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IGN Review of F.E.A.R. Files
Back in 2005, development house Monolith turned loose F.E.A.R. and Condemned on the gaming world and we haven't had a good night's sleep since. It took a full year after its release on PC for F.E.A.R. to make it to the console world and another still for the first expansion. A series of confusing publishing and intellectual property rights issues haven't made the ride any smoother, as development and porting duties shifted to TimeGate and Day 1. Most people probably care little who made the game, so long as it's here and it's good. Well, it's here. Fans of F.E.A.R. will surely find some fun, but this content rich expansion disc doesn't excite as much as the original.
The meat of F.E.A.R. Files is found in Extraction Point, the expansion released on PC over a year ago, and Perseus Mandate, the latest expansion. Rather than releasing the two expansion packs on their own through a retail release or download, Sierra decided to lump them together into one release for Xbox 360. Add in some new Instant Action scenarios and multiplayer features and you have what the publisher hopes is an enticing enough chunk of gaming to convince F.E.A.R. fans to part with their money. There's no doubt that it sounds like a pretty darn good deal on paper. Whether F.E.A.R. Files fits the billing or not is another story entirely.
The good news is that the gameplay is still as solid as ever. Bullet-time game mechanics are a dime a dozen these days, but the wonderful arsenal of weapons, great A.I. and moody atmosphere of the F.E.A.R. world keep this franchise at the head of the pack. Pulling out a combat shotgun and laying into an enemy in slow motion until he literally explodes into a cloud of blood and guts is just as disturbingly satisfying as ever. The enemies, too, move with that great F.E.A.R. AI that still doesn't feel dated despite first being unleashed two years ago.
The visuals, though, do feel dated. Whether the reason for the lowly visuals is another year of advancing technology or a less than perfect PC to console port matters little. The simple fact is that F.E.A.R. Files on the console doesn't look as good as the F.E.A.R. expansions do on PC. The prime culprit is the texture work which looks low-res on an HD set. The cut-scenes, particularly the one that kicks off Extraction Point, are underwhelming to say the least. It will almost make you wonder why you ever thought F.E.A.R. looked good in the first place.
The truly disappointing part to F.E.A.R. Files isn't just that it's more of the same; it's that the presentation of those original ideas isn't of the same caliber. The scare tactics and action sequences are quite similar, but the use of them isn't nearly as effective. To be fair, there are a good number of moments in the expansions that offer legitimate fright. By no means is this a game for the easily spooked. Nor is it a game for the kids since it has cursing, blood, and gore all present in great quantities.
However, rather than cleverly combining the tension of fighting with heart racing scare sequences, Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate prefer the brute force technique, often hitting you over the head with lengthy hallucination sequences. In Extraction Point, one entire level is just filled with creepy events and nearly devoid of fighting. A different level pits you against one mechanical walker after another in sequence with only a conveniently placed ammo dump to separate them. Perseus Mandate goes a step further and offers a mundane experience the whole way through. Perhaps it is a case of the Alma shtick wearing thin
Telephones and laptops are once again scattered throughout each stage for players to seek out. In the expansions, though, they're little more than collectibles as they offer virtually no sub-plot. The tales for the two expansions are thin enough as it is that the lack of sub-plot is sorely missed.
That's not to say that everything is just a weak rehash of the first game. New weapons are introduced including a lighting arc gun, laser carbine, mini-gun, auto turret, and scope equipped advanced rifle. Though you're still butting heads with the Armacham soldiers and Paxton's Replicant army throughout the expansions, new enemies are dropped in to spice things up. Some offer more pep than others (The new Nightcrawlers are a nice idea, but their tendency to stand in one place shooting for extended periods of time defeats the purpose of their lightning fast speed). The best addition to the gameplay, however, is that larger scale battles occur more frequently. Enemies still prefer to travel in groups of three, but large scale ambushes are a common occurrence and a great change of pace from the standard corridor shooting.
