 at 11:02 Gap Gen says:
James Cameron’s Abattoir.
03/02/2011 at 11:05 Man Raised by Puffins says:
*ahem* That should be Day One.
03/02/2011 at 14:29 Hunam says:
I was about to say the same thing.
Also, what ARE Monolith doing? Because they’ve been radio silent since 2009.
03/02/2011 at 16:30 Dances to Podcasts says:
Please be NOLF3 pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease…
03/02/2011 at 17:37 LordEvilAlien says:
hopefully it’s NOLF3 but it could be Condemned3: Night of the Zombies or CONTRACT JACK 2
03/02/2011 at 11:06 Casimir's Blake says:
Did anyone here believe this would be anything other than another tired shock-fest “always move forward because the level designers have given up any pretense of imagination” FPS rehash?
03/02/2011 at 12:13 Subject 706 says:
No, but there is always *sob* hope…
03/02/2011 at 11:25 HermitUK says:
Hopefully this is the end of the FEAR series, and then Monolith can get back to making weird and wonderful games again. These were once the guys who made Shogo, NOLF and Tron 2.0. I’m worried they’ve spent so long making dark corridor games that they’ve forgotten what colours are (Aside from red, which they use liberally).
Also as Puffins noted above, technically Day One are making this, but Monolith are presumably involved as well.
03/02/2011 at 11:29 HermitUK says:
Also there’s one way to make fog look exciting: Add Batman
03/02/2011 at 11:33 Njordsk says:
Stop mentioning NOLF please… forever.
Everytime someone write it I cry.
03/02/2011 at 14:12 Doesntmeananything says:
NOLF.
03/02/2011 at 15:14 Hydrogene says:
That’s it, I’m crying too.
(Didn’t realise it was Monolith, whose humour I loved in NOLF that was also responsible for putting out FEAR.)
03/02/2011 at 11:31 KaL_YoshiKa says:
This looks surprisingly different to the other FEAR titles, maybe it could be decent…after FEAR 2….yuck.
03/02/2011 at 11:32 jd says:
Pallets: the new crates.
03/02/2011 at 11:38 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
I thought they had insisted on calling it 3.E.A.R., or was it F.E.3.R?
03/02/2011 at 12:00 Creeping Death says:
F.3.A.R I believe was what everyone hated.
Surrely if they now call it F.E.A.R 3 that’s an improvement?
03/02/2011 at 12:45 Zogtee says:
I wish they would go all internet meme on us and call it PH3AR.
03/02/2011 at 12:58 Warth0g says:
… or buy the license to Carry On Screaming and call it PHWOAR!
03/02/2011 at 13:48 Wonko the Sane says:
I think PHWOAR is for FEAR 4, for which Alma will be played by a digitally-reconstructed ’60s-era Barbara Windsor.
03/02/2011 at 11:40 Qjuad says:
I enjoyed F.E.A.R and I *kinda* enjoyed F.E.A.R 2 but I just cannot bring myself to take this seriously. I can’t even bring myself to give it the benefit of the doubt. It just looks so very bland.
03/02/2011 at 12:54 psycho7005 says:
This.
I really enjoyed F.E.A.R. It scared me, made me wanna put the control down and have a 5 minute break in a brightly lit room filled with happy colours and fuzzy thoughts. And the plot, absurd as it was, took itself so seriously that i felt immersed.
Then F.E.A.R 2 came along. Yeh i got a few jumps and scares (semi-transparent enemies in the dark school anyone?) but not nearly as much as the first game. Fully grown Alma is nowhere near as scary as child Alma, and being able to clearly see the child Alma the few times you do took away from it – the first game she was scary because it was a little girl you couldn’t see very clearly but was clearly killing everything with about as much ease as breathing is for you and me.
And the plot, oh the plot. Awful, just awful.
So comes along F.E.A.R 3, and i have lost all faith it will rekindle anything of the first game, especially as it’s meant to be the protagonist and Paxton Fettel (antagonist from first game) working together. I know there is a spoiler as to why this works, but no…..just…no.
/End rant
03/02/2011 at 16:01 PUKED says:
That’s why I love the third screenshot.
“OKAY HERE’S YOUR ENEMY IN THE GAME, SCARY ABUSED GHOST GIRL. WE DID A SUPER CLOSE UP SHOT IN GOOD LIGHTING TO MAKE SURE YOU DON’T MISS HER OR ANYTHING.”
03/02/2011 at 12:01 CrazyBaldhead says:
“The F.E.A.R. 3 launch date will now be in May 2011, as we look to deliver the best possible game for our consumers,”
http://www.destructoid.com/f-e-a-r-3-delayed-to-may-for-some-extra-spit-n-shine-191469.phtml
Oh well.
03/02/2011 at 12:02 skalpadda says:
This game looks a bit sick. Not like “whoah dude, that’s sick!” or “ban this sick filth!”, but like it has the flu and should have a lie down and a cup of hot tea.
03/02/2011 at 12:13 Kryopsis says:
Alma looks like a midget Marilyn Manson.
03/02/2011 at 12:17 Hodag says:
I must be a serious mutant then because I really enjoyed F.E.A.R. 2 and even splurged on the DLC. The school was especially creepy.
That said, this latest one should be the end of the series so they can release another NOLF or Blood.
03/02/2011 at 13:26 konrad_ha says:
Wow, a game I am even less excited about than Bulletstorm. Way to go, Monolith.
03/02/2011 at 14:26 Linfosoma says:
Yes releasing a screenshot with poorly done bone weights in a character’s shoulders is a great idea!
Also, the game is not being developed by Monolith anymore, cant remember who’s taking care of it though.
03/02/2011 at 16:11 vodka and cookies says:
Day 1 Studios not Monolith are making Fear 3 so what exactly are Monolith up to these days, they’ve been very quiet and they used to make 2 games at a time. Warner Brothers Interactive grew out of Monolith so I hope they are still working on something.
03/02/2011 at 16:46 popeguilty says:
I played the demo of FEAR and thought it was just a generic shooter with generic enemies, so I skipped the full game. Is the demo really bad, or is that really the game?
03/02/2011 at 17:17 PUKED says:
It is a game about shooting things in super slow motion and sometimes a ghost jumps out.
It’s just that it does the “shooting things” part so much better than pretty much any FPS out there.
03/02/2011 at 17:31 PUKED says:
Also: some pretty topnotch atmosphere and sound design