The first of the Timegate F.E.A.R. standalone expansions fixes many of the problems with the original, namely the location and enemy variety, but also adds a few issues of its own, for example feeling like several of its encounters are designed around slow-mo, which the first game avoided doing. This might irritate those who see slow-mo as a win button and try to use it as little as possible.
It's short by the time's standards and thus over way too soon, but it's a quality F.E.A.R. experience for all kinds of fans.
It's short by the time's standards and thus over way too soon, but it's a quality F.E.A.R. experience for all kinds of fans.
this shit sucks
it's actually really scary when they coat all the walls with blood aaa i'm pooping my little diapy aaa so scary
it's actually really scary when they coat all the walls with blood aaa i'm pooping my little diapy aaa so scary
more of the main game more or less, almost on par with the actual main game and genuinely a better followup than any of the actual sequels
"Disconnected from Server"
This review contains spoilers
NOTE- Spoilers only at the very end:
Extraction Point begins immediately after the events of the first game, so be warned that this review will be discussing spoilers from it.
Because every asset is reused, I won’t go into heavy detail about the graphics since they are literally the same as the vanilla FEAR. You can read my review of it here (https://www.backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/428982/), but essentially the game looks good if you can accept it as a late-PS2 title over a full-blown PS3 one. While the physics engine is superb, the luminescence is too caliginous, forcing you to employ your handheld beacon even in areas that I’m sure the developers intended to be decently lit.
Unfortunately, Extraction Point contains supplementary hitches that indicate either a rushed production or debugging process. I experienced several game-breaking glitches that required workarounds discovered by ardent Steam users, so note that you will be forced to look them up when you inevitably experience them.
Sound is also the same, the pros and cons of which I spoke about in my critique of FEAR. The score was a little more consistent this time around, but still not as indelible as it could have been.
Gameplay-wise, again, nothing has fundamentally changed. Two new weapons have been added to your arsenal should you come across them: a wall-mounting deployable turret, laser carbine, and a minigun, all of which are a blast to use. A couple of extra enemy types have also been thrown in, but they’re not radically different from anything you have or will come across.
The biggest compliment I can give Extraction Point is that, with the exception of the last section, it has embraced being a full-blown action game with some tense moments over the half-and-half genre bending the OG tried. There’s now a good balance of open and enclosed environs, giving enemies a chance to be more tactical in the former and fodder for bloodbath-fueled fights in the latter. Compunctuating this are Robocop-influences, with large mechs making up some of the new enemies I noted above that you face.
But of course, it is the story that will determine the quality of this expansion. As stated in the intro, you’re picking up right where you left off, with Alma causing the chopper to crash, splitting up the trifecta and forcing the Point Man to work his way through a new part of the deserted Fairport city. His goal is to not only reunite with his comrades, but make it to a new evac spot, his efforts impeded by hostile apparitions and the revitalization of the replicas in spite of Fettel’s death.
I’ll be upfront- the story just isn’t good. Two of my pet peeves with direct sequels are those that either unwind what the previous entry did or don’t resolve unanswered questions, and Extraction Point effectuates both. It’s never explained what’s going on with Fettel, how Alma survived the explosion, what’s reviving the carbon copies, nor is there further development of the Point Man’s relationship with his mother. I genuinely didn’t know what TimeGate’s intentions were with Alma- it’s as though they couldn’t decide whether to continue her antagonistic streak or make her a straight-up ally, something I’ll flesh out below*. You also get more inconsistent power nonsense from the phantasms, wherein they’ll do some crazy thing but be quickly dissipated with a couple of bullets.
The Point Man’s silence is also more harmful to his characterization here than in the first game. There are moments in the story where his partners will openly wonder on the comms whether they’re going to die or be rescued, and he doesn’t say ANYTHING to reassure them. Vice-versa, you’ll get individuals asking how he’s doing, and he doesn’t bother responding. Dead Space 2 made the smart decision to drop its silency with Isaac- Extraction Point should’ve done the same.
