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N6A3 Fragmentation Grenades are weapons that appear in F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point, F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and F.E.A.R. 3.
Both Timelines
F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon
N6A3 Fragmentation Grenades are thrown explosives set on a timer. Despite this, contact with an enemy will cause the grenades to explode instantly. Once the handle is released, the seconds count down to detonation. If a live grenade is spotted in the vicinity, the player's best bet is to get away quickly. Grenades can be used to flush enemies out of hiding, and to quickly harm or kill otherwise unreachable enemies. Note that it is possible to shoot grenades in the air, causing them to detonate instantly. Because the grenade will explode upon contact, its not recommended to use grenade while enemy is very close, the players can be killed by their own grenade. The self-inflicted damage from N6A3 is so huge that its possible to kill the Point Man with his own grenade even on Moderate difficulty. The N6A3 in F.E.A.R. and its non-cannon expansions has no "cooking" ability, the player can hold it as long as they want before throwing it.
An effectively way to use grenade is to combine it with Slow-Mo; use Slow-Mo first, pop out and throw grenade at the enemy then back to cover. This method looks simple but very effective against most enemies the player will encounter, since the N6A3 will explode upon contact, the opponent will often touch the grenade before they can run. Also, while in Slow-Mo, they will less likely to fire at the player. However, this method has its own risk, there is always a chance that the grenade may touch something if the player does not throw it properly, causing it to miss or bounce back to the player. Fragmentation Grenade is a valuable gadget for the player, as the Grenade is capable of killing most type of enemies in a direct hit, even heavy armor will be stunned, giving the player time for follow-up attacks.
Notably, enemies will usually announce that a grenade has been thrown, giving the Point Man time to move away before the explosion. Even if he does not hear the warning, the grenade will make sound when impacts the ground or floor, notifying him to vacate the immediate area.
Monolith Timeline
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
PDA listing
- Main article: Frag Grenade
The N6A3 Fragmentation Grenade is a steel bodied sphere designed to burst into numerous fragments when detonated. Composition 'B' plastic explosives packed inside the grenade provide its explosive power. The weapon has an effective kill radius of 5 meters and is useful against entrenched or defiladed hostiles.
Description
The N6A3 hand grenade returns in the sequel but behaves differently. Most notably, thrown grenades no longer detonate immediately on contact with hostiles, although the grenade will do a small amount of damage which thrown at someone. Additionally, the player can "cook" hand grenades by holding the throw grenade button; a 5 tick fuse will be shown on the screen until the grenade button is released. Most hostiles in the game will attempt to flee from a live grenade, thus Becket has to time correctly to harm the enemy without blowing himself up. Its possible to get harmed by the grenade if player does not release the grenade until the fourth or the last tick of fuse, a common trick is to release the grenade when it counts at the third tick, this will make the grenade very difficult to avoid for the enemy, provided the player does not panic and throw it in the wrong direction or allow the grenade to touch the debris and bounce back. The enemy uses grenades against the player much more often than in the original F.E.A.R. However, the enemy AI is not smart enough to time the fuse, which means an alert player usually has enough time to run for cover before the grenade detonates. The grenades also make a sound when they drop on the ground or touch the wall, giving Becket more warning if he didn't see the grenade coming. On Hard its best to get away from live grenades as fast as possible, usually the N6A3 will kill the players when they are inside the blast radius, say 5 meters.
In F.E.A.R. 2, hand grenades glow yellow when active (i.e., having been thrown), which makes them easier to spot in the firefight. Enemies are more likely to throw grenades when there is a stand-off between them and the player.
Many hostile infantries will drop a usable N6A3 when killed, especially when the player is runing low. Which means the player will usually have enough for most battles.
F.E.A.R. 3
The N6A3 makes a return in F.E.A.R 3, with most of the characteristics seen in F.E.A.R. 2, except now the grenade will explode immediately on contact with an enemy, and grenades will no longer explode in the player's hand when the fifth tick is reached when "cooking" the grenade, thus its almost always safe to cook the grenade, unlike in F.E.A.R. 2. Frag Grenades are quite common, being most often found in weapons stashes and occasionally dropped by Armacham soldiers and Replica shotgunners if the player is running low.
Enemies will often shout when they will toss a grenade, giving the player time to move from the blast zone. When in both "idle" and "active" (i.e. having been thrown) states, the grenades produce a bright red glow, making them easier to spot in dark areas, in addition to the bright yellow word "FRAG" printed on the side of the grenade. Also, like Zap grenades, the N6A3 emits a beeping sound and red blinking light while active. One thing the player should take note of is that the N6A3 will go off when shot, whether it is armed or not, this applies to Zap grenade as well. Also if a live N6A3 is near the player, a red warning icon acts as grenade danger indicater, this make the easier to get out of the blast zone in time.
Frag grenades appear in all Intervals except Interval 08.
Trivia
- Despite being used in all the F.E.A.R. titles to date, the N6A3 has a significantly different appearance in all three titles, yet bears the same name.
- In F.E.A.R. 3, 10 kills with N6A3 will unlock "Hot Potato" challenge that grants the player 3500 points. Also, 3 kills in one N6A3 will unlock the "Menage!" challenge that grant the player 1500 points.
- Unlike in F.E.A.R. 2 when "cooking" a grenade, in F.E.A.R. 3 grenades no longer explode in the player's hand, instead, when the fifth tick is reached the player will throw the grenade about 12 feet away.
- The N6A3 in F.E.A.R. and its non-cannon expansions draws elements from the American M67 Fragmentation grenade and British No.15 "Ball" grenade, while in later games the design is largely based on American M26 grenade.
- In F.E.A.R. 3 concept art, the grenade bears resemblance to the Russian RGO Impact grenade, and in-game it behaves similar to that.
- In F.E.A.R. 3, the frag grenade seems to almost "stick" to the floor to a degree, as thrown grenades travel for a certain distance (which is shortened if the player has cooked the grenade) and then "stick" to the floor until they explode, though it will not stick to walls or ceilings. This peculiar ability is not displayed in other F.E.A.R. games.
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