F.E.A.R. Files brings together the two PC standalone expansion packs for F.E.A.R. - Extraction Point and the recently released Perseus Mandate - and ports them over to the Xbox 360 in one package for the nice price of $49.99. The unfortunate part is that the first expansion pack is the only one really worth playing since it continues the story from the original game and you play the same character. With Perseus Mandate you are put in the shoes of another character with an all-new storyline happening during the same time as the original game.
The biggest problem with both expansion packs is that the game engine has not aged very well over the two years since release. It is hard to play these games simply because the graphics and gameplay just don’t stand up to the latest first-person shooters the Xbox 360 has to offer like BioShock, Halo 3, The Orange Box or even TimeShift. The comparison to The Orange Box is the easiest to make simply because Half-Life 2 came out a year before F.E.A.R. Valve’s Source engine has stood the test of time and continues to have games made from its engine, but it is obvious here that the engine Monolith made has not translated well to Timegate’s creation of the two expansion packs.
Extraction Point continues the story from the original game. The funny thing about this is that Monolith has now split from Vivendi/Sierra and is now working on the proper sequel to the game called Project Origin for Warner Brothers Interactive. Unlike the original game, the first expansion pack is based around you extracting yourself out of the area that you spent the original game trying to penetrate. The same characters come back for this go around and there are some scary spots, but when compared to the scares of the original game it just isn’t as riveting. Most of the first expansion game is confined within office buildings and going through hallways, busting open doors to reach the next shooting area. With a weak graphic putout it almost makes this game feel somewhat like a last generation game—it also looks like most of the graphical assets used in the original game are reused here as well. The first expansion is also quite short, taking a little over five hours to complete.
The latest expansion pack, Perseus Mandate, is just not as good as the previous two games and once again shares many graphical assets. The story is centered on you leading a second team in to extract some more information about some central characters in the series. Best guess is that this expansion is happening at the same time as the first F.E.A.R. team is doing their stuff from the first two games. This expansion is a bit longer than the other one, although that could have been attributed to the more overwhelming odds you were facing. Once again, the story in these two expansion packs mean nothing once Monolith’s game comes out since they are not going to consider them canon.
The game also has a multiplayer component that has nothing that makes it stand out from other FPS online games outside of the bullet time aspect. The multiplayer component is very bare-bones and contains the usual things you find in an online FPS game. The online multiplayer is enjoyable, but there are far better options out there in this genre for your online play just on the Xbox 360 alone. One cool addition is the eight Instant Action scenarios. These are short sections where you are timed and scored on your ability to take out all the enemies present. It is a nice side option.
Still, anyone who knows about Monolith’s upcoming true sequel to the original game and hasn’t played at least Extraction Point on the PC should steer away from this release on the 360. It’s overpriced and undervalued.
