Apart from the Sony-published games, the PlayStation 3’s launch line-up has received criticism for relying too heavily on games that have already appeared on other platforms, and that’s certainly something which is true of Vivendi Universal’s F.E.A.R (which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon), which has been out on the PC and Xbox 360 since last year. Nevertheless, there is one ray of optimism: F.E.A.R is one of those games which didn’t make the US and Japanese launches, but will be on sale on March 23.

In case you’re such a die-hard PlayStation fanatic that you’ve never come across it before, F.E.A.R is a properly hardcore first-person shooter, with a 17+ age-rating (it doesn’t stint on the blood or swearing) and a supernatural twist. You’re a raw recruit to a sort of supernatural SWAT team, hunting down a rather unpleasant guy who appears to enjoy eating human flesh, and has an extremely sizeable private army at his command. Even though you’re the newbie on the team, you’re sent in as a solo point-man because of your exceptionally quick reflexes, which manifest themselves in the game as the ability to slow down time for short periods, much like the Max Payne games.

And boy, do you need to make the most of that ability, because F.E.A.R is seriously hard. Not only are you constantly beset by waves of soldiers, but those soldiers have some of the most fearsome AI ever seen in a game. They won’t stand there while you fill them with lead, but they’ll take cover, jump over barriers to outflank you and generally act like real soldiers. One of the few differences I could discern between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, then, is a welcome one: on the PS3, F.E.A.R has four levels of difficulty, rather than three, and even the second of the four will tax you. That does give the game an extra element of replayability, though, as you really feel that bumping the difficulty up a level and starting again offers a whole new challenge.

F.E.A.R was always one of the best-looking games on the Xbox 360 but the PS3 version’s graphics are a bit disappointing – compared to those of Resistance: Fall of Man, they look a bit muddy, the game’s textures are rather unadventurous and there is none of the photo-realism that games like MotorStorm prove the PS3 can produce. But the physics are impressive, and particularly the particle effects – empty a machine-gun clip into a room and it will fill up with smoke for a while, and often, you will think you’re safely behind cover only to be hit by ricochets.

The gameplay is fairly typical first-person shooter fare – taking out enemies in drab, mainly indoor areas, interspersed with the odd bit of light puzzle-solving (which generally involves getting to inaccessible areas) and the occasional, truly creepy paranormal vision, many of which remind one of the infamous river of blood scene from The Shining (an impression reinforced by the presence of a truly scary little girl in a red dress). In terms of atmospherics, F.E.A.R is unimpeachable.

The game is heavily checkpointed, which is just as well in view of its difficulty and while you do occasionally come across health packs (and can carry up to ten at a time, not that you ever find that many), you have to scavenge ammunition from the soldiers you have killed. The weaponry is particularly fine, with a variety of machine-guns and sub-machine-guns, the ability to dual-wield pistols and perhaps the best shotgun since Doom, which can take a generous 12 cartridges. If you’ve got a number of enemies close to you, pulling the left bumper to slow down time, then fragging them in slow-motion explosions of gore is deeply satisfying. The shotgun loses its effectiveness at a distance, but there’s a decent sniper rifle. And plenty of explosives – using up on the D-pad, you can switch between grenades, disc-shaped proximity mines and remote-controlled sticky bombs. The latter take up your right hand, as a trigger device replaces whatever gun you were holding.

As with the other versions of the game, F.E.A.R’s control system is exemplary – smooth, well fettled, logical and accurate. You can jump back into levels you’ve completed, there’s an Instant Action mode (new for the PS3), which pitches you into some of the fiercest battles of the game, to see how long you can survive and, hurrah, Multiplayer. Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to play it online, but you will be able to do so in March.

F.E.A.R isn’t going to win any prizes as a top PS3 game, but it does at least give PS3 owners a hardcore, challenging first-person shooter as an alternative to Resistance, and it will please those who love first-person shooters and don’t own an Xbox 360. Solid rather than essential.

By Steve Boxer