F.E.A.R. Should it be rebooted?

I say yeah, sure. I'd prefer a Remaster (optimized high resolutions, console ports, etcetc) though.

I would actually much prefer a sequel to Condemned that ignores Bloodshot.

With FEAR, I'd rather just have more maps, weapons, and enemies for the first game. It was perfect.

Another F.E.A.R game would be more interesting to me than a reboot.

A reboot of F3AR maybe, the rest should be left well alone.

The original F.E.A.R. 's combat has aged phenomenally well and is still amazing to play right now, so if such a thing were to happen, I'd expect them to keep what's not broken and find a way to make the campaign more varied and interesting with more locations and enemy types and some new set pieces, perhaps even brush up the writing a bit too. As a series, I think there's room for improvement given how Monolith dropped the ball with both F.E.A.R. 2 and 3.  

The original FEAR is a classic and a masterclass to shooting mechanics and AI+level design synergy. I would very much like a direct sequel to FEAR 1 than a reboot, since the story was actually quite good enough.

Man, I miss the great early 2000s FPS bots. Unreal Tournament, Quake and FEAR probably had the best ones.

A re-release would be nice, a proper FEAR 3 is out of the question sadly.

I would, but F.E.A.R. 1 is so one-of-a-kind, I doubt a reboot could capture the same magic.

FEAR 1 is the finest fps ever made and anyone who touches it will be badly beaten with spoons >:/

That being I would very much like to see an attempt at a new FEAR game that tries to go back to the feel of the original. Extraction Point was a fantastic expansion but it all went steadily down hill from there. The super soldiers in Perseus Mandate are annoying (and the boss even more so) but still had some good moments. FEAR 2 is ok but started to leave behind the exquisite atmosphere of the original. FEAR 3 never existed. 

TREPANG 2 is currently the closest thing to a FEAR game. Even has some of the same devs. The gameplay looks promising but I doubt it will capture all of the essence of what made FEAR so good 

Honestly, a remaster of at least the first and second games would be baller (and a mulligan should be called on the third game).

The first F.E.A.R. especially has both graphics and gameplay that were very much ahead of their time as well as a concept that hasn't been explored all that much before or even since (a horror-action FPS with a true cyberpunk setting, utilizing a sort of "GitS-meets-The Grudge" aesthetic), plus it managed to be legitimately terrifying in ways that not even Doom 3 could muster.

If nothing else, perhaps a full-on remake should happen? I mean, I'm pretty sure that they already know what makes the first game tick and just perfect it from there.

I love when i played Fear for the first time, and Extraction Point was awesome, too.
But, as much as i enjoyed it, i found it pretty linear and kinda one time without much replay value.
But well, its interesting playing it on higher difficulties, too

Soft reboot? Like a game that connects to the previous titles but doesn't require you to play them before playing the new game? Maybe, but just forget the previous games and start fresh? NO. NO. NO. 

This is also a really great time to tell everyone about Trepang 2

Go play Trepang 2 demo and then buy the full game whenever it releases. It is a FEAR 1 spiritual successor

A remaster would be better than a reboot/remake, the graphics could use a touch up.

The original FEAR was amazing and one of the best games of that decade. I like to pretend that it never got any sequels. Rather than a reboot, I'd prefer a new spiritual successor with a strong SP campaign. That Trepang2 trailer @wheresthebeef posted look on point with the combat, at least the military/tactical side of it.

11 hours ago, wheresthebeef said:

I would actually much prefer a sequel to Condemned that ignores Bloodshot.

Same, I feel Condemned was a far better horror game than FEAR and honestly rather more interesting to play. 

F.E.A.R is actually still very good on modern hardware and the gameplay is timeless, it needs no remake or reboot but just a remaster if anything, the game as it is but just nicer looking would be perfect.

Whilst they're at it, delete F.E.A.R 3

I feel F.E.A.R. doesn't really need a reboot, much less a remaster. The graphics still hold up amazingly, not to mention the gameplay. If anything, I think what I'd like to see the most is a F.E.A.R. 4 that sort of goes back to the roots, gameplay and all, possibly with a new spin on the slow-down mechanic that makes using it even more tactical.

