Fear Effect Coming to Modern Consoles, Steam After Nearly Three Decades

A classic game from the PlayStation 1 era, Fear Effect, will be coming to modern consoles and PCs nearly three decades after it was originally released.

The game, as well as its sequel, are probably most known for their titillating magazine ads and the franchise was considered a decent action-adventure series during its time. Now, with the help of Square Enix and Limited Run Games, the original title will make a comeback next year.

Fear Effect Coming to Modern Consoles

The official blurb for the upcoming game reads, "A lost classic finally returns," adding that Fear Effect challenged assumptions about game aesthetics and art style when it came out. Now, decades later, the game's distinct mixture of cell-shading and motion video is still stunning to see.

What a lot of people should note with the announcement of the game making a comeback is that Fear Effect has not entirely been forgotten in recent years. In 2018, it got an isometric tactics title, Fear Effect Sedna, that was available for PlayStation 4 players, according to PushSquare.

However, that particular game was not well-received among players and a lot of reviews gave it abysmal ratings.

One review wrote that while in theory, it ticked all of the required boxes, it failed to deliver a good story-driven real-time strategy game. This was partly due to lackluster voice acting, bad combat encounters, and other issues.

The original Fear Effect title debuted on PlayStation 1 in 2000, it introduced many interesting and experimental mechanics and features for its time. The game became known as one of the first to use cel-shading for its graphics.

Additionally, it was able to avoid the trope of using pre-rendered backgrounds and instead opted to use looping-full motion video. Despite its innovative features, the PS1 classic ended up coming on four discs to play, which made it a hassle to complete for gamers at the time.

But now, Limited Run Games will bring a modernized Fear Effect next year and a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a short trailer of the game. It included the note that it was coming in both physical and digital editions, said GameRant.

No Xbox Release

The reveal also confirmed that the upcoming game will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. On the other hand, a release for Xbox was noticeably absent from the news, which led to many disappointed fans.

While there was no reasoning given as to why the new Fear Effect title was not coming to Xbox consoles, this was something similar seen with the Tomba Limited Run Games release. Some have speculated that this is because the titles run on PS1-emulated software.

The original Fear Effect's charm did not lie in its apparent fixed-action camera mechanics but rather in its influence from both survival horror and cinematic platform games. In the game, you will switch between different characters at set story moments.

You will also have to solve various puzzles and experience distinct combat encounters. In some moments, there will be new screens that offer up insta-death setpieces you need to carefully consider, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.