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Fear Effect

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Fear Effect
Developer(s)Kronos Digital Entertainment
Publisher(s)Eidos Interactive
Director(s)John Zuur Platten
Designer(s)Scott J. Compton
Christian Dailey
John Zuur Platten
Programmer(s)Michael Fernie
Artist(s)Pakin Liptawat
Writer(s)John Zuur Platten
Composer(s)Matt Furniss
Jason Agolia
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Fear Effect is a 2000 action-adventure video game developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation. It was Eidos's first PlayStation game outside the fighting genre, having been developed following Cardinal Syn. Set in the year 2050, the player controls three mercenaries in Hong Kong and contains elements of survival horror and stealth. It received a mainly positive critical reception, with praise given to its cinematic presentation and unique visuals but criticism given to difficulty. A prequel was released one year later entitled Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix.

Gameplay

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Fear Effect features gameplay with unshaded characters textured to resemble cel-shading, notably being one of the first games to attempt the technique. Rather than using pre-rendered 2D backgrounds, the environments are composed of streaming or looping full-motion video. As a consequence, the game is composed of four discs. There are also puzzles interspersed between action sequences, similar to other games of the survival horror genre.

The player controls one of three mercenaries (either Hana, Deke, or Glas) through areas filled with human and non-human enemies. The game controls are similar to traditional survival horror tank controls, with an exception being that the characters can run and shoot simultaneously. When wielding two guns (one in each hand), they are also able to shoot multiple enemies at the same time. Another feature is the ability to duck and roll; while facing a number of the armed foes, the player can roll a short distance and avoid taking enemy fire.

The game's title refers to the player's life bar, a meter which resembles a pulsing EKG. When the player is damaged, the green line of the EKG will pulse faster and turn red. It is possible to 'regain' health by performing acts that will calm that character's heart rate. These include solving a puzzle or sneaking behind a guard to perform a stealth kill. Both will be rewarded with a health boost that brings the meter back to green.

Plot

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Set around the year 2050. When Wee Ming Lam, the daughter of a powerful Hong Kong Triad boss, disappears, a trio of mercenaries search for her in the city. They have not been hired to find her, but they intend to kidnap the girl before her father's men locate her and hold her for ransom. Wee Ming has vanished into the fictional Shan Xi protectorate; Hana Tsu-Vachel, the lead character and femme fatale of the group, used to work in a brothel somewhere in that region.

Hana arrives in Hong Kong accompanied by her partners, Royce Glas and Jacob "Deke" DeCourt. What begins as a simple snatch and grab turns into a fiasco: The father of the runaway, Mr. Lam, attributes his fortune and power to a pact he made with demons long ago. Wee Ming, who is a paper doll given life, has been scheduled to serve as a sacrifice to Yim Lau Wong, the mythical "King of Hell". Hana's contact inside Mr. Lam's organization, Jin, is discovered, tortured, and left to die with a bomb strapped to his chest. Hana frees him, but he is killed shortly after. Meanwhile, Glas is attacked by a VTOL jet and forced to flee into Mr. Lam's building. After avenging Jin, Hana is captured and beaten by Mr. Lam and his thugs. Glas is able to rescue Hana, and the duo make their escape where they meet Deke in front of the hotel they are staying at. While listening to Jin's last message for Hana, the trio are forced off a bridge but are able to swim to a junk. While sailing down a river, Deke spots Wee Ming amongst a burning village. Deke and Glas give chase while Hana gets dressed, but all three are separated by the undead villagers.

They stumble upon a military train where the hostile soldiers shoot anyone on sight for fear of the villagers. Hana and Deke wreck the train trying to steal it, but Glas is able to find a jeep with Wee Ming sitting inside. She asks to be taken to a Madam Chen's restaurant, which doubles as a brothel, hoping to find answers about her existence. When Glas is caught sneaking in the brothel, Mr. Lam surprises him, cutting off his left arm. At the same time, Deke is murdered while trying to infiltrate the brothel from upstairs. Hana sneaks in by dressing up like one of the prostitutes, where she runs into Wee Ming again after she had been dragged off by Madam Chen, who is working for Mr. Lam. After being splashed with Deke's blood, Wee Ming's powers activate, transforming the working girls and Madam Chen's thugs into demons.

