Is FEAR Perseus Mandate worth it?

Hello all,

Last month the latest FEAR Expansion/Stand Alone game Perseus Mandate was released for the PC, and together with Extraction Point as FEAR files for the Xbox360.

I have always liked FPS games with a somewhat sci-fi nature and storyline and I have purchased FEAR and FEAR Extraction Point in the past.
Unfortunate I could not completely enjoy these games because my PC is not up to the task but I want to play them properly once I have a new PC (without slow downs).

While the games look pretty nice, even now (I don't care that professional reviewers now claim that all FPS should look like Crysis and Call of Duty 4) I found the background rather static and somewhat dull.
The storyline also wasn't always as strong and for some reason most of the characters curse a lot in the game.

Still I am considering of getting Project Origin next year and I am now also very curious about Perseus Mandate.

For those who do not know this game, Perseus Mandate is a sort of expansion to FEAR but a stand alone game on its own.
The story takes place from a second FEAR team that is dropped into action halfway during the events of the original FEAR and later during Extraction Point.

Opinions about this game are rather divided, some reviewers like it while other reviewers give you the message that you could better wait until its in the bargain bin.

Is there anyone on the forum who has played it and could tell me of his experiences?

PS, yes, I am also planning to get Crysis but it will have to wait until I have my new PC, by that time it will probably also be more cheaper.

* * * *

I just checked Amazon on Crysis and some of the people there are really negative about it, and I am not talking about the system demands, but the game itself too.

I feel rather ashamed now, I bought this game for a friend of mine in the USA for Christmas and what I might be sending him might not be such a great game experience after all, even if he can run it.

Don't worry Crysis is a very nice game. The negative points of view from some people is because they were hoping for a sequel to FarCry, but it is not set in the same game world or similar in any way. But it is a great game in its own right. For FarCry fans there is also FarCry 2 in development, not by the same developer as the original, but being developed by another development team owned by the original pubisher of the first game, so it isn't yet known how good the sequel will be.

As for Perseus Mandate, you already mentioned what it is about, and this reflects the original HalfLife in a way because one of that game's expansions, Blue Shift, also did this by putting you in control of someone else dropped into the game world at a point in the timeline you played during the original game so you get a point of view from another angle.

I would say that although it is a standalone expansion, so you don't need the original game to run it, it is only worth playing if you have completed the original game and first expansion pack, as the game continues the story and also picks up on aspects of the original which you won't understand without having played them first. It is worth playing though if you are a FEAR fan as it adds some new scares and new harder enemies to the game.

Hello Harrison,

Well I was a bit worried I got my friend a 'turkey' of a game, something that looks real nice but has lots of bugs and a gameplay that might not be that entertaining.
It still of course always depends on the taste of the player but if people in general are disappointed about a game there is always something bad with it.

I know about Farcry 2 but I can't really call that game a sequel, the whole change of scenery isn't so bad but the game abandons all the Sci-Fi elements Cry Tek put in the original game, I even believe the main character is a different person.
That pretty much makes it a sequel in name only.

Problem with some expansions is that they are sometimes not as good as the sequel; just some extra content, and sometimes don't add to the game at all.
The storyline that for example is used in the game will never be mentioned in Part 2.

I believe that Monolith will not treat Extraction Point or Perseus Mandate as official because they lost the FEAR name, if the expansions aren't that good then regarding gameplay or layout they don't really matter at all.

Kind of the same happened to Half Life Opposing Force and Blue Shift, though they are fun Valve doesn't really mention them in the main 'Half Life' series.
Yes some events that happened in the expansions such as the nuclear destruction of Black Mesa and Barney Calhoun's survival were brought up, but these would apparently have happened anyway regardless of the sequels.

Its so different compared to the expansions Blizzard made for their games, they really mattered as they continued the main storyline and build up towards the sequel.

Harrison, have you played Perseus Mandate?

I've not played it yet because I haven't completed the main original game yet and I want to play them in order, but... as I don't actually "purchase" most of the games I normally play most things released anyway ;)

Hello Harrison,

Well regarding this game, I have decided to wait with purchasing.
Perhaps also because of that last discussion between us in mind.

I am going to wait with spending my money, I have a feeling that this game will probably be in the bargain bins after the holidays, and definitely before the release of Project Origin.