FEAR OF FAITH
Preview

FEAR OF FAITH is an ambitious and chaotic co-op survival horror extraction game that mixes the horrors of Amnesia: The Bunker with the hecticness of Lethal Company in an Early Access state. It is a game full of unique mechanics, amazing art style, and hilarious moments despite some mechanical issues typical for early access titles.

Divine Extraction Loop

In FEAR OF FAITH, you have to raid a cursed dieselpunk bunker, search corpses, extract a green substance called SYNTRUM, and get out alive. This loop itself wouldn't be very original, but what makes this game so special is the deep integration of physics and magic.

As a part of your class (there are 4 types of priests), you have different passive abilities and spells you can cast. This magic system is awesome because it interacts with the environment in such an interesting way. For example, if you see a puddle of oil, you can ignite it. When a ghoul catches one of your teammates in a flooded room, you can shock water. Also, you can transform the scariest monsters into tiny rats if you wish.

All those spells drain "FAITH" bar that controls "FEAR" bar. If the latter fills up, you are hunted by some entity known as "SHE". You can become a ghoul or even worse. So how do you control your "FEAR"? By finding light sources, starting diesel generators, or drinking beer, of course!

Physics, Panic, and Team-Kills

The place where FEAR OF FAITH shines is its fully physicalized inventory and interaction with the environment. All objects you pick up can be used, thrown, or even put back in the environment from your hands. You can slowly unlock the door to peek at the tripwires or kick it with all your strength.

Since the whole mechanics rely on the physics engine, there is always a chance that your teammates will accidentally wipe you out of existence. They can easily grab objects you are trying to give to them, for example. Seeing how a teammate tries to juggle a boombox, a shotgun, and an active grenade while a mutated spider is attacking him is simply hilarious!

Monsters in FEAR OF FAITH are quite scary, mostly because of the unpredictability of their behavior. You can pass them silently with the Silent Step skill, but next time they can attack you without a reason. Currently, the problem with the melee combat is the clunky hitboxes. It is easy to accidentally bash your friend's head with a lead pipe instead of the monster in front of you.

Early Access Flaws and Atmosphere

Featuring impressive graphics on Unreal Engine 5, FEAR OF FAITH has an excellent lighting system that plays a huge role in the game. Deep shadows contrast with gunshots or the glow of spells, adding a lot of atmosphere to the game.

Still, FEAR OF FAITH is clearly an Early Access game, and there are some flaws because of this. At the moment, you can only play two game modes, namely, 3-day extraction that ends up in a difficult B.O.S.S. fight or endless bunker survival mode. These boss fights currently become the most annoying aspect. Spending 40 minutes searching the bunker and carefully collecting the items, you can lose all of it within 2 minutes after starting a fight with a massive gatling-mech.

There are some minor economy bugs, for instance, you can sell half-empty cans for money, and sometimes there are memory leaks that cause performance stuttering. However, the developers are very responsive, and they fix the problems fast, often making hotfixes.

Conclusion

FEAR OF FAITH is executed with so much passion and originality that I can't help recommending it. The game just needs a bit of patience.

Just don't throw the grenades at your medic.