The ending is also a rehash of the first game’s, not providing any satisfactory conclusion or juicy cliffhanger worth pondering over.
There are a lot of people who hold Extraction Point as a great DLC, but I thought there were too many problems with it to be worth recommending. It’s true, there is a greater diversity of environments this time around, from parking garages to derelict buildings, and the hospital sequence at the end is quite riveting. However, it's ultimately just pointless shooting without any of the mystery thrills of the first. And considering it was retconned (or rendered an alternate reality) by Monolith’s own FEAR 2, you’re not missing out on an integral piece of the canon.
+There appear to be two different Almas, the kid and the adult: the child tries to help you by guiding you at times, while the adult is hit-or-miss, obliterating enemy battalions with her psychic romps whilst also being the murderer of your friends and tormenter of your nightmares. The former trait made no sense to me- these clones were cognitively hijacked by Fettel to free Alma from her captivity in the Armachan facility, so why is she killing them? And how are there two of them? Like I said, there is no attempt by the writers to even ATTEMPT to explain these beats- they just throw them in ad nauseam and expect you to either ignore it or explain it away yourself because “lol horror”. Just ridiculous.
Extraction Point begins immediately after the events of the first game, so be warned that this review will be discussing spoilers from it.
Because every asset is reused, I won’t go into heavy detail about the graphics since they are literally the same as the vanilla FEAR. You can read my review of it here (https://www.backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/428982/), but essentially the game looks good if you can accept it as a late-PS2 title over a full-blown PS3 one. While the physics engine is superb, the luminescence is too caliginous, forcing you to employ your handheld beacon even in areas that I’m sure the developers intended to be decently lit.
Unfortunately, Extraction Point contains supplementary hitches that indicate either a rushed production or debugging process. I experienced several game-breaking glitches that required workarounds discovered by ardent Steam users, so note that you will be forced to look them up when you inevitably experience them.
Sound is also the same, the pros and cons of which I spoke about in my critique of FEAR. The score was a little more consistent this time around, but still not as indelible as it could have been.
Gameplay-wise, again, nothing has fundamentally changed. Two new weapons have been added to your arsenal should you come across them: a wall-mounting deployable turret, laser carbine, and a minigun, all of which are a blast to use. A couple of extra enemy types have also been thrown in, but they’re not radically different from anything you have or will come across.
The biggest compliment I can give Extraction Point is that, with the exception of the last section, it has embraced being a full-blown action game with some tense moments over the half-and-half genre bending the OG tried. There’s now a good balance of open and enclosed environs, giving enemies a chance to be more tactical in the former and fodder for bloodbath-fueled fights in the latter. Compunctuating this are Robocop-influences, with large mechs making up some of the new enemies I noted above that you face.
But of course, it is the story that will determine the quality of this expansion. As stated in the intro, you’re picking up right where you left off, with Alma causing the chopper to crash, splitting up the trifecta and forcing the Point Man to work his way through a new part of the deserted Fairport city. His goal is to not only reunite with his comrades, but make it to a new evac spot, his efforts impeded by hostile apparitions and the revitalization of the replicas in spite of Fettel’s death.
I’ll be upfront- the story just isn’t good. Two of my pet peeves with direct sequels are those that either unwind what the previous entry did or don’t resolve unanswered questions, and Extraction Point effectuates both. It’s never explained what’s going on with Fettel, how Alma survived the explosion, what’s reviving the carbon copies, nor is there further development of the Point Man’s relationship with his mother. I genuinely didn’t know what TimeGate’s intentions were with Alma- it’s as though they couldn’t decide whether to continue her antagonistic streak or make her a straight-up ally, something I’ll flesh out below*. You also get more inconsistent power nonsense from the phantasms, wherein they’ll do some crazy thing but be quickly dissipated with a couple of bullets.
