F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (PC) Review
Perseus Mandate is the second expansion for FEAR, and it blows the first expansion out of the water. It maybe falls short of the original FEAR, because of a weak story, but the action in Perseus Mandate is pretty awesome, and as a first person shooter should probably be judged by the action in it as opposed to its story, awesome action is a good thing.
The graphics are done in the same engine as FEAR, though they look a little improved over the original game's. Given that Perseus Mandate came out in 2007, that means they're not so great, but they're good enough. The new guns and enemies are well-rendered and fun to use, or kill.
The story is the weakest part of the game. I played it only a week before writing this review, and frankly I can't remember much about what I did or why. I remember we started by infiltrating a data center and running into crazy super mercenaries, but what the game had me do after that is lost in a haze of ultraviolent action, explosions, and charred mercenaries flying through the air. And frankly, I enjoyed the heck out of all the action.
The expansion is pretty short. It took me maybe five hours to work through the main plot. If I'd paid full price for the game, I'd probably feel pretty ripped off, but the bargain bin was my ally and I got the expansion on the cheap. For what I paid, I got my money's worth.
Now for a quick scoring summary for those of you keeping track of the numbers:
Gameplay: 8
There's nothing more to say really. The controls are good, the enemies and environments are pretty good. Lots of guns to shoot.
Graphics: 5
Merely adequate for the game's age.
Sound: 9
The FEAR games all seem to have good music, and that's true here. Everything else is well done.
Replay: 4
The game has 'bonus missions' you can play, which are just pure kill fests through different environments. They're harder than the main game, and for me are the part I've played more than once. Still, they got old after a couple plays and I haven't touched them or the rest of the game since.
Other: N/A
I treated this review as an expansion to my review of FEAR. If you're interested in the expansion, I figure you've seen the original game and have an idea of what you're getting into.
Overall: 8
Perseus Mandate is more of the FEAR-style gameplay, with lots of violent action interspersed with horror. The horror stuff is much less prominent here, with Alma making about as many appearances in the game as I can count on one hand. The action is great, and I think overall I had a better time playing this expansion than I did the original game.
The graphics are done in the same engine as FEAR, though they look a little improved over the original game's. Given that Perseus Mandate came out in 2007, that means they're not so great, but they're good enough. The new guns and enemies are well-rendered and fun to use, or kill.
The story is the weakest part of the game. I played it only a week before writing this review, and frankly I can't remember much about what I did or why. I remember we started by infiltrating a data center and running into crazy super mercenaries, but what the game had me do after that is lost in a haze of ultraviolent action, explosions, and charred mercenaries flying through the air. And frankly, I enjoyed the heck out of all the action.
The expansion is pretty short. It took me maybe five hours to work through the main plot. If I'd paid full price for the game, I'd probably feel pretty ripped off, but the bargain bin was my ally and I got the expansion on the cheap. For what I paid, I got my money's worth.
Now for a quick scoring summary for those of you keeping track of the numbers:
Gameplay: 8
There's nothing more to say really. The controls are good, the enemies and environments are pretty good. Lots of guns to shoot.
Graphics: 5
Merely adequate for the game's age.
Sound: 9
The FEAR games all seem to have good music, and that's true here. Everything else is well done.
Replay: 4
The game has 'bonus missions' you can play, which are just pure kill fests through different environments. They're harder than the main game, and for me are the part I've played more than once. Still, they got old after a couple plays and I haven't touched them or the rest of the game since.
Other: N/A
I treated this review as an expansion to my review of FEAR. If you're interested in the expansion, I figure you've seen the original game and have an idea of what you're getting into.
Overall: 8
Perseus Mandate is more of the FEAR-style gameplay, with lots of violent action interspersed with horror. The horror stuff is much less prominent here, with Alma making about as many appearances in the game as I can count on one hand. The action is great, and I think overall I had a better time playing this expansion than I did the original game.