When we last left off F.E.A.R., a reactor meltdown destroyed both the Armacham Technology Corporation and the city that surrounded its main facility. Our hero, a member of a special task force sent in to combat the paranormal, barely made it out alive. Unfortunately, it seemed that the powerful psychic girl, Alma, had attachment issues because she brings the escape chopper crashing down. The legions of telepathically controlled clones, which deactivated upon Paxton Fettel's death, suddenly come back to life. Incidentally, Fettel isn't quite that dead. Again dodging an army of cloned super soldiers, players need to run fast, fighting their way to the extraction point, for which this long-awaited expansion is named after.

For the most part, there is little to no difference in gameplay from the original game. A few new weapons, including a repeating explosives launcher and a heavy chain gun are now available. Both do loads of damage, but do nothing that significantly changes or improves the original experience. The player still battles through hordes of enemies, composed largely of the same clones from the main game, with Fettel telepathically taunting the hero every so often. The main character still uses a mix of firepower, wits, and super-reflexes that put the world into slow-motion bullet-time. A host of new environments finally give players a break from the ATC building, but it's hard to shake the overall deja vu feeling when running around. Every place, including the forgotten subway tunnels and its operations offices, often has a "been-there" quality to them. The only tool that truly seems to make a difference is a small turret that can attach to any surface, but they're pretty difficult to find.

The first time around, clones and ATC security personnel were looking to cover up their mishap. This time, while making a mad dash for the extraction point, the player fights a mix of clones and evil spirits. The paranormal has been given a lot more emphasis. Demonic ghosts roam the streets and buildings, tearing apart anything that gets in their way (including the clones). They blend into the shadows and move very fast, officially making them a touch more troublesome than the cyberninjas (who also make a return). It soon becomes clear that Alma is not the culprit this time around, and there is a SECOND girl with mysterious powers causing trouble. Is she also psychic, or a vengeful spirit of a different kind? Whatever the reason, even Alma is perturbed, and she begs you for help. When a psychic as powerful as Alma suddenly starts looking toward a F.E.A.R. operative for protection, that's when the player realizes that this is going to be a tough, bloody fight.

Extraction Point has a great set-up, but falls flat on the delivery. F.E.A.R. is still entertaining but considering how challenging the AI was to begin with, the AI "improvements" go almost unnoticed. The graphics still look great, with pools of blood, destructible environments, dust and debris obscuring vision, and tons of creepy moments where figures appear and disappear. Furthermore, there are a handful of great scenes where the world is torn apart as the player is pulled into a psychic nightmare. The player can be facing a door one moment, turn around, and suddenly find himself in a completely different building. The problem is that ultimately, none of it leads anywhere. Extraction Point opens a couple different plot points and leaves them unresolved. The identity of the second girl is never revealed, nor is her motivation. It's tough to figure out exactly who Fettel and his clone army are serving. Furthermore, it's not even entirely clear how the main character was supposed to help Alma in the first place.

The gameplay is still great, but that's because Extraction Point inherited the F.E.A.R. engine. But this expansion doesn't move the story along in any significant way, which is its greatest failing. Extraction Point might be good for squeezing some extra single-player content out of F.E.A.R., 'but the ending is an utter disappointment and unsatisfying, making the adventure seem like a waste of time.

Related Links

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point Game Guide

F.E.A.R. Website

Timegate Studios

Monolith

Sierra

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