Honestly I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten one yet. You could make the argument that Trepang 2 is a spiritual successor to FEAR, but I honestly think in my opinion besides the bullet time and that you’re part of some squad (if I recall correctly I haven’t played Trepang 2 in months) the 2 games are still vastly different. 
 

Like a few people mentioned I think they should do a sequel which retcons everything that happened in F3AR (even though I don’t think the 3rd game is really that bad). 

15 hours ago, wheresthebeef said:

I would actually much prefer a sequel to Condemned that ignores Bloodshot.

 

With FEAR, I'd rather just have more maps, weapons, and enemies for the first game. It was perfect.

What was wrong with Bloodshot? The only things I didn’t like about it was that awful tutorial at the very beginning and what they did to Ethan’s character. The tutorial I kept messing up in the blocking part and I remembered getting so frustrated cause it wouldn’t let me continue until I had gotten the blocking right. Other than that though I thought the gameplay was still pretty good although I really missed using the detective gadgets.

Weren’t there rumors as well that a 3rd Condemned was being talked about and the team wanted to do it, but because the 2nd game didn’t sell well they ended up not going through?

If the devs have the ability to make a sequel that captures the same soul as the very first game or at least the expansions (and that they are cannon), then yea, it should.

However, chances of that are very slim to almost non-existent.

If that is not possible, then I'd rather if the series dies peacefully than gets revived & butchered again since the series went downhill at a very fast rate.

I'm not a fan of reboots. Would much prefer someone trying to make a sequel. I know that the makers made the game all about Alma but the lore of the game states that F.E.A.R. was established to combat ghosts. So maybe trying to tell a new saga would be a bold move that I would rather respect. All it needs is an iconic ghost antagonist, intriguing conspiracy that made the ghost, great atmosphere and great gameplay and hell, I'd buy it. Alma is gone so maybe make a game about Omen boy, that is a ghost? I'm a fan of new stories, not same ones. The reason why F.E.A.R. 3 sucked was because Day-1 doesn't know how to make stories. Even the expansion packs were better because it had the atmosphere of a F.E.A.R. game. And that is thriller/mystery story combined with horror. Even in F.E.A.R.2 the game is about figuring out what is going on from the Delta Force perspective. And the player spent time reading intel items to uncover the story. F.E.A.R.3 lacked any of that. 

1 hour ago, Spooner5020 said:

What was wrong with Bloodshot? The only things I didn’t like about it was that awful tutorial at the very beginning and what they did to Ethan’s character. The tutorial I kept messing up in the blocking part and I remembered getting so frustrated cause it wouldn’t let me continue until I had gotten the blocking right. Other than that though I thought the gameplay was still pretty good although I really missed using the detective gadgets.

 

Weren’t there rumors as well that a 3rd Condemned was being talked about and the team wanted to do it, but because the 2nd game didn’t sell well they ended up not going through?

I disliked the direction Bloodshot went and I absolutely hated the psychological horror stuff. It just wasn't fun fighting things like the tar people or whatever. The atmosphere was also just too dark and depressing. Being in the ghetto and dirty back alleys shouldn't be all cupcakes and roses, but it shouldn't have been as gritty and edgy as it was. It was just completely unappealing. Criminal Origins pulled it off nicely.

It also tried too hard in the horror department. Less is more. Bloodshot has the bear while Criminal Origins has way more effective scares. CO also had some psychological scares, like the dummies in the department store that would teleport towards you when you didn't look, but it was more subtle than stuff like the possessed dolls in Bloodshot. Also my favorite "scare" in the entire series is at the Apple Orchard. Theres no one else there, theres no combat, so the tension is constantly building while you explore. You then eventually open a door that reveals a staircase leading down to a dark basement.... yeah FUCK that.

Also the greatest issue with Bloodshot is no PC port.

The combat in Bloodshot was good, all the new additions were great, and the detective stuff was a step up from Criminal Origins. Implement this stuff in a game with CO's atmosphere and enemies for the perfect sequel.

The last I heard, Jace Hall had the rights to Condemned and said if any studio came to him with a great idea for a new Condemned, he would let them make it.

Fear's AI Agent system is something that should return. Not because the enemies are actually smart, but rather a clever design of clever hacks altogether.

Because its kind of depressing that some of the more natural AI responses come from this game.

