From the moment that it landed on store shelves late last year, PC gamers knew that F.E.A.R., Monolith's darkly disturbing first-person shooter, was something special. While it wasn't without its faults, the game combined oppressively atmospheric environments, realistically tough enemies, and a creepy storyline to create one of the most original shooters of the year. Not surprisingly, publisher Vivendi Games has decided to bring the game to the Xbox 360, with a little help from Day 1 Studios, developers of the original Xbox's popular MechAssault titles. However, if you feared that the Xbox 360 version would simply be a direct port of the PC game, you'll be happy to hear that there's plenty of exclusive content for those that would rather spend their gaming time on the couch.

For those of you who didn't play the PC title, we'll give a brief rundown on what you missed (and what you'll see when the 360 game hits). Your unnamed avatar leads an elite military unit (called First Encounter Assault Recon, or F.E.A.R.) that is sent in to deal with a paranormal problem at a research facility. The first team that went in was quickly slaughtered by an unknown entity, one possibly under the control of a rogue psychic that has the ability to command a not-so-small army of cloned soldiers. You'll be tasked with hunting him down over the course of the game, but you'll quickly find out that there are plenty of other reasons to be worried.


One part of the game that's been created specifically for the Xbox 360 version is the Instant Action mode. Essentially, the player is dropped into a combat zone and tasked with mowing down wave after wave of increasingly tougher enemies in a fight for survival. You'll make your way from one gated "room" to another, each of which is taken directly from levels in the single-player game. As you progress through the challenging firefights, your stats will be tracked for everything from headshots to number of deaths to your accuracy with each weapon. Once you're done, you'll earn a score that's derived from the various stats which will then be uploaded to Xbox Live. You'll be able to browse the rankings and compare yourself to other players.

If what we saw during our brief demo of the game was any indication of the finished product, F.E.A.R. will look and play just like its predecessor. The game runs at a remarkably smooth clip, the visuals are on par with the PC game, and it still features the same aggressive A.I. that made the game an enjoyable challenge. The ability to slow time has returned, although the regeneration rate has been sped up a bit, presumably to adapt it to the less responsive console controller. Still, the combat is fast and furious, featuring a nice variety of weapons.

While we still know very little about the Xbox 360 version of F.E.A.R., the game's development appears to be going smoothly. The stuff that we saw looked and moved beautifully, so we've got high hopes that the rest of the game will be equally impressive. Hopefully the enjoyable multiplayer modes will return, as it would be a blast to play on Xbox Live. We'll be bringing you more on F.E.A.R. in the near future, so stay tuned and keep your lights on!