Recently delayed paranormal first person shooter, F.E.A.R. 3 now has a firm release date of March 22, 2011. It won't be too long until it's too scary to play with the lights off for fans of the franchise. In addition, WB Interactive has announced pre-order bonuses through retailers Best Buy, Amazon, and GameStop. What can you expect to get by pre-ordering?

Amazon: A 12-page F.E.A.R. 3 comic book that acts a prequel to the game and takes place after the events of the original F.E.A.R. The story is written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Stefano Raffaele and published by D.C. Comics.

Best Buy: Exclusive access to The Shredder, a choice weapon for taking down rogue super soldiers. The gun fires heavy rounds with nitrates that acts “like a fire breathing dragon in your hand.”

Gamestop: Players will receive The Hammer, Paxton Fettel’s original sidearm. The gun packs .50 caliber rounds that do nearly twice the damage compared to a standard sidearm.

Once again, it's a rather lob-sided decision on who you choose to pre-order from. Comic books are cool (and Steve Niles isn't a hack), but having a fire breathing dragon gun or a .50 caliber handgun seem way better in comparison, especially if you're going to be fighting a load of aberrations, super-soldiers or mechanized warriors.

Since the delay, WB Interactive and Day 1 Studios has been relatively quiet about FEAR 3, only releasing a handful of trailers to keep interest piqued, but the game still looks like it will succeed in the realm of scaring the pants off you. With this firm release date, it will give F.E.A.R. players just enough time to ready your rubber diapers and buy some extra night lights.

The first F.E.A.R. game presented an enjoyable atmosphere and a relatively fresh take on the "monster in the closet" motif. It does take a lot for me to feel weak against monsters and super-soldiers, especially when armed with a plethora of high-powered weapons, but this franchise is able to do just that.

FEAR 3 deals with the end of the world the only way it knows how, with guns on March 22, 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Source: CVG