I got my first taste of F.E.A.R. not with the first, innovative title, but with the second: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
It's a legendary series that mixes genres one wouldn't normally think would go well together: first-person action shooters and horror. A mix of firepower, slow-mo John Woo style gun play, and reactive enemy AI unlike what many had encountered before.
This started with the original and continued with the sequel, the latter adding in more horror elements while cutting out a few of the more unique shooter aspects such as the ability to lean around walls.
And of course, those are only the first two mainline games in the series. I haven't even mentioned the expansions, which were made by entirely separate developers, nor the the fact that the original creators, Monolith Productions, nearly lost out on the rights to their game.
This and more, however, is covered in the latest in-depth documentary from the YouTube channel GVMERS. Covering the stories behind some of gaming's biggest franchises, their latest is a deep dive into the history of the F.E.A.R. franchise. With particular interest into the rise and fall of the game, the video goes into the struggle between publisher and developer, fan reception and critical feedback.
Check it out for yourself. It's a doozy at almost an hour long, but the lengths it goes to is inspiring.
