So why should I care about F.E.A.R. Combat? It’s a fair question. Most of us at GotFrag will have been playing CS and/or WOW for the past year so heavily that we've probably forgotten that our computers can actually play other games.

I know, I know--you try other games. You probably have even made a concerted effort to actually have a good time but that learning curve on a new game just makes it too hard. Why get pwned by a bunch of great players who have been playing the game for a year just so you can get good at a game no one plays for money, right? And don't forget that you actually have to buy the damn game.

Well here’s the solution, F.E.A.R. Combat. Let me start with this, IT'S FREE. That's right, F.E.A.R. Combat is F.R.E.E.--All you have to do is go to the website, www.joinfear.com, and you can download and play the game in less then an hour, assuming you aren't using dialup.

What if I still get destroyed, you ask? Ok fine, I’ll make it even easier and I’ll make you a deal. If you’re at least a halfway decent Counter-Strike player (CAL-M or above), I guarantee that you’ll destroy 99% of the players you face in F.E.A.R. Combat if you read the rest of this article. That would even include those arrogant ones that have been playing for a year. If that doesn't happen, you can email me at idontunderstandsarcasm@gotfrag.com.



So let’s get started.

Since you've been a good little GotFrag drone and downloaded the game while reading this article, load up F.E.A.R. Combat and let’s start with the setup. First, I assume you have put in that handy CD key they generated for you on the www.joinfear.com site. If not, you’re truly a hopeless gamer and there's nothing further to discuss.



As always, your mileage may vary depending on your computer, drivers and other factors, but these should provide you with a good baseline.

The biggest gripe every FPS player has is when a game lags their machine and it screws up their game. F.E.A.R. has fairly high system requirements for all the great eye candy in the game. But for us real gamers, we want to actually frag something, not enjoy dying 30 times in a row.

So, in-order to accomplish those frags we are going to start by turning down the graphics. Go to the “Options” Menu and then “Performance”. My recommendation is to set “Computer” to “Minimum” and “Graphics Card” to “Low.” This will allow you to actually keep enough FPS to frag someone when 10 players are shooting and throwing grenades everywhere. If your computer is beastly you can move that up later, but I'd recommend that you get used to the game at this level.