We've got the FEAR

In among the seemingly endless slew of sequels at this year's E3, one of the more discreet highlights of the show was first-person shooter FEAR, which is currently being developed by Monolith Productions - the people behind Aliens vs Predator 2, No One Lives Forever and Tron 2.0.

FEAR (First Encounter Assault and Recon, in case you were wondering) is based around an "unidentified paramilitary force infiltrating a multi-billion dollar aerospace compound" in order to fend off some mysterious intruders.

Unfortunately, the special forces are quickly torn apart by the unknown enemies, which means it's down to you (yes, you!) to eliminate them (it says here) at any cost. Strewth.

Publishers Vivendi describe the game as The Matrix meets The Ring - and, if they manage to pull that off, we're clearly in for a treat. Certainly the video presentation that we saw at E3 bodes well, with its combination of Bullet Time-style effects and truly creepy supernatural goings-on (girl walks on ceiling before gutting one poor soldier) in realistic-looking environments.

We're hoping to have loads more on FEAR in the coming months but, for now, have a gander at these first ever screenshots.

FEAR is due to be released for PC in 2005