 "F.E.A.R. Extraction Point")
I’ve proclaimed my love for F.E.A.R., time and time again and since I have no better way of starting this review, I’m going to do it once more. First Encounter Assault Recon (F.E.A.R.) totally blew me away with its fast paced, hyper-kinetic gameplay and insane John Woo-ish slow motion sequences that made for some wickedly memorable battles. Add to that a whole lot of environmental destruction and nifty particle effects and you have a game that can be replayed over and over again. If that wasn’t enough, Monolith also added in a ton of “Whoa WTF was that” scares (inspired by Japanese horror flicks) in between all the frantic action that managed to add a whole new dimension to the game.
Unfortunately, most of the game took place in bland, monotonous and repetitive environments and eventually the game boiled down to a simple and linear corridor shooter. Now if you could make your peace with the above mentioned flaws, you could really enjoy this game (just like I did), and if you did, you’ll be glad to know, Extraction Point plays and feel exactly like its older brother.
Extraction Point picks up from where F.E.A.R. left off, with you and your crew barely making it out alive once the Origin Facility gets obliterated. Just when you thought you could breathe a sigh and go back to something more peaceful like farming, Alma drops into your chopper and crashes it. Separated from your team, you find yourself in the same city, that’s an empty shell of its former self (thanks to the explosion) and now you’ll have to face Alma, her minions, and a never ending barrage of cloned soldiers to reach Extraction point.
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The development of this expansion was handed over to TimeGate Studios (Kohan, Axis and Allies) this time round, but don’t worry, they’ve done a good job about it; in fact, enemy AI has been ramped up a notch, increasing the overall difficulty level of the game so don’t expect to breeze through most enemy battles like you did in F.E.A.R.
Like I mentioned earlier, gameplay is still the same so what you’re going to have to do throughout most of the game is enter a room, activate slow mo, kill everyone/every thing and move on. The spooky premonitions your character is subject to are back as well and they will continue to shock and startle you, as and when you least expect it. To make matters a bit more interesting, TimeGate’s added a couple of new weapons like a laser gun, a deployable turret (better than the mines) and the mini gun; why this weapon wasn’t in the first game is still a mystery to me because there’s nothing more satisfying than annihilating a room full of enemies with this bad boy in slow motion.
In addition to those o’ so pesky clones, you’re treated to newer kinds of enemies (those wielding a shield are a bitch to kill) and some supernatural foes (speedy little buggers) as well.
Visuals and audio have pretty much been carried over from F.E.A.R., so there’s nothing much to talk about here, and if your system ran F.E.A.R., you’ll be pleased to know Extraction Point will run just as well.
In the end, Extraction Point is still a pretty good game, and even though it’s not as good as expansions like Episode I, it still provides an enjoyable, fast paced and authentic F.E.A.R. experience.
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