The one-armed Glas reawakens in a meat locker. Surprised to find he is still alive, he surmises that Mr. Lam must be planning a slow death for him. Wee Ming arrives and tries her best to aid him. When Hana storms in to confront her former boss, Madam Chen, she learns that Chen is actually a demon in disguise. In the ensuing fight, Chen and her minions are killed, but Mr. Lam disappears with his daughter into a portal to Hell. Determined to save Wee Ming from whatever fate Mr. Lam has in store for her, Hana follows them into the portal, with Glas reawakening, and frees himself to give chase.

In a surreal journey through Hell, Hana meets the Black and White Guards of Impermanence who give her cryptic messages about her fate. Glas encounters the reanimated corpse of Deke, who is being tortured for the many murders he has committed. Deke takes on a grotesque demonic form and attacks Glas. After defeating Deke, Glas promises to avenge him. Meanwhile, Hana confronts Yim Lau Wong, who explains that Hell has become overburdened with the souls of the guilty. Once Wee Ming is returned to the netherworld, Yim Lau Wong will be able to expand the reaches of Hell and consume Earth. Hana was chosen to look after Wee Ming because Yim Lau Wong desired someone "ruthless" to be her guardian.

Glas reappears and tries to kill Wee Ming, believing her to be the root of the chaos. During the tense standoff between Hana and Glas, the player is given a choice over which of them should die. This decision will determine the final boss as well as the subsequent ending. On the "Hard" difficulty setting, a third option will become available: spare the lives of both Glas and Hana. In this ending, the pair emerge from the smoldering wreckage of the brothel, where they find a befuddled Deke sitting on a toilet. Deke has no memory of being killed, believing he has taken a bump to the head, and asks how they made out on the "deal". As he hoists himself out of the pit, Glas is stunned to realize that his left arm has been completely restored. The three partners walk off into the sunrise to continue their exploits.

Reception

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Fear Effect received generally positive reviews from critics.[4] GameFan gave it a favorable review while it was still in development.[12] Edge praised the game's tight script and distinctive graphics, but criticized its unbalanced gameplay and clumsy control system, stating that they "make the boss encounters absurdly difficult".[7] The magazine concluded that, "In such a beautiful cinematic game, featuring clever plotting and scripting, such deficiencies are even more offensive."[7] However, Blake Fischer of NextGen called it "One of the most exciting and innovative adventures to show up on PlayStation, dragged down only slightly by a few sticky gameplay issues."[17]

Four-Eyed Dragon of GamePro said of the game in one review, "All told, Fear Effect blends a host of nifty features to create a well-balanced, action-packed game. Though not for the squeamish, it's well worth a look from anyone craving an intense, challenging adventure."[20][b] In another GamePro review, Uncle Dust called it "an amazing game, full of action, puzzles and characters you actually give a damn about. The solid integration of visual design and solid gameplay makes Fear Effect a must for any survival horror or action-adventure fan."[21][c]

Accolades

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The game was nominated for the "Best Adventure Game" award at GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2000 Awards, which went to Resident Evil – Code: Veronica.[22] It won the award for the same title at the Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine 2000 Editors' Awards.[23] It also won the award for "Adventure" in Editors' Choice, but was a runner-up for the same category in Readers' Choice at IGN's Best of 2000 Awards.[24]

Legacy

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A prequel titled Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix was released in 2001 for the PlayStation. In 2016, Fear Effect Sedna was announced after French studio Sushee pitched the idea to Square Enix;[25] it was eventually released in 2018.

