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Multiplayer

Yes thats right, F.E.A.R. also has a multiplayer component utilizing some of the key points of the single player game. Some of the environments are similar to single player levels and have that same foreboding feel. Many of the weapons from the single player make an appearance in the multiplayer including the wonderful Nail Gun, allowing you to pin down your friends like never before.

The melee moves from single player are also here in multiplayer and serve as an additional 'honor' kill to knife attacks. But major Kudos needs to be given to anyone with nimble enough fingers to pull this off in the middle of a death match.

There is a very thin line between launching a successful mid air kick at someone's head and flying straight past them to receive a shower of bullets in the back and complete humiliation. More often than not I looked like a complete fool lunging through the air rather than the slick, smooth assassin I attempted to be.

Death matches are frantic, enclosed affairs as you would expect, given an added twist when the slow mo effect kicks in. Oh yes, slow motion is present and correct in the multiplayer component as well. One person has the key to plunging the entire map suddenly into slow motion when he feels the need. Slow mo recharges over time just as in the single player component, however, should the 'carrier' die, then the control is handed over to his killer via a pickup.

This is a clever little twist to the age old death match conventions and the action in the multiplayer part of the game is certainly there. However, I have to admit that other than the odd hour or so, I can't see it becoming equal to its single player companion in its current form.

The slow motion will keep you occupied for a while, but at the end of the day it's not different enough from other death matches. Still, its a welcome addition and well worth a look when it's released, or if you are lucky enough to have access to the multiplayer beta that's been available over the summer.