The question I asked myself upon first hearing about F.E.A.R Files was, Is this a sequel to the much acclaimed F.E.A.R? Well no, it’s not. F.E.A.R files is actually the two expansion packs, one that was released last year on the PC titled Extraction Point and a new one going under the name Perseus Mandate. ‘…Files’ sees them put together with added titbits and some multiplayer as a standalone 360 game.
The basis of these expansions, is of course F.E.A.R……and if you’re looking for a return of the distinctly creepy atmosphere, then you’re not going to be disappointed with this FPS. However, if you’re looking for more varied scenery, then holding one’s breath - is not advised…….
We’ll start off with Extraction Point. Beginning straight after the original game ends, your mission and the entire point of the game is to reach extraction point. Although F.E.A.R Files is running on the same engine as F.E.A.R, it somehow manages to look worse. I know I’m probably looking at the original through rose tinted spectacles, mind. The character models look very dated, and as glorious as it is picking a body part to shoot off, when for example, an arm does become unattached, it just kinda flies off, like it wasn’t fixed so good in the first place. The blood is misty and foggy and you’re just wishing you could have seen it all happen using a more advanced engine.
The levels themselves are dreary, with each section of the game seemingly relying on one shade of colour and three styles of crate. Textures I can only assume, got scared and ran away. Movement in and around said levels isn’t as smooth as it should be, I’m not sure if there’s a frame rate problem or not, it just doesn’t seem quite right. That being said, after a while you begin not to take that much notice and I really can’t say it killed the entire experience for me.
The first set piece takes place in a church and although as mentioned, the gore doesn’t look Mortal Kombat awesome, it’s still gore and there’s lots of it! Surely the best way to go about Sunday morning is to blow some soldier type dudes to hell - and man, these guys ain’t going nowhere but - if only their mother knew they spoke the way they did, she’d wash their mouths out! Aside from the sharp tongue, these baddies don’t offer anything more than “Erughhhh” cackles.
What gets my goat about some games, and unfortunately F.E.A.R Files is included, is battery powered torches, that only have about 12 seconds of charge. Man, I hate that. You gotta turn it off to charge it and seeing as how you can pretty much turn it straight back on again, you have to wonder what the point of making them run down in the first place was.
Easily scared? Well, this may be one to avoid. Horror veterans will cope with ease most of the time but there are a couple of instances, for example take a Small room, and an excellently placed piece of music and then BAM! these mother crushers smash straight through a wall! Pretty damn good. Sometimes there’s some really great pieces like this, most of the time however, you’re left wandering corridor after corridor filled with nothing but grey walls. You might end up in a big warehouse once in a while, but there’s really no need for exploration, besides there’s nothing to look for anyway. The level design isn’t dreadful, it’s just rather dull. Point A to point B onto point C finishing at point D, didn’t anyone ever tell them it’s rude to point?
The big exception to the point to point stuff ….well kinda, they don’t really alter anything but they are really cool, is what I like to call Bizarroland off shoots. You’re basically warped from the level you are in to one that looks kind of the same but has blood and guts and other healthy gambits of sickness everywhere. Almost psychedelic, they eerily remind me of Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube. Superb.
Extraction point is noticeably short, all of a sudden it ends and that’s your lot…..or would be if there wasn’t another expansion to play……Perseus Mandate oddly drops you right in the middle of the first game as a secondary unit come to rescue some weak-ass’ that just ain’t tough enough. You play a different lead, but let’s not try and hoodwink anyone here, it may as well be the same dude. All of your weapons are the same, you move the same - even your hands are the same. They could have at least given the new guy an extra thumb or something. You could have your commander issue orders to “Thumb” and have his jobsworths snigger in the background. Man that would have been sweet. Anyhoo, the path has been beaten and I’ve moving off of it, so….
The shonky visuals and level design from Extraction point are present in Perseus Mandate. Seeing as how Mandate is new (Extraction was released early last year on the PC) you hoped for something new. Alas it’s not to be and if the first level of Mandate started right after Extraction ends, you’d be counting very few who’d even notice they were different games.As well as taking on Extractions flaws, Mandate does also swipe its good bits. The enemy AI is fantastic, these baddies are clever buggers and offer a genuine challenge. When you do pick them off, they’ll quite often continue to shoot whilst dying in mid air - a feature made to look even more impressive using you’re limited (but rechargeable) bullet time. Used at just the right time, bullet time can be a life saver and by my reckoning the only way to kill certain not so human critters.
It’s hard to say which of the two expansions is better, they’re identical gameplay wise with the only difference being the story. I may have to lean towards Perseus Mandate on the grounds that it has more of those excellent Bizarroland scenes. The penultimate level at one point has you go into a room only for you to exit into an identical room again and again - the only difference between these rooms is the amount of blood. I thought that was pretty damn great.
As well as a run of the mill online multiplayer, there’s also a mode called ‘Instant Action’. Instant Action is from what I could deduce, an offline, single player multiplayer using bots. Instead of the bots trying to kill you and each other, they just concentrate on, erm….you. It’s a game of survival. You’re scored at the end of 15 minutes or when you die.
I didn’t, couldn’t and wouldn’t ignore F.E.A.R files’ flaws, but when all is said and done I did get some enjoyment out of playing it. By no means is this an easy ride, it’s pretty damn tough playing on default and only appears to be so short because it is technically two games. Each clocks in at about 4 hours so overall it’s not as bad as it first seems. If you’re a big fan of the original, by all means you’ll love this.
