Every F.E.A.R. game, ranked
All 3 F.E.A.R. games we hold, spanning 2005 to 2011: 3 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 42,665 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: F.E.A.R. (GamingPickz Score 8.0), the highest-rated entry we can score.
The F.E.A.R. games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 3 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
3 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 3 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
3 best F.E.A.R. games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
F.E.A.R.
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
8.0GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceF.E.A.R. at a glance Released 2005 Studio Monolith Productions Player sentiment 94% positive of 19,502 Critics 88/100 Price $9.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 94% shrinks to 93.8 on 19,502 reviews, then blends with the 88 critic aggregate, giving 8.0.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin at a glance Released 2009 Studio Monolith Player sentiment 85% positive of 9,496 Critics 79/100 Price $14.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 0 declared features Raw 85% shrinks to 85.0 on 9,496 reviews, then blends with the 79 critic aggregate, giving 7.3.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
F.E.A.R. 3 at a glance Released 2011 Studio Day 1 Studios Player sentiment 71% positive of 13,667 Critics 74/100 Price $19.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 71% shrinks to 71.4 on 13,667 reviews, then blends with the 74 critic aggregate, giving 6.6.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Best and worst entry
The best-received F.E.A.R. game we can score is F.E.A.R. at 8.0. The lowest is F.E.A.R. 3 at 6.6, a 1.4-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2005 to 2011. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: F.E.A.R. at $9.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: F.E.A.R., the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the F.E.A.R. entries on Steam:
- Playable: F.E.A.R., F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, F.E.A.R. 3
Platforms across the series
Where the 3 F.E.A.R. games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 3 of 3 |
The F.E.A.R. series, game by game
Every F.E.A.R. game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2005
F.E.A.R.
8.0Experience the original F.E.A.R. along with F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate. (Steam)
Reception
The PC version of the original game received very positive reviews, with the AI garnering especial praise. Critics also lauded the graphics , atmosphere, sound design , music, and combat mechanics. Common points of criticism were a lack of enemy variety, a weak plot, and repetitive level design. (Wikipedia)
- 2009
Assume the role of Special Forces Sgt. Becket as your routine mission quickly turns into a fight for survival against the wrath of Alma Wade. As Alma's terrifying power surges out of control, your squad is forced to battle through an apocalyptic landscape in search of clues for how to destroy her! (Steam)
Plot
The game begins thirty minutes before the end of the first game . A Delta Force unit has been deployed to take Genevieve Aristide, president of Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC) into protective custody , in light of fears that the ATC board may be planning to assassinate her so as to silence her. The hand-picked team consists of 1st Sgt. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Project Origin received "generally favorable reviews," with the PC and PlayStation 3 versions holding aggregate scores of 79 out of 100 on Metacritic , based on 49 and forty-eight reviews, respectively. The Xbox 360 version holds a score of 77 out of 100, based on 68 reviews. IGN s Jason Ocampo scored all three versions 8. (Wikipedia)
- 2011
F.E.A.R. 3
6.6F.E.A.R. 3 delivers all the hallmarks that define the F.E.A.R. brand: terrifying paranormal experience, frenetic combat and a dramatic storyline. (Steam)
Plot
The game begins nine months after the events of the first two games. Young Alma is shown sitting at a tree, playing with her doll. She pauses, listening for a moment, but then continues playing. (Wikipedia)
F.E.A.R., head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
F.E.A.R. vs other series
How F.E.A.R. stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: F.E.A.R. vs Quake, F.E.A.R. vs BioShock, F.E.A.R. vs Deep Rock Galactic, F.E.A.R. vs Infestation, F.E.A.R. vs Killing Floor, F.E.A.R. vs Left 4 Dead, F.E.A.R. vs Outlast, F.E.A.R. vs POSTAL, F.E.A.R. vs Thief, F.E.A.R. vs World War, F.E.A.R. vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many F.E.A.R. games are there?
We hold 3 F.E.A.R. games in the catalogue, released between 2005 and 2011. 3 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which F.E.A.R. game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, F.E.A.R. rates highest at 8.0. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the F.E.A.R. games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2005 to 2011. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.