Ok, so i' ve finally got hold of the demo (which isn' t available on XBLM) that some of our US users have already played, and i' m surprisingly impressed.

The demo level is the first level in the PC game and ends in the warehouse with the juggernaut crashing through the window. The weapons, enemies, level layout, item locations etc are all exactly as they were in the PC version (although the developers promise console specific content such as the dual machine pistols in the 360 version).

I' ll start by saying that the game look better in every respect than Condemned which is already a very nice looking game. The textures are sharper (except on ladders), the shadowing and lighting are superb (and that was one of Condemneds strongest points). The enemy character models look more detailed than in the PC version of FEAR, the weapons look nicer and the explosions, fire effects, slow-mo, and water effects etc are all improved, the explosions and water effects especially.

The physics are still floaty like in the PC version which isn' t exactly a bad thing but can be slightly annoying, and the AI seems to be better.

The contols are perfect with the exception leaning which is mapped to the d-pad, making moving and leaning impossible. But the thing that did really impress me was that it' s nowhere near as forgiving as most console FPS games. The guns are highly accurate and you' ll only hit what you' re aiming at, ...there seems to be very little assistance.

It runs at 60fps which appears to be constsnt with no drops and the melee combat works better mapped to the pad than it did a keyboard.

I' m impressed. I didn' t really enjoy the PC version and found it lacking in many areas but the console revision both looks and feels better in almost every respect. Some of the improvements aren' t huge, some aren' t even big, but almost everything seems to have been tweaked and improved and the end result is a game i ill definately be buying and can' t wait to play it online.

I' m not 100% sure whether the demo is exactly the same as the one available in the US as some people who played it stateside reported bugs and physics glitches. I' ve played it through about 14 or so times now and have looked at everything i can to try and find any problems. I have fairly high standards for FPS games which is why i got rid of Quake 4, PDZ and Far Cry Instincts Predator. Hopefully the PS3 version will be just as good.

For anybody in Europe who hasn' t played it but wants to, it' s available on this months OXM coverdisc.