 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | TimeGate Studios |
| Publisher: | Sierra Entertainment | |
| Genre: | FPS | |
| ESRB: | Mature | |
| # Of Players: | 1 (2-16 online) | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | Windows XP/2000/Vista DirectX 9.0c Pentium 4 1.7 GHz or equivalent 512MB of RAM 64 MB GeForce 4 Ti or Radeon 9000 video card or higher 7.5 GB hard drive space DVD-ROM drive |
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| Buy Now: |   |
Perhaps Perseus Mandate’s biggest problem is that TimeGate seemingly forgot what made the series great in the first place. While there are plenty of scares later in the game, up until Interval 4 the game mostly feels like any other run-of-the-mill FPS. The scares are minimal, and series mainstays like Alma and Fettel are practically non-existent. While there’s something to be said for taking the time to build up to the frights found later in the game, for series veterans it leaves the first half of the game feeling empty. The bigger problem though is that most of the scares here fall flat, as the same basic scare tactics are used throughout the game that we’ve already seen before.
This isn’t helped by the fact that the first Interval finds the player fighting his or her way through a huge sewage drain and underground network of tunnels, which together constitute the most boring level design I’ve seen in a FPS in a long time. Later levels are more on par with those in previous games, but that’s not necessarily a great thing because a lack of variety in level design has always been a criticism leveled at the F.E.A.R. franchise. Even then, this game still suffers from the fact that we’ve already seen the same basic hallways, offices, and urban environments in the first two games. The one exception here is the series of underground subway tunnels in Interval 4, which I thought added a bit of variety and some interesting new objects in the environment.
Graphically, the series is really starting to show its age. While I thought there were some nice little advances compared to previous games (the server rooms in particular are spot-on, which I appreciated as an IT professional by trade), this engine has really fallen behind today’s higher profile titles. Then there’s the creative issue, where the same basic environments are repeated ad nauseum, which hardly helps the situation. It’s not a horrible looking game by any means, and some of the particle effects are still pretty impressive, but don’t expect it to really push a newer gaming rig.
As far as extras are concerned, this game has three bonus missions, as well as the standard F.E.A.R. multiplayer mode that’s already available as a free download in F.E.A.R. Combat. Perhaps the best extra in the retail version isn’t even related to the game itself, but rather the 10 day trial of World in Conflict that comes included in the box.
Bottom Line:
A F.E.A.R. game that doesn’t give the player much to fear loses a lot of its reason for existing in the first place. We’ve seen these scare tactics before, and there’s very little added to the gameplay or overall storyline to make this a worthwhile purchase. F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate feels like a tacked-on expansion pack aimed at squeezing a little more money out of fans before the true sequel arrives (whether that’s Vivendi’s likely but unannounced F.E.A.R. 2 or original developer Monolith’s Project Origin being published by Warner Bros. is for you to decide), and is a must-play only for hardcore fans of the franchise.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
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| 5.0 |
Posted: 2007-12-30 13:07:57 PST