FEAR 3 released in 2011, with a fourth game nowhere in sight, but a spiritual successor called Trepang2 seems to be the next best thing.
Trepang2, developed by Trepang Studios, is a wonderful throwback to early 2000s shooters, and clearly takes a lot of inspiration from the incredibly creepy FEAR series, with fast-paced shooting that can slow to a crawl with a “bullet-time” ability
Bullet-time was a standout feature in the FEAR games, as at the press of a button everything would slow down, giving you the chance to dodge incoming bullets, as well as fire back a few of your own. It was a gimmick in every sense of the word, but a brilliant one, and very cinematic, so it’s no wonder Trepang2 brought it back.
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In case you’ve never played the FEAR games, they were single-player FPS games with a horror twist, featuring some psychologically disturbing visuals and events, as well as the action-packed and explosive fun you’d expect from a “boomer shooter”. The original game was released in 2005 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and received overwhelmingly positive scores from critics and players.
Trepang2 is essentially a love-letter to the FEAR titles, with flashy combat that gives you complete freedom of how you dispatch enemies, most of which revolves around the time manipulation abilities. Aside from dodging bullets, you can also use the power to give yourself extra time to escape an explosion, manoeuvre around a group of enemies for a better shot at all of them, give yourself an opportunity to reload or switch weapons and much more.
Combine all of that with a varied weapon sandbox and horror elements similar to the games that inspired it, and you’ve got an unbelievably fun and replayable shooter that can be as difficult as you want it to be.
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If you’re looking for an FPS that recaptures the magic of old-school shooters like Halo, Doom, Crysis and others like them, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Trepang2 is currently available on Steam as a free demo, with the full release planned for the 21st of June.