Play Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 6 playedRelease order. Expansions grouped with the first game, then the canon sequels, then the shuttered Online.
- 1 F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon Monolith original. The entry point and still the best game in the series.
- 2 F.E.A.R. Extraction Point TimeGate expansion. Grouped with the original; later declared non-canon.
- 3 F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate Second TimeGate expansion. Also non-canon, runs parallel to the first game.
- 4 F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Monolith's canon sequel as Michael Becket. Includes the Reborn DLC bridge to F.3.A.R.
- 5 F.3.A.R. Day 1 Studios finale with co-op leads and two endings.
- 6 F.E.A.R. Online Free-to-play multiplayer from Inplay. Servers shut May 2015; unplayable now.
About F.E.A.R.
Release order is the play order for the horror shooters: F.E.A.R. (2005), the two TimeGate expansions Extraction Point (2006) and Perseus Mandate (2007), F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009) and F.3.A.R. (2011). Release order keeps Alma's story reveals in the sequence players first saw them.
New players should start with the 2005 original, still the high point for enemy AI and slow-motion gunfights. The two expansions contradict the later sequels, so treat them as alternate timelines. F.E.A.R. Online (2014) shut down in 2015 and is listed for completeness only.
Good to know
Monolith confirmed Project Origin ignores both expansions, so continuity here is loose: the canon path runs F.E.A.R. to Project Origin (plus its 2009 Reborn DLC) to F.3.A.R. Day 1 Studios built F.3.A.R. around co-op with two endings. The full series is backward compatible on Xbox. Nothing new has been announced since Online closed, so the series reads as finished.
