So I just got this about a week ago, and am not even close to actually beating the thing. But I feel compelled to gush over it anyways.

First, the story. A man named Paxton Fettel is on a rampage backed up by 1000 strangely loyal soldiers. In addition, a dress clad specter named Alma keeps ripping people to pieces indiscriminitely. You're a member of FEAR (First Encounter Assault Recon), sent to investigate paranormal activity and deal with Paxton.

Some people may be turned away from the game initially because of how tense and scary the game is supposed to be. There are some sequences that are creepy, such as having your team mulched up while you're off opening a gate, but for the most part it's not a scary game. So you don't have anything to worry about.

Next, the dialoque is awful. Try no to giggle like I did.

The game itself is absolutely beautiful. Dust clouds billow up when you spray down enemies, soldiers turn into flashes of red when you land a nade at their feet, and going into "bullet time" and watching shots zip around is incredibly cool. The only real problem is that the environments are pretty bland. One warehouse begins to look just like every other warehouse. Luckily, the combat and Alma sequences are more than enough to distract you.

Okay, the shooting. Seriously, this game's battles are intense. The enemy AI is smart, very smart. They will mercilessly flank you, flush you out, and pester you until every last one of them is dead. The provide covering fire and will call for reinforcements frequently. If there's one distinguishing factor about this game, it's definitely the AI. The game is a little tough because of that.

The enemies are also really varied. They go from your run of the mill grunts wielding machine pistols to suits of body armor spraying rockets to ninjas with cloaking devices. Alma also chips in, you'll see what I mean later.

My review as of this moment, 8.6-8.8. However, I haven't beaten the game yet or tackled XBox Live, so take that with a grain of salt.