F.E.A.R: Guide on weapons – The AT-14 gun and RPL sub-machine gun

F.E.A.R. is considered one of the goriest and most frightening titles to have come out in recent years. Aside from combat it also features some psychological elements which will keep the player constantly aware of his surroundings. As in any science fiction, the evolvement of suspense into the inevitable looming of a deus-ex machina (i.e. the telepathic maniac in the game) is always a danger, but this doesn’t particularly detract from the experience; F.E.A.R is all about its action after all, and the story’s development is relatively unimportant.

Here we will concentrate solely on some of the weapons available in the game. You can carry three weapons only so you will need to choose between what is essential to you, and what you can do without. As the article unfolds, this decision should be a little less difficult.

Each weapon has a ‘movement penalty’ and an ‘armor penetration’. The movement penalty simply means the actual weight of the weapon and how it will slow you down once equipped; this doesn’t count if you are just carrying the weapon, only if you equip it. The armor penetration is a percentage which tells you how much damage you can inflict and how much your enemy (or whatever you are shooting at) will be able to absorb. For instance, a 30% value will mean that your foe is able to absorb 70% of damage inflicted and hence will be harder to kill.

AT-14 – The Rakow AT-14 is a single-shot gun and is only useful against certain types of enemies, like ATC guards. AT-14’s form the standard equipment of any FEAR soldier, but it is quite difficult to find discarded ammunition due to the fact that no enemy carries such weapons. If you have two of these guns you can equip both of them simultaneously and increase fire-rate and damage, although your accuracy is reduced somewhat since you have double the recoil. The best way to use these guns is when you encounter a fast enemy, like a ‘nightmare’ for example.

The AT-14 holds 18 rounds in a magazine and 100 rounds maximum. Its base damage is 40. Armor penetration is 30% and movement penalty is 5%.

RPL – This is a sub-machine gun, hence capable of automatic fire. It has a short to medium-range and slightly heavy kickback, which results in the weapon being less accurate. However, you will use this particularly because of its ability to spray bullets. A lot of your foes will carry these weapons at the beginning of the campaign and are particularly vulnerable to them.

The RPL holds 50 rounds in a magazine and 500 rounds maximum. Its base damage is 15. Armor penetration is 30% and movement penalty is 5%.