Review: FEAR 3 lost the identity of the FEAR franchise. It is primarily a very generic action shooter, a Call of Duty wannabe. It even fails at that, it does nothing to stand out in that genre and mechanics like the cover system is poorly designed. The horror elements take a back seat, rather than being the focus like the first two games. What horror elements it does include, are very flat, dull. It lacks the psychological horror atmosphere. Attempts at scares are just boring, not even thematically interesting. Some of the scenes involving Alma, do look kind of nice. You get a tad more insight into her state of mind. One of the primary problems is this game lacks proper continuity of from events of the first two games. As a well as poor narrative execution overall. Much of the story does not follow any sort of natural progression from the first two games. Returning to the action elements, the need to find collectibles, ranking up, and perform certain actions for experience points was a dumb idea for a FEAR game. It detracts heavily from the atmosphere and immersion of what should have been a horror shooter. The cover mechanic also has the same flaw other games had, that you get stuck on the object you're covering from and you can't simply pull off it by backing up or sprinting. Even though those actions would be considered natural instead of having to specifically press the cover button again to release yourself from the wall. Jump, Sprint, or pressing back should also release you from cover. Backing away normally, should let you back in crouch. Others can make you stand up like you would anyway if you're jumping or running. Overall, these aspects was a complete bore, distracting, immersion breaking. Ultimately the cover system should have been scrapped. The co-op addition was a bad idea. It alone upsets the unsettling nature of the first two games. The place settings were also boring and largely lacking the darker toned areas and tension. Also some enemies made for terrible fight sequences, they were all about the action rush and trying to pump out as much damage as possible, instead of having the unsettling uncertainty and tactful interplay between you and the enemy, like the first two games. Also the regenerative health was a poor change. Having health packs and armor pickups worked better to have you think more tactically. That is not to mention the complete lack of use of the iconic AI from the first game, or a natural evolution of it. They ended up with rudimentary AI. Not mention the complete lack of Replica soldiers, which were integral to the first two games (more on this in spoiler section). Where did the intel pick ups go? These were also important to the style of world and lore building. It was an interesting way to unveil story elements. Also, they threw Jin to the side. Her role should have been bigger and it should not have started as a rescue mission of her. She could instead served as your support. She could be verbally reading out the intel pickups you find and giving you information as you go along. Also what become of Holiday? He was still alive as of the first game as the events of Extraction Point are not canon to this timeline. In all Day 1's execution was poor and WB Games demands for this entry make it seem they were trying to burn the franchise by intentionally tanking this entry. **SPOILER SECTION** FEAR 2 Reborn ends with Fettel regaining a physical body by possessing a clone of himself Foxtrot 813. It is implied he'd regain control of the replica soldiers. He also mentions a war is coming. None of these things are continued in FEAR 3. Fettel is back to being a ghost, no replica soldiers to be seen, and the war he spoke of never comes to fruition. (also note, the war is also mentioned in the end of Extraction Point). Not to mention Fettel should not have been a playable character, he should have returned to being an ominous character with unsettling motivations. With some more insight to how his decision making differs from Alma's will, despite to synchronicity events. He may know her mind well from those events, but how he interprets that information or chooses to react to them differs. It is alleged Point Man is captured by ATC after the helicopter crashed at the end of FEAR 1. The game begins with him being interrogated by ATC grunts in a prison. But this is after some time has passed since FEAR 1 ended. The line of questions they asked him would have already been covered. Instead he should have woken up in a lab facility where they ran tests and experiments on him after he refuses to answer questions. With Alma taking out a few of them to enable his escape. ATC can still be your primary antagonist, but there should have been more conflict with Fettel and replicas. Both of you after ATC, but also at odds with each other, not this co-op nonsense. Alma should have had a more prominent role as well. Perhaps trying to get the two brothers to settle instead of picking a "favorite," which was extremely asinine for an ending. Also Becket should have survived. Perhaps