Conclusion, final thoughts and awards
So let’s bring F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate to a close and do a quick summing up of the whole thing. There are good and bad points to the game and now it’s time to figure out if one outweighs the other.On the upside, if you’re a fan of the F.E.A.R. series then here’s some more of it to blast through and you don’t need the original game to play it as this ‘expansion’ is a standalone game. You’ve got a nice range of weaponry to play with and the gun battles, with the dust and smoke billowing around as you spray bullets wildly around a level still makes for one of the most fun gunfights you can have on a PC.
Click for larger imageThe Nightcrawlers add a new challenge for seasoned F.E.A.R. players but might seem overly tough for anyone giving the F.E.A.R. series a go for the first time… and if you haven’t played the original you’ll find the storyline utterly confusing as there’s loads of references to the original F.E.A.R. The horror/nightmare sections which sadly only seem to crop up in the latter third of the game have to be the highlight of F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, reminiscent of the dream sequences in Max Payne and do F.E.A.R.s Japanese-horror slant some real justice, definitely on a par and perhaps even better than the original.
Click for larger imageBut the real problem is that to get to the new weapons and the scary levels you’ve got to play through the rest of the game which, to be utterly honest, is as disappointing as going to bed with Kiera Knightley and waking up next to Jo Brand.
The vast majority of the areas have been done so often (office corridor, sewer, warehouse, machinery room) that I was half expecting to meet myself coming the other way having crossed over from an inter-dimensional time warp from the original F.E.A.R. and into F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate. And what was pretty cool graphically two years ago is, like fashion, not cool now and the whole thing just looks dated. The opening levels are so bland and lacking in detail I almost thought I’d loaded up CS:1.6 by mistake.
Click for larger imageSo on balance, I’d have to say that even if you’re a fan of F.E.A.R., F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate is absolutely pushing the limits of what you’d tolerate as being a worthwhile purchase. And by that I mean that you should think long and hard about buying this as ultimately, bar maybe 15 minutes of originality, F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate does nothing except pad out the franchise when really it should be laid to rest or be given a complete overhaul and a new engine under the hood.
Pros
Some great scary moments later on
Nice new weapons
F.E.A.R.s great AI
Gun battles are great fun
Cons
Dull and bland levels for the most part
Repetitive gameplay
Very little new to offer
Contrived story that relies on knowing the original
F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate: a digital example of flogging a dead horse
HEXUS Awards
F.E.A.R Perseus Mandate - PC
It does what it says on the tin
It does what it says on the tin
