FEAR - hands-on

If you don't know FEAR, you should. As a PC-basedshooter,it shook up a lot of people last year, garnered a lot of good press and even won a couple of awards. It's no wonder why - it's a well-designed and undeniably creepy game. And now it's headed for Xbox 360 (and also PS3, although that version hasn't been shown yet).

For those not familiar with the story, you play as the newest member of the FEAR squad (which stands for First Encounter Assault Recon). A multi-billion dollar aerospace facility has been taken over by forces unknown, who simply hold the place without making any demands. You're sent in to scope out the situation, but upon arrival you're seized by a series of terrifying visions involving an apparent FEAR soldier turned cannibal, and a freaky little girl who laughs and runs away. By the time you regain consciousness, all the other members of the squad have been torn to pieces by a seemingly unstoppable force. As the sole survivor, you're ordered to re-take the facility before the terror can spread, no matter what the cost. Fortunately, as a super-soldier, you have a few tricks up your sleeve, the primary being the ability to slow action down for a short period - in effect calling on your "heightened reflexes" to speed yourself up.