The Point Man’s silence is also more harmful to his characterization here than in the first game. There are moments in the story where his partners will openly wonder on the comms whether they’re going to die or be rescued, and he doesn’t say ANYTHING to reassure them. Vice-versa, you’ll get individuals asking how he’s doing, and he doesn’t bother responding. Dead Space 2 made the smart decision to drop its silency with Isaac- Extraction Point should’ve done the same.
The ending is also a rehash of the first game’s, not providing any satisfactory conclusion or juicy cliffhanger worth pondering over.
There are a lot of people who hold Extraction Point as a great DLC, but I thought there were too many problems with it to be worth recommending. It’s true, there is a greater diversity of environments this time around, from parking garages to derelict buildings, and the hospital sequence at the end is quite riveting. However, it's ultimately just pointless shooting without any of the mystery thrills of the first. And considering it was retconned (or rendered an alternate reality) by Monolith’s own FEAR 2, you’re not missing out on an integral piece of the canon.
+There appear to be two different Almas, the kid and the adult: the child tries to help you by guiding you at times, while the adult is hit-or-miss, obliterating enemy battalions with her psychic romps whilst also being the murderer of your friends and tormenter of your nightmares. The former trait made no sense to me- these clones were cognitively hijacked by Fettel to free Alma from her captivity in the Armachan facility, so why is she killing them? And how are there two of them? Like I said, there is no attempt by the writers to even ATTEMPT to explain these beats- they just throw them in ad nauseam and expect you to either ignore it or explain it away yourself because “lol horror”. Just ridiculous.
More F.E.A.R. of this caliber is always welcome in my book. Focuses more on the horror than the base game, which is a welcome change and its mostly expertly handled. Kind of an essential part of a F.E.A.R. playthrough for me anymore, and I certainly can't say that about anything after this point.
solves a lot of the problems with base game's pacing by increasing the speed at which the story moves. there is more action, and the horror segments are often integrated with the gameplay. makes the experience as a whole more engaging
This was a very good expansion for fear 1. It has some moments that genuinely creeped me out and scared me. Overall it was worth it but it has some really weird difficulty spikes but I played on hard so it might not be as bad on normal. Anyways if you have Fear 1 on PC then you have this expansion automatically so its for sure worth playing through.
"An Excellent Expansion For A Good Shooter"
I loved this expansion. While the story is about equal to the original's (as in, its bad), the gameplay is even better this time around. The levels are much more interesting in F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point, which was greatly needed after the repetitive nature of the original's level design. The horror is also amped up and is executed much better than the original game, which was surprising given how tacked on it felt for the first title. All of these contribute to one of the best expansions I have ever played for a game
The gameplay is boosted by the addition of two new guns, as well as a new piece of equipment. The laser rifle is cool to use, although I wish that it would slice foes into bits to make it extremely satisfying. The new equipment, a sticky turret, is useful for certain battle arenas, and helps you cover multiple angle while weaving in and out of cover/camping in a corner (whatever strategy works best). However, both of these are just mediocre when compared to the Minigun. This thing shreds enemies apart, and whenever you get it, you have the ability to just go berserk. It was the most powerful I had ever felt in any of the F.E.A.R. games so far, and I was always ecstatic to find this weapon after defeating a new enemy.
The levels are also much more fun this time around. There is more diversity in location, spanning a church/mortuary, subway, office complex, construction site, and sewer system. This, along with the new enemy types ("rocket robot", shifters) made for some interesting and sometimes terrifying encounters. The combat flowed so nicely in this game, a surprise for me considering I thought the combat in the first game was fantastic already.
Lastly, the horror was really well done this time around. While there are still some jumpscares, moments where the invisible type enemies as well as "shifters" appeared were effective. Fighting the new enemies made the hairs on my neck stand up due to their unpredictable nature, and it was much better than "a spooky skeleton flying out of blood" like in the first title. It added a nice change of pace to the combat, and I think it is the only title in the series so far that has a healthy enough balance of both.
