I admit I can’t stomach scary/thriller games too well. I love being on the edge of my seat and being lead by an engrossing atmosphere, but once bloodied corpses randomly flash into my eyes or I hear something behind me and when I turn around something pops out of nowhere, I have to turn on the lights again. Monolith really hit the nail on the head by pulling off the creepy ambient environments extremely well in their 2005 FPS F.E.A.R. Just over a year later, Kohan developer TimeGate Studios is adding more to the creepy formula with an expansion pack due out next month called F.E.A.R. Extraction Point.
The story is relatively unknown, but we do know that it takes place directly after the events of F.E.A.R. The opening cinematic portrays a massive explosion decimating the remains of Auburn, but you (along with the rest of your team) are safely on a helicopter flying out. Moments after, you’re immediately thrust back into the fray. It appears the creepy girl Alma is still alive, and has control over the psychic soldiers. You’ll fight your way through some new areas such as a church, a subway and a massive warehouse in your quest to save the day.
A demo was released yesterday (story) featuring a warehouse level. The gameplay starts off with you in a room full of enemies. After clearing out the room of baddies, the slow-mo effect kicks in, signaling that something creepy or cool is about to happen. A large rocket merc crashes through a nearby wall, firing rockets in your direction. Since the area was much larger, the two of us ran around dodging each other’s rockets, and hoping to be the last person standing. This battle is also a good showcase for the more dynamic physics; whatever got into the way of the rockets was blown to smithereens.
So far, two new weapons are confirmed for Extraction Point: a mini-gun and a laser sniper rifle. The mini-gun is excellent to clear out rooms, whittle walls with bullet holes, and turn bodies into clumps of goo, while the sniper rifle allows you to take out enemies from a distance. I hope with the addition of the sniper rifle more open areas will be featured to not only allow you to fully utilize the rifle, but also to allow for more exploration. Item and weapon containers will debut in the expansion, as well.
The AI is a little more enhanced this time around. Now, instead of just using the environment in its default state for cover they’ll be using the environment as it changes with the ongoing action for cover, too. New enemies will also make appearances in the game, such as a ghost-like enemy that tends to disappear right when you’re going to pull the trigger, and then reappears the moment you turn your back (like the ghosts in Mario). With its random appearances and disappearances, it amps the creepiness up several notches.
The expansion will have a gameplay length between six and eight hours. If you liked F.E.A.R., nabbing the expansion on October 24th will be a no-brainer. If you haven’t given F.E.A.R. a shot, go nab the free multiplayer version and try it out.
