F.E.A.R. Online beta opens up October 17th

The first free-to-play entry in the F.E.A.R. series is about to open up a beta for PC gamers.

Say what you like about free-to-play games, but this one just might catch your eye since F.E.A.R. Online is actually promising quite a bit for long time series fans and newcomers alike. With the closed beta, well, closed at this point, developer Aeria Games has ‘redesigned’ and ‘adjusted’ the game to a point that they think fans’ll be pretty happy with.

If you played that closed beta, you can now look forward to “new maps, a new scenario, and a redesigned crafting system which allows for making one-of-a-kind weapons”. That last part sounds pretty darn interesting, especially for a free-to-play title.

“We are excited to introduce F.E.A.R. Online to millions of PC gamers with the launch on the Steam platform,” said Dr. Pascal Zuta, CEO of Aeria Games. “Taking player feedback to heart, our team has redesigned elements of the game that are most important to players to deliver an experience that we hope will please the vast and dedicated fan base of the F.E.A.R. series.”

As far as narrative, F.E.A.R. Online does indeed have one- this isn’t just an arcade-y co-op shooter. The story runs “parallel” to the events in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and teams players up to tackle the things that go bump in the Armacham facility. Play is spread across ten levels in total and features squads of four players each that must fight for survival.

You’ll be able to get a full taste for what’s next in the F.E.A.R. franchise though when F.E.A.R. Online hits the PC in open beta form on October 17th. You can grab a download as soon as it becomes available right here on Steam.