Lets start off by saying that I love the FEAR games, but I will try and be as objective as possible. Now I remember playing FEAR for the first time on my 360 because my PC was not up to gaming standards ( it is now) so I was excited to finally play these games I have read about and drooled over the video and screenshots. However, this review isn’t about FEAR; it’s about FEAR Files. I do give the first FEAR a 9.4 score.
Campaign: FEAR Files somewhat reminds me of The Orange Box with content that is packed to the brim in this $50 game. You get two fairly lengthy expansion packs which each are longer than most single player campaigns that come in $60 games. You get Extraction Point which leaves off where the last FEAR ended and Perseus Mandate which is a completely different story with all new characters. You also get 8 instant action games similar to the teasers in the first FEAR. The instant action levels are very challenging and will take most gamers many times over to complete. One of the features for which FEAR is known, other than the fun gamplay, is its horror and they give you plenty here. The first FEAR would have you trudging down hallway after hallway with nothing to do and then scare the crap out of you. While FEAR Files has less redundant hallway searching, it gives you much more heart stopping fear, followed by action or even horrific fear while in action.
Graphics: The graphics in FEAR Files are little changed from FEAR. They are not bad to look at for a game that runs on an engine made in 2005 and can contend with many games released on engines that are new in 08. The framerate never drops to a very noticeable level, and particle effects are fantastic which explode like fireworks on the screen. The textures do tend to get reused a bit throughout this game, so you will see items and cars that seem to be a little copy and paste. The character models are still top notch and even look better than many games still coming out. Some textures and lighting seem to have been upgraded though, and the hardcore FEAR fans should be able to spot them fairly easy. You also get more destructible environments in the game, i.e, when you shoot at a pillar or throw a grenade, the cover will be blown apart.
Gameplay: the gameplay is still FEAR and still fun. The AI are brilliant, and when you enter a new room the outcome will always be different even if you replay the game mutiple times.. The AI will take cover, flank you, work as a team, shout commands, and even throw a grenade to get you to move from your cover. Perseus Mandate, however, shines here because they give you some new bad guys to fight, and that is what many FEAR fans have been waiting for. You still get your fun slo-mo and your melee beatdowns, but they also give you a nice little arsenal of weapons such as a mini gun, laser carbine, assault carbine, lighting gun, grenade launcher, and deployable torrents.
Multiplayer: MP is still fun and is just what they give you in the first FEAR game with the exception of a couple of maps and minus some of the downloadable content perks. It’s a bit laggy for my taste. In fact, FEAR Files is more of a lag-fest than FEAR, and hopfuly they will fix this with a patch. I'm not saying it's bad, and even the first FEAR had it’s share of lag before they updated it with a patch.
Overall: I found the Perseus Mandate campaign to be boring at first, but then it picked up rather nicely to end up being better then Extraction Point. With the content this game gives and over all entertainment for it’ $50 value, I give this game a 9.1 Yes I know it’s lower than FEAR, and I just can't ignore the shear amount of game they pack into this DVD, but it’s the broken, laggy multiplayer that brings the score down. If they were going to pack in what is essentially the same multiplayer game as FEAR, then there are no excuses for the lag and why downloadable content should not be compatible. My score for FEAR fans is a 9.1