still captured by ATC, but freed by Point Man. As well as he would not be so traumatized as depicted in FEAR 3. Since he was the strongest Harbinger candidate, he would be attuned with Alma, being able to understand her suffering. She may have taken advantage of him, but he'd come to understand her reasoning. After you complete the main game as Point Man, then you can unlock a bonus mission that you play as Becket again from the time he was rescued from ATC's capture. They should have also tackled the fate of Genevieve Aristide and The Senator involved in orchestrating these experiments. It would have been nice to know what became of them and have some major story reveals using these two characters. They should have had a big role on the antagonist side. At least for Genevieve, then at the end have at least one more chilling phone call with The Senator. The only good thing about the ending, is the relief of Alma's suffering finally coming to an end, as she finally passes after giving birth. Although, if they ever redid FEAR 3, they could also go with a more chilling cliffhanger, she's still at large with her new baby, but not longer a threat to innocents. But ATC should still be on alert as she will still be after finishing off remaining ATC that caused her suffering or cause harm to others. --- Recommended Settings: F.E.A.R. 3 in-game: Options: -Control Settings -- Aim Sensitivity: 25% (for modern mice with their own DPI control. Note: I'm using 1500 DPI) -Video Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off Edit config.cfg in the FEAR 3 folder: Remove the # for the following line, then make sure its set to 0.0 to turn off motion blur. -motionblurscale:0.0 NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add F.E.A.R. 3.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Detailed review of FEAR 3 added to Part 3 of this stream series: https://rumble.com/v6sj9bj-f.e.a.r.-3-pc-part-3-game-time-live.html Recommended Settings: F.E.A.R. 3 in-game: Options: -Control Settings -- Aim Sensitivity: 25% (for modern mice with their own DPI control. Note: I'm using 1500 DPI) -Video Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off Edit config.cfg in the FEAR 3 folder: Remove the # for the following line, then make sure its set to 0.0 to turn off motion blur. -motionblurscale:0.0 NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add F.E.A.R. 3.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Detailed review of FEAR 3 added to Part 3 of this stream series: https://rumble.com/v6sj9bj-f.e.a.r.-3-pc-part-3-game-time-live.html Recommended Settings: F.E.A.R. 3 in-game: Options: -Control Settings -- Aim Sensitivity: 25% (for modern mice with their own DPI control. Note: I'm using 1500 DPI) -Video Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off Edit config.cfg in the FEAR 3 folder: Remove the # for the following line, then make sure its set to 0.0 to turn off motion blur. -motionblurscale:0.0 NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add F.E.A.R. 3.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Recommended Settings: These essential reduce latency, keep your outgoing video output at 4K @ 120 Hz VRR regardless of the game's fullscreen resolution (avoids resolution switching), as well as assist the games performance and avoid conflict with uncapped FPS. F.E.A.R. 2 in-game: Game Settings: - Aim Sensitivity: Minimum (for modern mice with their own DPI control) Performance: - Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p, more stable than 4K) - Advanced Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off --Motion Blur: Off NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add FEAR2.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Recommended Settings: These essential reduce latency, keep your outgoing video output at 4K @ 120 Hz VRR regardless of the game's fullscreen resolution (avoids resolution switching), as well as assist the games performance and avoid conflict with uncapped FPS. F.E.A.R. 2 in-game: Game Settings: - Aim Sensitivity: Minimum (for modern mice with their own DPI control) Performance: - Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p, more stable than 4K) - Advanced Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off --Motion Blur: Off NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add FEAR2.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Recommended Settings: These essential reduce latency, keep your outgoing video output at 4K @ 120 Hz VRR regardless of the game's fullscreen resolution (avoids resolution switching), as well as assist the games performance and avoid conflict with uncapped FPS. F.E.A.R. 2 in-game: Game Settings: - Aim Sensitivity: Minimum (for modern mice with their own DPI control) Performance: - Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p, more stable than 4K) - Advanced Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off --Motion Blur: Off NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add FEAR2.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

