Being perfectly honest? I don't get the hate. This expansion was far better than anything else F.E.A.R.2 brought to the table. A low bar, but one passed with flying colors.

It's short. Like, short short. I beat it in under an hour, and the entire expansion consists of ~3 locations that have 1-3 shootouts each. Despite that, or maybe because of that, the game doesn't drag. F.E.A.R. Reborn felt fresh, oddly enough. And while it didn't improve on many of things F.E.A.R. 2 struggles with, it didn't sabotage itself either.

It also had a genuinely interesting bit of story. I can't go into it for the sake of spoilers, but I found F.E.A.R. Reborn's simple, bare-bones story to be a good deal more compelling than F.E.A.R. 1's expansions.

If this were 2011 and I had to spend $10 on the xbox live store for this, I'd probably be pissed. But you can get F.E.A.R. 2 for like $2 these days, and the expansion comes with it. It's a perfectly reasonable little add-on, and a nice bite-sized reason to return to the game.

F.E.A.R. is late 2000's slop. It's grey-and-orange mush that wastes your time almost as much as it insults your intelligence. It's not a good game, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're dead-set on a F.E.A.R. series playthrough.

Sorry, I had to get that out of my system.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin fails as a sequel in nearly every way. F.E.A.R. isn't a perfect game, but it's a fun, impressive little romp that's charming in it's own right. With memorable locations and fun AI, it makes a great impression. F.E.A.R. 2 removes most of the complexity, turns the game into a brain-dead shooter, and fails to tell you why you're doing half the stuff you do.

Leaning is gone, and you've been made into a tank to compensate for it. A few solid shots would kill you in F.E.A.R., meanwhile you can take a dozen bullets and not even lose a third of your health. Enemy AI has also been toned-down. Instead of waiting in cover, trying to flank, or doing anything smart, nine times out of ten they simply charge at you, spraying and praying. As a result, the gun-play feels limp and shallow.

The bad horror is back, and now it's even worse. Bloody skeletons, bloody hallways, and quicktime horror sequences abound. None of it got me a single time. And there's zero horror ambience to make up for it this time. F.E.A.R. 2 cannot keep a tone, and it's frankly embarrassingly shoddy at times.

Also, I'm not sure where to put this, but this game feels bizarrely misogynistic all throughout. I know it's a 360 era game and shit writing was the norm, but it really stood out in comparison to the original game's seriousness. The way Alma is sexualized and portrayed as a whole feels really gross, and not in the intended way. The ending especially is just...uncomfortable.

Overall, I have nothing nice to say about F.E.A.R. 2. It's just bad. Don't play it unless you're (somehow) nostalgic for it, or you're on the F.E.A.R. series playthrough like I am (in which case, good luck).

I went into F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate with low expectations. I liked the original, but Extraction Point felt really, really lacking.

Well, good news! I'm apathetic to this game's existence!

Tongue-and-cheek compliment aside, Perseus Mandate feels like a better expansion. The story is still shallow, but having a new cast of characters feels fresh. The new enemy types are less boring than the first expansion's, and most of the expansion is combat focused, with some fun arenas. It's a lot of hallways and courtyards, yes, but it's nowhere near as boring as Expansion Point's subway hell.

That being said, it's still not good. It's just not bad either. The highs were low, and the lows were high. It's the perfect game to half-focus on while you're talking to a friend, but not something I'd waste my time replaying.

It's nothing, but that's better than being bad. If you have three hours to kill, and you're a completionist like me, then sure, give Perseus Mandate a go. But I promise you you won't be missing anything if you go from this straight to F.E.A.R. 2 (Though I wouldn't recommend that one either).

I went into F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate with low expectations. I liked the original, but Extraction Point felt really, really lacking.

Well, good news! I'm apathetic to this game's existence!

Tongue-and-cheek compliment aside, Perseus Mandate feels like a better expansion. The story is still shallow, but having a new cast of characters feels fresh. The new enemy types are less boring than the first expansion's, and most of the expansion is combat focused, with some fun arenas. It's a lot of hallways and courtyards, yes, but it's nowhere near as boring as Expansion Point's subway hell.

That being said, it's still not good. It's just not bad either. The highs were low, and the lows were high. It's the perfect game to half-focus on while you're talking to a friend, but not something I'd waste my time replaying.

It's nothing, but that's better than being bad. If you have three hours to kill, and you're a completionist like me, then sure, give Perseus Mandate a go. But I promise you you won't be missing anything if you go from this straight to F.E.A.R. 2 (Though I wouldn't recommend that one either).

Initially I didn't realize F.E.A.R. had expansion packs, so after finishing F.E.A.R. 2 I circled back and began clearing these out. I was hopeful - F.E.A.R. 2 sucked, so surely these would at least be passable.

Unfortunately, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point is a time-waster and nothing more.