In August 2017, Square Enix announced a remake of Fear Effect titled Fear Effect Reinvented. Reinvented was being developed by MegaPixel Studio S.A. and to be published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[26] In September 2023, it was reported and later confirmed that the game was cancelled.[27]

Notes

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  1. ^ In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the game, one critic gave it 9.5/10, another gave it 8.5/10, and the rest gave it each a score of 9/10.
  2. ^ GamePro gave the game three 5/5 scores for graphics, sound, and fun factor, and 4/5 for control in one review.
  3. ^ GamePro gave the game 5/5 for graphics, two 4.5/5 scores for sound and fun factor, and 3.5/5 for control in another review.

References

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  1. ^ Rédaction de Micromania.fr (April 2000). "Micromania". PlayStation Magazine (in French) (41): 36–37. ISSN 1271-4755. Wikidata Q130612847. Fear Effect, disponible le 17-03[-2000]
  2. ^ Les Ellis (March 2000). "Scoop!: Feel the fear: Resident Evil meets manga" (PDF). Computer and Video Games (220): 32. ISSN 0261-3697. Wikidata Q130612771. Facts: Game: Fear Effect […] Out: March 18 [2000] [Note: we can assume the game was actually released on the 17th (a Friday) since games are usually not released on Saturdays, and since another source gives March 17th as the EU release date.]
  3. ^ IGN staff (February 18, 2000). "The Fear is Near". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Fear Effect for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Hargreaves, Devon. "Fear Effect - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  6. ^ Ham, Tom (March 15, 2000). "Fear Effect". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Edge staff (April 2000). "Fear Effect" (PDF). Edge. No. 83. Future Publishing. p. 76. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  8. ^ Hsu, Dan "Shoe"; Hager, Dean; Davison, John; Smith, Shawn (April 2000). "Fear Effect" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 129. Ziff Davis. p. 163. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  9. ^ Hudak, Chris (March 15, 2000). "Fear Effect". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on January 4, 2003. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  10. ^ Ellis, Keith "DNM" (May 15, 2000). "Fear Effect". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 7, 2001. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  11. ^ "Fear Effect". Game Informer. No. 83. FuncoLand. March 2000.
  12. ^ a b Rodriguez, Tyrone "Cerberus" (February 2000). "Fear Effect". GameFan. Vol. 8, no. 2. Shinno Media. pp. 14–15. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  13. ^ Silverman, Ben (March 1, 2000). "Fear Effect Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  14. ^ Fielder, Joe (February 23, 2000). "Fear Effect Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on January 20, 2005. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  15. ^ Kooltookian, Gary (February 15, 2000). "Fear Effect". GameSpy. GameSpy Industries. Archived from the original on June 1, 2002. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  16. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (February 18, 2000). "Fear Effect Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Fischer, Blake (April 2000). "Fear Effect". NextGen. No. 64. Imagine Media. pp. 86–87. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  18. ^ MacDonald, Mark (April 2000). "Fear Effect". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 7. Ziff Davis. p. 88. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  19. ^ Bottorff, James (2000). "Fear Effect a blast". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on July 1, 2001. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  20. ^ Four-Eyed Dragon (April 2000). "Fear Effect" (PDF). GamePro. No. 139. IDG. p. 88. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  21. ^ Uncle Dust (March 16, 2000). "Fear Effect Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  22. ^ GameSpot staff (January 5, 2001). "Best and Worst of 2000 (Best Adventure Game Runners-Up)". GameSpot. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 7, 2001. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  23. ^ OPM staff (April 2001). "Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine 2000 Editors' Awards (Best Adventure Game)". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 43. Ziff Davis. pp. 32–33. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  24. ^ IGN staff (January 30, 2001). "PSX Best of 2000: Adventure". IGN. Snowball.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  25. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (April 7, 2016). "New Fear Effect announced". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  26. ^ Frank, Allegra (August 21, 2017). "A Fear Effect remake is in the works for PC, consoles". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  27. ^ "Forever Entertainment's Fear Effect Reinvented Discord Server Logs". 15 September 2023.
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