Expand your F.E.A.R.

By George Chin

 

Ever since F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon) made its debut on the PC back in 2005, it has left a mark on the video game industry with the blend of horror and action in this intense first person shooter. Many critics such as The New York Times called it “as thrilling and involving as Half-Life”. The second expansion pack, Perseus Mandate, was released on November 6^th for the PC and Xbox 360 combined in the massive expansion pack culmination called F.E.A.R. Files.  It also contains the 1^st expansion pack Extraction Point along with Perseus Mandate.

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate does not follow the same storyline introduced in the first game and instead focuses on a new F.E.A.R. team. Much of the game will take place in the city of Auburn with both the F.E.A.R. team and a group of mercenaries called Nightcrawlers who hope to discover the secret of the Perseus Project.  However, there are many horrors and obstacles in the way of them making this discovery. This standalone expansion pack promises to become a lot more innovative and intense compared to the original F.E.A.R., which is saying a lot. Battles are now intense on a larger scale, and the enemy A.I. has been tweaked to become even more aggressive and smart.

Encounters with the haunting little girl, Alma, from the first game are still present throughout Perseus Mandate. The amount of horror is raised considerably higher, with pools blood appearing mysteriously and Shades, spirits that appear from the floor and grab you with “sequences that are packed with jump-out-of-your-seat moments”. Many news weapons are also introduced such as the new VES Advanced Rifle and a mini-gun. Many hope that Perseus Mandate will wrap up the loose ends in F.E.A.R. from the cliffhanger ending presented in Extraction Point. Jason Ocampo of Gamespot said, “While Perseus Mandate will offer more of the same chills and thrills that we've come to expect from F.E.A.R., perhaps the most welcome addition is the promise that this time the story will actually have some kind of solid resolution”.