As has been the trend with Xbox, the Xbox 360 has seen numerous ports of successful PC games in the short time its been around, and this November, Microsoft's off-white box of next-generation wizardry will play host to another in the form of F.E.A.R (or First Encounter Assault Recon), an aptly named first person shooter that goes for spine-tingling tension and full-on trouser-soiling scares, along with the standard all-out gunplay typical of the genre. Microsoft recently let a demo loose on the Xbox Live Marketplace and if it's anything to go by, the finished game may well prove itself as one of the best first person shooters on the console so far.

Originally developed by Monolith - who later went on to create the similarly spooky Condemned: Criminal Origins - the F.E.A.R. port is being handled by Day 1 Studios and once again sees players taking control of the point man of a special forces team that deals with threats that the standard police forces or military cannot handle; namely those of the paranormal variety, a theme that runs strongly through the entire game. After being sent in to investigate a strange disturbance at an industrial complex, the point man is soon haunted by and witness to some bizarre - and downright disturbing - visions and goings-on, including Alma, a ghostly figure of a young girl who appears frequently throughout and plays a large part of the sinister plot.

The actual running and gunning of F.E.A.R. is fairly straightforward but fun nonetheless, and chucks in some different gameplay aspects. The biggest is the slow motion technique, similar to those seen in Max Payne, where the movement of enemies is slowed down significantly while your own movement is slowed down just a smidge, so you can run circles around them. Although only for a couple of seconds mind you - your slow motion meter gradually refills, but it only lasts a short time, so you'll need to think cleverly while using it. And use it you shall, because the A.I. in F.E.A.R. is nothing short of astounding; you're very rarely faced with a single enemy, usually finding yourself outgunned every step of the way, and the A.I. enemies really work as a team. You've heard this claim made about countless games before now, but believe it - if you don't play it smart in F.E.A.R. you're going to get your arse handed to you. Your opponents will be ducking and using cover, attempting to flank you and holding back if things aren't going their way. Luckily, F.E.A.R. delivers the goods in terms of weaponry - along with generic FPS firearms such as pistols, machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers and grenades, it also packs more unconventional guns, such as the particle rifle, which reduces enemies to skeletons in a deliciously brutal fashion, and a nail gun that can actually nail enemies to walls (even by their heads) and might just be the most entertaining gun since Turok's almighty Cerebral Bore.

F.E.A.R. strives to truly excel in conveying a strong sense of tension and dread, no more so than during scripted sequences designed to disorientate and generally give players a severe case of "the jibblies." A prime example - I was running along a catwalk and came across a ladder. When this happens, you're required to press a button to make the character turn around a climb down it. So I pressed the button… and BAM! That creepy Alma girl was all of a sudden right up in my face… just standing there, giggling. Believe me, it scared the hell out of me even after playing through a second and (feel free to mock me here) third time. [I'm with you on that one - I actually cried out loud when that happened to me! Still, if I will insist on playing scary games in the dark, alone, at night… Scare-Ed]. Another example - you enter a corridor, run down it, go to open the door and it eerily fades away. You turn around and go back down the corridor only for it to suddenly seem completely different, akin to a medical facility of some kind. Plus you've been forced into slow motion. You can hear the point man's heartbeat racing. A copious amount of blood is oozing down the walls and Alma appears once again - on the ceiling. You try to open the door you came through, only to have a ghost smash through the glass and disappear just as it gets in your face. Then everything's back to normal. Seriously, these sequences have to be seen to be believed. [He's right - that was another very frightening experience! Terrify-Ed].

The Xbox 360 version of F.E.A.R. looks just as excellent as the PC version, even at this point in its development. Light and shadow are sublimely used to evoke the eerie atmosphere that the game is aiming for, plus the environmental (although not particularly varied) nuzzle flare and warping effects used in regards to explosions all look absolutely spectacular. And who knows what extra bells and whistles Day 1 might add before the final release. Add to this a 360-specific single player mission, an Instant Action mode that pits you against the advanced A.I. in a competitive mode that tracks ammo and med-kits used, firearm and melee kills, multiple kills and such, along with an exclusive weapon in the form of dual-wielding submachine guns plus a 16-player Xbox Live mode which supports deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination, team elimination and capture the flag, and you've got plenty of reasons to get very excited about F.E.A.R.'s 360 debut. With the release getting oh so close, you won't have long to wait - and AceGamez will be there to give you the final verdict when that day rolls around.

Previewed by Mark Reece for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).