A Night of F.E.A.R.

A Night Of F.E.A.R.
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It’s late at night and I feel fully awake and in need of an adrenaline burst. I think for a little while about watching a movie; I have quite a few DVDs that would do the trick, but I want more. I don’t want to be just a viewer, a spectator of the events unfolding in front of me. I want to take part and be in the front row seat with everything that happens and be able to take action, to fully immerse myself with the plot and face the challenges instead of just being driven by the script writers of the film.

I look to the side of my laptop and catch a glimpse of a DVD edged out from the rest of the stack. I move my hand over it to push it into alignment when I notice the letters FE on the imprinted cover, separated by dots. A thought focuses on my mind as I start to pull the DVD out of the pile instead of pushing it in; there is only one DVD among that heap that has those two letters on it followed by the letters AR. I bring the DVD into focus, the desk light illuminating it more clearly – it was F.E.A.R. – a game that I got after hearing lots of good remarks about it.

The abbreviation stands for First Encounter Assault Recon, which represents the military group that has been formed by the government to control and eradicate paranormal threat. It’s a horror-themed first-person shooter game, designed to play psychological warfare with your mind. I would like to warn before hand those that have yet to try out the game that it is very intense, contains blood and gore, and close-quarters violence. It will leave its mark on you even if for a short while; you’ll want to play more even while you know it can shake the very foundations of your being.

I had played the game before when it had first come out, but that was a long time ago. After giving it a moment’s thought, a moment which in fact felt endless, I make the decision to slide the game into the drive and boot it up. I had un-installed it to gain some space, but it doesn’t take long to get it installed and running.

The music is captivating, producing an eerie atmosphere to the ears, I hear the noises in the background and I feel on the edge, straining to hear what is beyond my line of sight. There are voices in the background, noises from the doors opening and closing and I look around trying to pinpoint where they are coming from. I can hear a door that someone is trying to open and I walk close to it, my gun drawn towards it awaiting any moment for the person on the other side to walk through and have guns blazing towards me. I try to open the door, but it’s locked and I have to find another way round to get there. I walk down a dark corridor, cautiously looking around me and especially where I came from in case someone decides to drop in on me.

I walk to the edge of the floor and I notice there is a ladder leading down to another section of the facility; I look down and I can’t see anything but darkness. My feet move on their own and I start walking closer to the edge and go down the ladder. I can’t hear anything around me and that gives me some non-existent reassurance as in the back of my mind I know that soon enough I will be facing more challenges. I turn around quickly to get my bearings and as I have crouched to be less of a target I start raising my eyes upwards toward the end of the hallway and I see someone’s shoes. When my eyes have adjusted better I see a little girl in front of me and then a second later she has dashed off and has vanished as if in thin air.

I wonder who that girl is, and what she is doing here. I quickly put that thought to the side as I move along the corridor and into a big room that looks like a warehouse storage area. I turn around the corner to get a clearer view of the room and my breath leaves my body with a sharp shock as a soldier is right in my face. Quickly I pull my gun on him and start shooting; before his body even touches the floor his squad mates have heard the gunshots and start shooting towards my general direction. I run for cover behind the wall where I came from, trying to avoid the spray of bullets washing over me.

My breathing is ragged and I make sharp intakes of air as I try to keep my head cool and think of a way to get out of this mess I’ve got myself into. I can feel my heart physically in pain as the blood is pumping faster; the adrenaline is coursing through my body and I’m filled with a new wave of energy.

I try hard to remember where I saw each of the soldiers and I strain to hear any noises coming from them. I can’t hear them calling for backup and that is a good thing… for the time being. With determination I edge to the corner and pull my gun towards where I had seen one of the soldiers. He’s still there taking cover behind some metal crates so I aim and shoot him without hesitation. The other soldiers shoot at me again and I duck for cover again behind the wall. I have one grenade left and it has to count; it has to take the remaining soldiers out or at least a big portion of them.

I check my magazine and see that I am low on ammo, enough however to take the soldiers out and provide cover fire for myself to throw the grenade towards them. I wait a little bit and two of the soldiers are changing their position; they are moving in to kill me. The third one is in clear sight and easy to take out after these two are down. Seeing they are within range I edge out and shoot at the third soldier and throw the grenade at the two soldiers. I move back to the wall, touching with my back the wall as I hear the grenade go off and hear voices crying out in pain.

I look again out to the open space and I see all three remaining soldiers are dead and I can’t see anyone else in the room. It is all clear and I can take a breather before I move on. My heart-rate is still beating fast, but it starts slowing down just enough to feel more relaxed. My veins are pumping with hot red liquid and it still hurts as the blood moves fast from my heart, but that is to be expected. I start moving towards the opposite door to get into the next room, determined to continue onwards. I reach the door and open it and walk through it, wondering what I will face next.

If you are playing the game or after reading what I wrote you’ve decided to have a try at the game, make sure you’re prepared for nerve breaking moments and be on the lookout for enemies coming at you unexpectedly. The sounds alone are enough to give you tension. In the era of special effects and sound effects, where the mind can be tricked into seeing what isn’t really there just by using sound, you will be in for a treat with this game. Be prepared to learn the true meaning of F.E.A.R.