This expansion is better than the base game. While it continues the awful story even further, the gameplay, level design, and horror all take a step forward. Sadly, I have heard that it is all downhill from here for the series, but I will definitely play this title again in the future. I would Recommend this expansion to any fans of the original game, and who value gameplay and design improvements over any addition of story for the F.E.A.R. franchise!
Final Verdict: 8/10 (Great)
I loved this expansion. While the story is about equal to the original's (as in, its bad), the gameplay is even better this time around. The levels are much more interesting in F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point, which was greatly needed after the repetitive nature of the original's level design. The horror is also amped up and is executed much better than the original game, which was surprising given how tacked on it felt for the first title. All of these contribute to one of the best expansions I have ever played for a game
The gameplay is boosted by the addition of two new guns, as well as a new piece of equipment. The laser rifle is cool to use, although I wish that it would slice foes into bits to make it extremely satisfying. The new equipment, a sticky turret, is useful for certain battle arenas, and helps you cover multiple angle while weaving in and out of cover/camping in a corner (whatever strategy works best). However, both of these are just mediocre when compared to the Minigun. This thing shreds enemies apart, and whenever you get it, you have the ability to just go berserk. It was the most powerful I had ever felt in any of the F.E.A.R. games so far, and I was always ecstatic to find this weapon after defeating a new enemy.
The levels are also much more fun this time around. There is more diversity in location, spanning a church/mortuary, subway, office complex, construction site, and sewer system. This, along with the new enemy types ("rocket robot", shifters) made for some interesting and sometimes terrifying encounters. The combat flowed so nicely in this game, a surprise for me considering I thought the combat in the first game was fantastic already.
Lastly, the horror was really well done this time around. While there are still some jumpscares, moments where the invisible type enemies as well as "shifters" appeared were effective. Fighting the new enemies made the hairs on my neck stand up due to their unpredictable nature, and it was much better than "a spooky skeleton flying out of blood" like in the first title. It added a nice change of pace to the combat, and I think it is the only title in the series so far that has a healthy enough balance of both.
This expansion is better than the base game. While it continues the awful story even further, the gameplay, level design, and horror all take a step forward. Sadly, I have heard that it is all downhill from here for the series, but I will definitely play this title again in the future. I would Recommend this expansion to any fans of the original game, and who value gameplay and design improvements over any addition of story for the F.E.A.R. franchise!
Final Verdict: 8/10 (Great)
Feels like a natural continuation that retains all the best parts of the original and even amps it up. It's lighter on story but the simplicity worked better for me. The combat felt equally great compared to the original while the creepy atmosphere felt a lot more intense here and it had some fantastic scares throughout.
The first DLC of the first F.E.A.R expands the events after the quite messy ending it had to only stretch it for more shooting gameplay, if you enjoyed the game, the DLC just adds more gameplay, weapons and enemies.
A pretty passable reconciliation and epilogue to the masterpiece downer ending of F.E.A.R., and while it does little to nothing to elaborate upon the huge story shockwaves that occur in that game’s final act (and instead “resurrects” one of its main antagonists), it still presents Monolith’s unfuckwithable gunplay and movement in levels and settings that range in a spectrum between really fun and really tedious, thankfully having a slant towards the former.
The new weapon additions are fun and provide some new gameplay opportunities, like using the minigun to mow through squads of Replicas like cutting grass with a weedwacker, and the laser rifle to Homelander my way out of any situation. The levels themselves have a fixation towards larger scale battles in open areas (for instance, that huge construction zone where you eventually have to provide overwatch for Holiday) and I don’t think the combat works nearly as well in these situations since most of the weapons have a preference for either short or mid-range combat. Base game F.E.A.R. proves this since 90% of the firefights are within this range that give way to the amazing combat the game has. Still, the levels allow for some cool environments, like returns to derelict offices and factories, as well as churches and hospitals. The new enemies basically do nothing, with the red-eyed replicas only being around to supplement the new weapons in the environment, and the Shades literally just being supernatural (and worse) versions of Replica Assassins. The new mechs also fucking suck and have way too much health compared to the ones from the base game, but thankfully only appear twice in one section of the game.