I delayed my next stream to spend time troubleshooting and setting up FEAR 2 to run smoothly. I found these settings to be optimal for it to run smooth and improved latency. The settings for the NVIDIA hardware also benefit the original FEAR and its expansions as well. Side note: I had delay due to inteference with OneDrive, ended up turning it off and re-did a bunch of files manually. Recommended Settings: These will essential reduce latency, keep your outgoing video output at 4K @ 120 Hz VRR regardless of the game's fullscreen resolution as well as assist the games performance and avoid conflict with uncapped FPS. F.E.A.R. 2 in-game: Game Settings: - Aim Sensitivity: Minimum (for modern mice with their own DPI control) Performance: - Resolution: 1920 x 1080 (1080p, more stable than 4K) - Advanced Settings: --Vertical Sync: Off --Motion Blur: Off NVIDIA hardware settings: Graphics: -Program Settings: --Add FEAR2.exe as an app ---Max Frame Rate: 115 -Global Settings: --Low Latency Mode: Ultra System: -Displays --G-SYNC: On, Full Screen --Display Properties ---Allow G-SYNC: On ---Resolution: 3840x2160 (4K) - Refresh Rate: 120 Hz --Scaling ---Mode: Aspect Ratio ---Scaling Device: GPU Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

I've uploaded one of my F.E.A.R. inspired songs to Rumble! https://rumble.com/v6s5267-revenge-from-the-shadows-f.e.a.r.-music-time.html Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 Here is my growing playlist of video game music here on Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Last episode I had an issue with being able to livestream directly from the game application. I was able to resolve this issue as well as another issue I had with EchoPatch. Background Details: The original issue I had was FEAR was not able to read or write saves while EchoPatch was applied. I had ran the game in adminstrator mode and used a launch command to force saving to a new directory. Turns out while this game is running in administrator mode, OBS is unable to stream/record from it directly unless you set OBS to administrator mode too. The source the problem turned out to be a conflict between EchoPatch mod and Windows Defender's "Controlled folder access" function. Vanilla FEAR does not have this conflict. But you can add the FEAR app to the permitted apps list to get everything working or you can turn the controlled folder access function off. I posted the details on how to address this issue on GitHub here: https://github.com/Wemino/EchoPatch/issues/32#issuecomment-2795371534 To that end, I also fixed an issue with OBS not being able to save recordings. So it needs the same solution. In short, add FEAR, its expansions, and OBS to the permitted apps list or turn the controlled folder access function off. Then FEAR with EchoPatch installed and OBS will work normally. --- Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 I've also started uploading my video game music to Rumble! https://rumble.com/playlists/VW9YaNUBh5w https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

I discovered the source the problem experienced in this episode. It is related to EchoPatch mod conflict with Windows Defender's "Controlled folder access" function. I posted a detailed fix in GitHub Here: https://github.com/Wemino/EchoPatch/issues/32#issuecomment-2795371534 Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

Demonstrating the SFOD-D & Holiday bonus missions. Each are console exclusive missions to a different console. First, I will play the SFOD-D bonus mission on PS3 (via RetroTink 4K). Second, I will play the Holiday bonus mission on the Xbox 360 version via Xbox Series X backward compatability. Third, I'll play through some Instant Action missions. Lastley, I'll start up the main story again then play till the end of the stream. Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 System: PS3 Scaler: RetroTink 4K Capture: ASUS TUF GAMING CAPTURE BOX-4KPRO System: Xbox Series X (Xbox 360 backwards compatability) Capture: Elgato 4K X https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

It appears it’s a well-known issue that the PS3 version of F.E.A.R. has consistent audio problems. Based on posts from GameFAQs and Reddit’s r/PS3, express consensus that the spatial soundscape lacks proper directionality compared to the PC and Xbox 360 versions, in both stereo and surround sound. I’ve tested both 2.0 and virtualization of 5.1 to headphones. Audio locations are off in both, causing disorientation as sounds come from the wrong place. You’d look for an enemy based on sound, but they’re not there. Spatial movement exists, but it’s misplaced. Using a SoundBlasterX GC7 to virtualize 5.1 surround for headphones did not make an improvement. Both options sound different, but are equally flawed. Locating objects by sound in this version are completely unreliable. You can still rely on audio cues, albeit they’re in the wrong location. I’ve removed the SoundBlasterX GC7 from the audio chain and switched the PS3 back to 2.0 for this episode. Note: The SFOD-D bonus mission unlocks after Interval 5, not the full campaign. Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 System: PS3 Scaler: RetroTink 4K Capture: ASUS TUF GAMING CAPTURE BOX-4KPRO https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

There are issues with spatial audio in the PS3 version of this game. This episode demonstrates 2.0 PCM audio output. Next episode will demonstrate virtualizing 5.1 audio for headphones using the SoundBlasterX GC7. Check out my F.E.A.R. inspired music: https://suno.com/playlist/73b9a55c-a1af-473d-bd29-abaa4ae2f706 Doing a quick PS3 playthrough to unlock the PS3 exclusive bonus mission and for reference footage of the PS3 version of the game. I'll resume my usual content playthroughs once I've unlocked the console exclusive bonus missions on the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. System: PS3 Scaler: RetroTink 4K Capture: ASUS TUF GAMING CAPTURE BOX-4KPRO https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

System: PC https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

System: PC https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira

System: PC https://suno.com/@natewolfkira X: https://x.com/NateWolfKira