F.E.A.R. 3 behind-the-velvet-rope E3 2010 access reveals Mech-stomping melee attacks

Written by Nicole Kline on July 07, 2010

Hands-On Preview: Make your momma proud.

It turns out he was right: the next part was a brand new Mech, and I DID love it. Not only was the look and feel of it improved ? it was a back-loading Mech, with better controls and without the whole waiting-for-missiles-to-respawn from the previous game ? but it now has melee. Did you read that? The new Mech in F.3.A.R. has MELEE. You can now go up to an enemy and punch them with your Mech-arm, or do a stomp and take out enemies within a certain radius. Basically what I am saying is that F.3.A.R. went from ?this is really cool, I am pretty stoked,? to ?wait, how long do I have to wait to play this again? I am going to stomp as many dudes as possible in the next x number of minutes until you pry me from this stool, weeping with joy.?

Am I exaggerating? There is no chance that I would exaggerate about this, gentle reader. If you're a fan of the F.E.A.R. series, or first person survival horror, or anything that is awesome, you will want to play this game. But there's even more than that.

The co-op experience blew me away as Mike unveiled more and more of it with each passing scene. He told me not to shoot the enemy on the overpass and to focus on the ground while he possessed his target. ?Now I can help you out with a missile launcher!? he said gleefully. We teamed up and took out the rest of our assailants, then had to deal with a helicopter. The rest was a whirlwind of encounters ? we defeated that helicopter, got into another bout of fighting with more soldiers, and then had to deal with two more helicopters, this time simultaneously.

The demo I played with Mike ? which ended soon after the double helicopter battle ? was different than the one being hosted by Dan. Instead of the bridge level I had played on, this one took place in a city. There were two televisions set up, one from Point Man's point of view and the other from Fettel's. I paid closer attention to the Fettel screen, interested and curious to see what things looked like from his point of view. Doors he can get through are covered in a red haze, like a gate into hell. Here is where I got to see what Fettel's melee attack looked like when Point Man slowed time down ? definitely far more effective than his attack alone. I also enjoyed the subtle ? and not-so-subtle ? nuances of Fettel, from his laughter when he possesses a body to the ?shredding? he does when he's finished with it.

In between the fights were trademark hallucinatory scenes ? in the first one, the brothers are suddenly transported to a forest with a piece of playground equipment in the center, replete with creepy abandoned playground noises (you know, the creaky noise indicating some sort of horror showdown is about to take place). The second hallucination was also in the same forest. It would appear that the hallucinations were indicative of Alma's contractions, seemingly preparing us for the birth of something terrifying. There were also even MORE Mechs ? this body armor was slightly different as it was front-loading and shot lasers, but similar in that it was completely awesome.

After the demo, Dan fielded some questions. He did confirm that there would be split-screen co-op in addition to the online co-op we'd already seen. Someone asked what type of multiplayer matches we'd be seeing and if they'd be different from the second game, to which he replied, ?There are 5 things I'm not allowed to talk about, and the third is multiplayer.? My immediate question was, ?What are the other 4 things?? Nice try.