The scares trade in lack of predictability for ones that hit harder, and almost seem to feel a bit more uncanny valley-esque with vague fleshy bodies glitchy-ly moving their heads around erratically. These guys appear in and out randomly and you never really get to interact with them in combat, and compared to the more supernatural and ghostly apparitions the original game had, feels more edgy and aggressive, the likes of which could come out of (and work much better in) something like Cry Of Fear. Still, even though the game thickens that line between “combat section” and “horror section”, where some spots even feel like a fucking junior high haunted house, it still brings the scares pretty good.
I’ve already made it clear, but it is a little upsetting that the story does basically nothing to carry on how insane that last couple hours of F.E.A.R. is. Obviously it would be at the expense of the fact that Monolith wouldn’t be calling those shots since this expansion was developed by TimeGate Studios. It’s just…you know…the ending of F.E.A.R. had some pretty crazy and terrifying implications, and we find out that everything isn’t really that bad, and Alma would rather be jumpscaring her son and slowly picking off his squadmates instead of wreaking havoc upon everyone else for the painful, unjust abuse she had been subjected to. Instead, it just gives this ambiguous ending that honestly could’ve set up F.E.A.R. 3 given the circumstances.
If you also didn’t care for the story, it’s not canon, so…
The new weapon additions are fun and provide some new gameplay opportunities, like using the minigun to mow through squads of Replicas like cutting grass with a weedwacker, and the laser rifle to Homelander my way out of any situation. The levels themselves have a fixation towards larger scale battles in open areas (for instance, that huge construction zone where you eventually have to provide overwatch for Holiday) and I don’t think the combat works nearly as well in these situations since most of the weapons have a preference for either short or mid-range combat. Base game F.E.A.R. proves this since 90% of the firefights are within this range that give way to the amazing combat the game has. Still, the levels allow for some cool environments, like returns to derelict offices and factories, as well as churches and hospitals. The new enemies basically do nothing, with the red-eyed replicas only being around to supplement the new weapons in the environment, and the Shades literally just being supernatural (and worse) versions of Replica Assassins. The new mechs also fucking suck and have way too much health compared to the ones from the base game, but thankfully only appear twice in one section of the game.
The scares trade in lack of predictability for ones that hit harder, and almost seem to feel a bit more uncanny valley-esque with vague fleshy bodies glitchy-ly moving their heads around erratically. These guys appear in and out randomly and you never really get to interact with them in combat, and compared to the more supernatural and ghostly apparitions the original game had, feels more edgy and aggressive, the likes of which could come out of (and work much better in) something like Cry Of Fear. Still, even though the game thickens that line between “combat section” and “horror section”, where some spots even feel like a fucking junior high haunted house, it still brings the scares pretty good.
I’ve already made it clear, but it is a little upsetting that the story does basically nothing to carry on how insane that last couple hours of F.E.A.R. is. Obviously it would be at the expense of the fact that Monolith wouldn’t be calling those shots since this expansion was developed by TimeGate Studios. It’s just…you know…the ending of F.E.A.R. had some pretty crazy and terrifying implications, and we find out that everything isn’t really that bad, and Alma would rather be jumpscaring her son and slowly picking off his squadmates instead of wreaking havoc upon everyone else for the painful, unjust abuse she had been subjected to. Instead, it just gives this ambiguous ending that honestly could’ve set up F.E.A.R. 3 given the circumstances.
If you also didn’t care for the story, it’s not canon, so…
Sin añadir mecánicas de juego ni mejorar ningún apartado teniendo como referencia el título principal, Extraction Point es solamente un apéndice que está presente para contarnos la historia de lo que transcurre en unas cuantas horas de la vida de los personajes principales. No resuelve ningún nudo suelto ni tampoco se preocupa por justificar su existencia, sólo está presente para dejar más dudas y matar a un par de personajes, de resto, es el mismo juego de terror con su típico ambiente tenebroso y buen manejo de sombras.
