On February 24, 2000, one of the most seemingly underappreciated games released on the PlayStation. Fear Effect took elements from games like Resident Evil and Perfect Dark and came together to make one of the most beautiful and technically stunning games on Sony’s first console outing. The only downside being: hardly anybody played it. Those that heard of it forgot about it instantly, and the few privileged to play it understand that it was something special.
A Masterpiece Robbed of It’s Glory
I don’t know how someone sat in a room of executives, pitched a game with the aspect of a Bond film, but with the inclusion of hell, demons, and dismemberment of a player character. (those are semi-massive spoilers, I bet you really want to play it now though don’t you?) But thank god they did because it created the 4 Disc monster that was Fear Effect. And it was good.
From the moment you start the game you see something special about Fear Effect. The art style utilizes a very clean cel-shading, contrasting dark brooding environments and atmosphere heavy backdrops that make it a very unique game you could point out in a crowd. Once the gameplay starts it takes you a while to notice you’re in control, because everything around you still moves and feels alive. The game uses a special engine that allowed the PlayStation to render Full Motion Video as backdrops, and it creates a really good effect (which is why the game took up 4 discs. Worth it).
From then on, you become acquainted with a variety of puzzles, unique gunplay, and exploration heavy levels that beg for you to explore and enjoy the world. It’s very cinematic in scope, with more cutscenes than you can shake a stick at, and more often than not they keep you in a state of interest or suspense. There are even unique cutscenes for fail states, and they’re all fun to watch. This is truly the definition of the power of PlayStation, yet it remains forgotten. And amazingly, it got a sequel of equal quality a year later.
A New Direction for the Series
After 2001, the series went completely in the dark. There were talks of a Fear Effect 3 for the PS2, with some screenshots being thrown around here and there and a whisper or two, but nothing was ever announced. Once Square acquired the licenses for all of Eidos’ games however, the possibility of a sequel became more likely. And now we’re getting Fear Effect Sedna
Square Enix opened up all their IP’s to indie developers to pitch a game about for a chance to use the license, and Team Sushee won. They opened their Kickstarter in April of this year and the game is now set for a May 2017 Release Date. Great news right? Maybe.
Sushee is a team of fans of the original series looking to expand upon it and make it better and I understand that. But so much of the game feels like a departure from what made the series so fun to play. While there are puzzles here and the art style and characters remain beautifully intact, the gameplay looks less like Fear Effect and more like an RTS or MOBA. Will this make for a bad game or ruin the series? Possibly not. But it’s a definite change.
Conclusion
Fear Effect is one of my favorite PlayStation games. I found it very cheap, got a chance to play it, and I was hooked. If you can find a chance to play it, I highly recommend it. UK PSN even has it for PS3 and Vita if you’re so lucky to be in said region.
I just wanted to spread the word about this amazing series before the new installment releases so that more people can know why we’re getting a sequel 16 years later. Sedna looks to be an interesting game, and as I fan, I’ll keep my eye on it. But as of now, it doesn’t have the spark the original games had, not yet.
(P.S. if you really hate tank controls or the PlayStation in general, don’t play this game. Look up gameplay or something, because I know that for some people, difficult controls can make or break one’s enjoyment. If you’ve ever liked the classic Resident Evil games, you’ll be perfectly fine jumping in and playing one of the PlayStation’s bests)