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To Make the Game Work

FEAR and the expansions all require this patch to play smoothly on modern hardware.
https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/789-directinput-fps-fix/
The base game and Perseus Mandate can run without any problem with the patch. However, I still experienced issues with Extraction Point, including no 2560*1440 resolution (require manual modification to game file), the bug “disconnecting from server”, stutter and crashes. I got by just fine by relaunching the game, but there are multiple fixes online you can try if they bother you.

Gameplay

FEAR is a horror and tactical shooter. Players are to investigate a gruesome paranormal incident as a military specialist who can enable bullet time with super reflexes. Players have this crucial edge otherwise are in plain field with enemies as both only take a few shots to go down.
As enemies powered by smart AIs constantly outnumber players, it is necessary to peek through corners and deal with enemies beforehand, where the claustrophobic environments play an important role - tight rooms, narrow corridors and obstacles can be your advantage as concealments and your disadvantage as hinders of sight, creating a thrilling, tight paced, lifelike tactical shooting experience. Of course, you can always make your life easier with bullet time, and the slow-motion effect combined with the powerful punch from shotgun is immensely satisfying.

Environement Design

This game has quite an achievement with the environment. Not only does it help shape the gameplay, the art direction also gives the game a timeless look, with impressive environmental destruction for its time and some amazing light effects even for today.
More importantly, the environments are so good in building the atmosphere: the combination of claustrophobic environments, desolation and a greyish color tone generate a bleak and dreadful vibe; and the clever use of darkness and shadows with some old but gold tricks, such as ominous music and grotesque bodies, makes an unsettling ambiance. While the game may not be the most terrifying, it gives players a great taste of unnerving.
As great as it is, environmental design is not without its shortcomings. While the game uses a lot of tricks to successfully make levels not feel as linear as they are, environments are repetitive and lack variety. This reminds me of why Resident Evil always has distinct environments in different parts of the games, because looking at the same environment too long causes fatigue, especially for games like FEAR that primarily happens in small space, it can be very depressing and exhausting. It is even worse playing the base game and Extraction Point back-to-back, where the environment is equally if not more closed up and depressing. Therefore, it is relieving and refreshing that Perseus Mandate has players in more open and bigger space throughout the game.
Another problem is that the spooky sequences heavily rely on players looking at the right place at the right time, otherwise they might completely miss it. Additionally, after a while, it becomes predictable as players start to see the pattern of shooting level then spooky level, where players never get hurt, subtracting lots of tension.

Story

As far as the story goes, it depends on missable audio logs to supplement the details and the presentation is not as cinematic as modern games. With the subtitles too small for modern resolution monitors (fixable with a patch), the story requires some attention to follow, otherwise there is nothing particularly noteworthy.
On a side note, the stories of Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate are considered non-canon. I am glad they are because their stories can cause continuity issues with the base game.

Verdict

Despite the flaws, FEAR is still a classic with exciting tactical gameplay. It got me hooked in the singleplayer tactical shooter genre and I would love to see the series's revival.