The original Fear Effect is set to be remastered for 2018
Do not underestimate the power of PlayStation classics.
It's all about the PS1 in the world of remakes lately -- we've had Crash Bandicoot, we may soon have Spyro, and we will soon have Fear Effect. Eidos's 1999 classic shooter/puzzle title is set to make a return in "reinvented" form, thanks to French studio Sushee -- it'll be out in 2018 on all the major platforms (PC/PS4/Switch/Xbox One), and a teaser trailer for the game has been released that you can see right here.
The original Fear Effect was probably one of the more advanced titles released for the PS1: A big romp of a game taking place over four discs (due to the full motion video backgrounds and cel-shaded graphics) and a plot involving your main character, Hana, and her two partners intending to find the daughter of a Hong Kong Triad boss. It was pretty successful in its time and while there hasn't been a new game in the series since 2000's prequel Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix, there is still a very strong appetite for the continuation of this cyberpunk-drunk title -- Fear Effect was a game that looked pretty wonderful in 1999, and it's no surprise that people would be wondering just how good the game would look if it were to be made now. And so we're going to find out!
Sushee, the developers of this remake, do indeed have a lot of Fear Effect-related stuff on their plate -- they are also currently working on Fear Effect Sedna, a sequel of sorts to the original game that shifts the gameplay to pausable real-time tactical action, and tells the story of how Hana got back with her old compatriots Deke and Glas following the events of the first game. Sedna went through a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2016, and is still scheduled for release later on this year. Fear Effect Reinvented is certainly more in line with the original two games however, as well as the planned third PS2 game Inferno that never materialised.
Aside from the teaser trailer, not a great deal is known about Reinvented and what's going to be different about the game 18 years down the road; all that's been said is that it will feature improved graphics (you'd hope so, otherwise what would be the point?) and improved controls, which was perhaps the only place where the original Fear Effect fell down in the eyes of people, suffering from many of the same problems with controls (irritating cameras, general awkwardness and what have you) in a 3D space as a lot of other games did at the time. Sushee are certainly very enthusiastic about Fear Effect as a series, and Square Enix have given them the keys to the kingdom -- now we must see if both this legend from the PS1 days can be brought back to life, and if anyone's going to do the same for the almighty Syphon Filter. Pretty please? Thanks.