No, it definitely wouldn't capture the same atmosphere and magic of the originals, I'd rather have a remaster at most to pretty it up a little bit. Besides I'm not fond of reboots, they're rarely, if ever done right, especially nowadays, remasters not so much.

A proper Fear 3 would've been better though, but as far as I know that game did not do well, so it's out of the equation.

I'm a big fan the saga (and of condemned, too) so here's what I have to say:

1. They tried to "reboot" it once already, and didn't go well: F3AR is quite an attempt of getting the franchise to change hands and be taken in quite another direction to breathe more life into it. They even brought John Carpenter in (what? for J-horror?). The result is a disgrace and in order to cope I consider it a spin off. Led to the closure of Day-1 studios in what was at the time one of the biggest layoffs in the game development industry.

2. While there's been a lot of talk about a sequel not related to Alma, Alma is 100% the symbol of the franchise (hell, it's even the cover in some of the titles). While the FEAR team (which honestly is just a handful of people: Rodney Betters, Pointman, Jin, and "Sergeant" and the other Perseus Mandate guy if Vivendi suddenly became canon) could go on to fight other threats, I don't know how well that would work (how much work did the team ever had after all? I mean, a taskforce created to combat "paranormal threats against national security" is quite ludicrous even if I do love the franchise)

I loved condemned. It's super bad they never released bloodshot for pc so I had to watch an hours long full gameplay video to see how the story continued. It's sad like you're reading a novel and they release the sequel in Braille

and how it should be remastered, rebooted, whatever! just make a game like the original fear. one of my favorite games. great graphics for its time and even better ai. 

8 hours ago, wheresthebeef said:

 

I disliked the direction Bloodshot went and I absolutely hated the psychological horror stuff. It just wasn't fun fighting things like the tar people or whatever. The atmosphere was also just too dark and depressing. Being in the ghetto and dirty back alleys shouldn't be all cupcakes and roses, but it shouldn't have been as gritty and edgy as it was. It was just completely unappealing. Criminal Origins pulled it off nicely.

 

It also tried too hard in the horror department. Less is more. Bloodshot has the bear while Criminal Origins has way more effective scares. CO also had some psychological scares, like the dummies in the department store that would teleport towards you when you didn't look, but it was more subtle than stuff like the possessed dolls in Bloodshot. Also my favorite "scare" in the entire series is at the Apple Orchard. Theres no one else there, theres no combat, so the tension is constantly building while you explore. You then eventually open a door that reveals a staircase leading down to a dark basement.... yeah FUCK that.

 

Also the greatest issue with Bloodshot is no PC port.

 

The combat in Bloodshot was good, all the new additions were great, and the detective stuff was a step up from Criminal Origins. Implement this stuff in a game with CO's atmosphere and enemies for the perfect sequel.

 

The last I heard, Jace Hall had the rights to Condemned and said if any studio came to him with a great idea for a new Condemned, he would let them make it.

 

The Bear part terrified me. I can understand where you’re coming from about Bloodshot when you go into detail. I had no idea Jace Hall worked on Condemned. That makes sense though cause it was made by monolith. I thought he had left to do his own thing honestly.

Condemned 2 was wayyyyy too over the top, it's almost like a completely different game. I knew things felt wrong in the very first level where some Marilyn Manson-looking dude gives you advice over a television, with dialogue like a bad Garth Ennis comic. Shouting to explode people's heads? Exploding dolls? What is this shit? 

I remember seeing a Game Informer issue for the first game where one of the developers proudly stated the game had no repeating textures. Come Condemned 2, there's a level in a factory where one of the walls is clearly a 256x256 "rusted metal wall" texture repeated over and over. 

The "scariest" level in Condemned 2 is when a bear chases after you in a scripted sequence. The scariest level in Condemned 1 is an empty farmhouse, where the player scares themselves by jumping at shadows. Worlds apart. 

42 minutes ago, Mr. Freeze said:

I remember seeing a Game Informer issue for the first game where one of the developers proudly stated the game had no repeating textures. Come Condemned 2, there's a level in a factory where one of the walls is clearly a 256x256 "rusted metal wall" texture repeated over and over.

well the textures at the first one are reaaally crappy too. At least on pc