The initial half-hour is actually pretty fun. But the expansion falls apart when it comes to level design. One of the highlights of F.E.A.R., to me, was the environments. Most of them were office buildings or apartments. Repetitive, but immaculately designed for fun combat encounters. You'd have multiple ways to flank and be flanked. Enemies had plenty of cover but so did you. It was a balancing act that worked wonderfully.

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point puts you in winding, endless hallways and tunnels. You normally have one way to progress, and you just alternate between tight corridors and giant battle-rooms for the entire two hour experience. It's not engaging, especially when (it feels like anyway) enemies do significantly more damage than before. And nothing new is really added to make up for this. There's some gimmicky weapons, three new enemy classes (two that hardly show up and one that's just not a threat), and overall I was just disappointed.

The story isn't much better. No spoilers, but it's a story where you practically end up exactly where you started. It doesn't feel important to F.E.A.R.'s narrative, beyond introducing a few concepts and updating you on how everyone's doing.

Also...I'm sorry, but the horror is awful. If you're the kind of person who gets scared by GMOD horror maps, or finds hallways with bloodstains and random ghosts floating around to be scary, then sure maybe it'll do something for you. But more often than not, I was laughing at the scares. Not a single one landed, and this couldn't even manage to get a creepy atmosphere going.

I'm glad I didn't skip this expansion in my series playthrough, but it wasn't really worth the time. I'm happy I can say that I beat it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

Initially I didn't realize F.E.A.R. had expansion packs, so after finishing F.E.A.R. 2 I circled back and began clearing these out. I was hopeful - F.E.A.R. 2 sucked, so surely these would at least be passable.

Unfortunately, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point is a time-waster and nothing more.

The initial half-hour is actually pretty fun. But the expansion falls apart when it comes to level design. One of the highlights of F.E.A.R., to me, was the environments. Most of them were office buildings or apartments. Repetitive, but immaculately designed for fun combat encounters. You'd have multiple ways to flank and be flanked. Enemies had plenty of cover but so did you. It was a balancing act that worked wonderfully.

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point puts you in winding, endless hallways and tunnels. You normally have one way to progress, and you just alternate between tight corridors and giant battle-rooms for the entire two hour experience. It's not engaging, especially when (it feels like anyway) enemies do significantly more damage than before. And nothing new is really added to make up for this. There's some gimmicky weapons, three new enemy classes (two that hardly show up and one that's just not a threat), and overall I was just disappointed.

The story isn't much better. No spoilers, but it's a story where you practically end up exactly where you started. It doesn't feel important to F.E.A.R.'s narrative, beyond introducing a few concepts and updating you on how everyone's doing.

Also...I'm sorry, but the horror is awful. If you're the kind of person who gets scared by GMOD horror maps, or finds hallways with bloodstains and random ghosts floating around to be scary, then sure maybe it'll do something for you. But more often than not, I was laughing at the scares. Not a single one landed, and this couldn't even manage to get a creepy atmosphere going.

I'm glad I didn't skip this expansion in my series playthrough, but it wasn't really worth the time. I'm happy I can say that I beat it, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

F.E.A.R. is late 2000's slop. It's grey-and-orange mush that wastes your time almost as much as it insults your intelligence. It's not a good game, and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're dead-set on a F.E.A.R. series playthrough.

Sorry, I had to get that out of my system.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin fails as a sequel in nearly every way. F.E.A.R. isn't a perfect game, but it's a fun, impressive little romp that's charming in it's own right. With memorable locations and fun AI, it makes a great impression. F.E.A.R. 2 removes most of the complexity, turns the game into a brain-dead shooter, and fails to tell you why you're doing half the stuff you do.

Leaning is gone, and you've been made into a tank to compensate for it. A few solid shots would kill you in F.E.A.R., meanwhile you can take a dozen bullets and not even lose a third of your health. Enemy AI has also been toned-down. Instead of waiting in cover, trying to flank, or doing anything smart, nine times out of ten they simply charge at you, spraying and praying. As a result, the gun-play feels limp and shallow.

The bad horror is back, and now it's even worse. Bloody skeletons, bloody hallways, and quicktime horror sequences abound. None of it got me a single time. And there's zero horror ambience to make up for it this time. F.E.A.R. 2 cannot keep a tone, and it's frankly embarrassingly shoddy at times.

Also, I'm not sure where to put this, but this game feels bizarrely misogynistic all throughout. I know it's a 360 era game and shit writing was the norm, but it really stood out in comparison to the original game's seriousness. The way Alma is sexualized and portrayed as a whole feels really gross, and not in the intended way. The ending especially is just...uncomfortable.

Overall, I have nothing nice to say about F.E.A.R. 2. It's just bad. Don't play it unless you're (somehow) nostalgic for it, or you're on the F.E.A.R. series playthrough like I am (in which case, good luck).