FEAR 3 hands-on E3 impressions

I think I'm going to need a co-op partner to play FEAR 3 with me, for very selfish reasons. Played in single-player as The Point Man, it's pretty much the same old paranormal shooter, slow motion power and all. In co-op however, you can assume control of the vastly more interesting Paxton Fettle - the first game's villain, now a ghost - and run around stunning and possessing people while your partner does the shooting.

As I played through the opening level as Point Man I was definitely jealous of the other guy, though I was still having fun shooting Armacham mercs, demonic dog-things and zombies. The mech sequences are especially improved as compared to their appearance FEAR 2—in that game they looked pretty, but were "meh" because they had no extra abilities to keep them from being more than walking turrets. FEAR 3's mechs, by comparison, have a toggleable shield that protects you from fire but prevents you from using your missiles. That alone makes it significantly more interesting. But, since Fettle can inhabit an unsuspecting Armacham soldier and use his body to pilot a mech as well, I'd much rather play as the cool brother.

Click to embiggen the screenshots.