This was an alright expansion (sorry, DLC) for F.E.A.R., but ultimately it did not hold up to the actual game. Apart from one or two sections it was fairly easy on hard mode. There was maybe one interesting setpiece in the entire game, and the rest of the fights and level design was serviceable, but not memorable. Despite picking up where F.E.A.R. left off, Extraction Point doesn't add much to the storyline. If you liked F.E.A.R. enough to want more F.E.A.R. it's worth playing, but it doesn't really stand on its own.
The better timeline and also more fear, I think this was a good start in a series that had legs until they were ripped off by the narrative in the following games. Out of every fear game this is the most worth playing besides the inital fear.
F.E.A.R. Extraction point is a decent expansion for the base game. If you want more FEAR but don't vibe with the sequels this is what you are looking for.
It amps up the action, shootouts are way more numerous and frequent, however, this does take its toll on the pacing. The "fatigue" sets in way faster, t makes the game feels longer than it is.
My personal gripe with Extraction Point though is the story. It acts as a direct sequel to the original ending, but to do so it undoes a lot of weighty events just for the sake of explaining away why there are still cloned soldiers around to kill. And yet, despite the effort and retcons, it literally goes nowhere with it.
It's more classic FEAR and that's good, but disappointing in some regards.
It amps up the action, shootouts are way more numerous and frequent, however, this does take its toll on the pacing. The "fatigue" sets in way faster, t makes the game feels longer than it is.
My personal gripe with Extraction Point though is the story. It acts as a direct sequel to the original ending, but to do so it undoes a lot of weighty events just for the sake of explaining away why there are still cloned soldiers around to kill. And yet, despite the effort and retcons, it literally goes nowhere with it.
It's more classic FEAR and that's good, but disappointing in some regards.
I didn't liked how Holiday died in this one, this expansion sukks :(((((
Okay okay jokes aside, this is a pretty darn good expansion for the golden game, some epic shooting moments and such things you would expect in FEAR, if you felt empty completing the og game, this is for you boah
Okay okay jokes aside, this is a pretty darn good expansion for the golden game, some epic shooting moments and such things you would expect in FEAR, if you felt empty completing the og game, this is for you boah
Liked the new weapons and mechanics. Early levels were really good, but it gets shit quick, with every level becoming an open arena with randomlly placed enemies with no clear point to it.
You have F.E.A.R. and then you have this F.E.A.R.: Extreme edition. Everything here is amped up for better or worse.
Less intervals between combat sections, more hands-on horror instead of the (visions) schtick of the base game. This flavor of horror was better than the base game, but otherwise everything is - at least a bit - worse. If this was the good expansion then thank god I haven't tried the Perseus mandate.
I dropped because my game always crashed at (The L) section and there's no solution that worked for me. Guess that's it for fear.
Less intervals between combat sections, more hands-on horror instead of the (visions) schtick of the base game. This flavor of horror was better than the base game, but otherwise everything is - at least a bit - worse. If this was the good expansion then thank god I haven't tried the Perseus mandate.
I dropped because my game always crashed at (The L) section and there's no solution that worked for me. Guess that's it for fear.
Extraction Point is passed like the best fear fps and as a very intense shooter of novel encounters for the series, yet half of the maps involve mid range combat the guns are not suited for, it turns into some jank cover fps with a lot of imprecise weapons (the ones from the previous game are suited for closer combat). The original game isn't perfect either, bullet time makes enemies too slow to react and all encounters the same, the only alternative to slowmo in order to minimize damage while out of cover is spamming medkits, in general i tend to barely use any of this to give replica enemies time to do cool shit while i suffer few hits, at least in the original game where the gameplay kinda works lol
Maybe scarier than base game?