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Review – Fear Effect (PS1)

1 Player

What could have been great is somewhat ruined by poor controls and insane difficulty. Though it looks like a shooter, it’s more of a puzzle game, the shooting part is mostly there to make you mad.

Graphics 10/10
Incredibly nice graphics.  The backgrounds are always moving (looped FMV), and they are very detailed.  The cinematic fit seamlessly into the gameplay, the camera changes angles once in a while while playing with little affect on the game play.  The characters are very uniquely styled and are sort of 3D anime styled.  This look could turn some people off I suppose, but I really like it.

Music and Sound 9/10
Another thing this game has is sound.  The music sets the mood well and the sounds (don’t really) do what they are supposed to, inspire fear.  It does make the environment seems very creepy.  The voices are all excellent as well, though some of the dialogue is kind of so-so, you can’t blame actors for the script though.

Gameplay 5/10
This is the bomber part.  The controls on this game suck.  They should have gone for something like Syphon Filter or Metal Gear Solid but instead they went with the Resident Evil control set up.  You will die in this game, a lot, so much you will hate the game for it.  And not because of the hard enemies, but because of the difficulty you will have targeting and killing the easy enemies.  This isn’t helped that a lot of the time action will jump on top of you without warning and by on top, I mean on top and right next to you. As a result this game is very difficult for anyone with the ability to react with the exact correct response instantaneously.  Also some of the puzzles seem to be more or less guess and try again sort of puzzles.  Time to disarm a bomb, cut some wires, when you blow up, try again only cut different wires. Also the game seems a bit short really if you don’t count the time you spend resetting and waiting for the game to reload.  Each disk only lasts like a half hour.

Overall 8/10
I have to say that after repeatedly dying on the first boss because I couldn’t control myself well enough to dodge his shots I was about ready to give up with this game.  Then I got an invincibility code, which allows one to play through for the story and puzzles without the bothersome repeated and long reload time.  I’d say if you really like the crappy Resident Evil controls and want a suspenseful action game, by all means buy this game, otherwise maybe it’s a good idea to rent first, or wait for a price drop or you may feel you wasted your money.

Tip
Of course you’ll get the codes, it’s the only tip needed to make this game worth while.
Go to the options menu, then view the credits, then enter:
(T=Triangle C=Circle S=Square U=Up D=Down L=Left R=Right L1=L1)
L1 T U D C C T S L T for Infinite Ammo
L1 T U D C C T S R S for Invincibility

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