The disc is rounded out with new multiplayer maps for use on Xbox Live. All of the new weapons are tossed into the frenetic mix, livening up the action a bit. However, you don't need us to tell you that a few new maps and weapons aren't enough to keep up with the rest of the online shooter world. The F.E.A.R. community would have been better served by making this multiplayer content available as a download to keep the fan base in one place rather than fracturing it.
©2007-11-06, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The meat of F.E.A.R. Files is found in Extraction Point, the expansion released on PC over a year ago, and Perseus Mandate, the latest expansion. Rather than releasing the two expansion packs on their own through a retail release or download, Sierra decided to lump them together into one release for Xbox 360. Add in some new Instant Action scenarios and multiplayer features and you have what the publisher hopes is an enticing enough chunk of gaming to convince F.E.A.R. fans to part with their money. There's no doubt that it sounds like a pretty darn good deal on paper. Whether F.E.A.R. Files fits the billing or not is another story entirely.
The good news is that the gameplay is still as solid as ever. Bullet-time game mechanics are a dime a dozen these days, but the wonderful arsenal of weapons, great A.I. and moody atmosphere of the F.E.A.R. world keep this franchise at the head of the pack. Pulling out a combat shotgun and laying into an enemy in slow motion until he literally explodes into a cloud of blood and guts is just as disturbingly satisfying as ever. The enemies, too, move with that great F.E.A.R. AI that still doesn't feel dated despite first being unleashed two years ago.
The visuals, though, do feel dated. Whether the reason for the lowly visuals is another year of advancing technology or a less than perfect PC to console port matters little. The simple fact is that F.E.A.R. Files on the console doesn't look as good as the F.E.A.R. expansions do on PC. The prime culprit is the texture work which looks low-res on an HD set. The cut-scenes, particularly the one that kicks off Extraction Point, are underwhelming to say the least. It will almost make you wonder why you ever thought F.E.A.R. looked good in the first place.
The truly disappointing part to F.E.A.R. Files isn't just that it's more of the same; it's that the presentation of those original ideas isn't of the same caliber. The scare tactics and action sequences are quite similar, but the use of them isn't nearly as effective. To be fair, there are a good number of moments in the expansions that offer legitimate fright. By no means is this a game for the easily spooked. Nor is it a game for the kids since it has cursing, blood, and gore all present in great quantities.
However, rather than cleverly combining the tension of fighting with heart racing scare sequences, Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate prefer the brute force technique, often hitting you over the head with lengthy hallucination sequences. In Extraction Point, one entire level is just filled with creepy events and nearly devoid of fighting. A different level pits you against one mechanical walker after another in sequence with only a conveniently placed ammo dump to separate them. Perseus Mandate goes a step further and offers a mundane experience the whole way through. Perhaps it is a case of the Alma shtick wearing thin
Telephones and laptops are once again scattered throughout each stage for players to seek out. In the expansions, though, they're little more than collectibles as they offer virtually no sub-plot. The tales for the two expansions are thin enough as it is that the lack of sub-plot is sorely missed.
That's not to say that everything is just a weak rehash of the first game. New weapons are introduced including a lighting arc gun, laser carbine, mini-gun, auto turret, and scope equipped advanced rifle. Though you're still butting heads with the Armacham soldiers and Paxton's Replicant army throughout the expansions, new enemies are dropped in to spice things up. Some offer more pep than others (The new Nightcrawlers are a nice idea, but their tendency to stand in one place shooting for extended periods of time defeats the purpose of their lightning fast speed). The best addition to the gameplay, however, is that larger scale battles occur more frequently. Enemies still prefer to travel in groups of three, but large scale ambushes are a common occurrence and a great change of pace from the standard corridor shooting.
The disc is rounded out with new multiplayer maps for use on Xbox Live. All of the new weapons are tossed into the frenetic mix, livening up the action a bit. However, you don't need us to tell you that a few new maps and weapons aren't enough to keep up with the rest of the online shooter world. The F.E.A.R. community would have been better served by making this multiplayer content available as a download to keep the fan base in one place rather than fracturing it.
©2007-11-06, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved