After a disappointing sequel and a cancelled remake, the original Fear Effect is coming to PC 'for the first time ever'

The cast of Fear Effect stand in front of a cyberpunk city background. — (Image credit: Limited Run)

I have fond memories of the original Fear Effect despite never actually owning it. It's one of those games that I enjoyed vicariously by reading about it in magazines, at a time when coveting games was sometimes the closest you'd ever get to actually playing them. It's a phenomenon that probably isn't exclusive to the pre-digital distribution age, but it was certainly more common when games were less readily available.

Anyway, it looks like I might finally be able to play Fear Effect for myself soon, as it's coming to PC "for the first time ever" 25 years on from its original release.

At the time, Fear Effect stood out thanks to its cel-shaded style and flashy cinematics, making it one of the best-looking games around at the turn of the millennium. While it's fair to say this is no longer the case, having rewatched the trailer on the Steam page, the art style holds up pretty darned well. Obviously, I can't comment on how Fear Effect played, but I recall the general consensus being that it was a decent action adventure, if not quite a great one.

Fear Effect | LRG3 Reveal Trailer - YouTube

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I hope that Fear Effect can hold its own in 2025, though, because the series' history on PC is otherwise fairly torrid. A remake of the original Fear Effect, titled Fear Effect Reinvented, was announced in 2017, aiming to reinterpret the fixed-camera original as a third-person shooter à la Resident Evil 4. But this never saw the light of day. Weirdly, its cancellation was never formally announced, but it was confirmed by developer Forever Entertainment via its Discord in 2023.

That leaves us PC gamers with Fear Effect Sedna, the third game in the series, released in 2018. Developed by French outlet Sushee, this reworked Fear Effect as an isometric stealth action game. Sadly, it was pretty universally disliked, garnering a 'Mixed' rating on Steam with 44% positive reviews.

There's no set date for the Fear Effect rerelease—Steam simply says that it's "Coming soon". Let's hope a more definitive launch arrives in short order, and that it doesn't share the same fate as its reinvented overhaul.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.

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