F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point

The Good
Extraction Point is the first expansion pack for F.E.A.R. and it takes place right after the finale to the original. The opening cut-scene serves as a recap of what happened: you escape in the chopper with your two fellow teammates - Holiday and Jin-Sun Kwon - just in time to survive the destruction of the Origin facility. Everything seems fine, but then Alma, in her teenage form (who you saw at the end of F.E.A.R.), manages to climb aboard and causes the chopper to crash. You, as Point Man once again, have to eventually make your way to the church where things take a turn for the worse. All I can say at this point is it concerns Paxton Fettel, your arch-nemesis from the original game.

The gameplay is basically the same as F.E.A.R. You explore each location fully, listening to phone messages and trying to accomplish your mission objectives and shooting down any enemies that get in your way. If those think those Replicas were a nasty piece of work, they are nothing compared to the new ones that you encounter. One of these are the ninja monkeys. They have glowing red eyes and are difficult to kill since they are somewhat invisible. There are also new robots that are quite bigger than what you saw earlier. And I'm sure that you'll encounter huge robots even more sinister than the EVE robots.

Most of the characters that you get involved with are friendly. Holiday and Jin-Sun, as you know from the original game, are there to help you get through each location. Of course, there is young Alma, this time helping you as well while she is destroying forces that get in your way. Betters has a minor role at the end of the game. Fettel can be seen throughout the game as well, but only during hallucinations.

You can still use the Slow-Mo function to help you out. As I said in my review of F.E.A.R., you can get one step ahead of your enemies by using it, and you can see a lot of blood spray when you make a kill. Slow-Mo eventually runs out of juice, so it is important that you don't use it all at once. What I forgot to mention was it is interesting to hear dialogue in slow motion, and my favorite ones come from the original Replicas.

Extraction Point still has its scary moments. You have the hallucinations and the nightmares coming at you. There are only six intervals in the game, and almost in each interval you can see a lot of blood on the floor indicating that some gruesome murder took place there. The real threat is teenage Alma, and when you see her, something bad always happens. At some point in the game, Holiday accompanies you until she uses her apparitions to murder him, and what you'll witness of this is not pleasant.

You can still carry up to three weapons at once, so it's best to know which weapon you think is the most effective against different types of enemies. Three new weapons are on offer, in addition to the weapons that you used in the original game. My favorite is the laser gun, which is capable of burning enemies to a crisp. Also I think there is something that you place on the wall and it blows up enemies if they approach it.

The soundtrack in the game is well composed, and it often reflects the situation you're in. I really like the music at the beginning of the game as you are trying to reach the ground floor of a building. Also, as soon as enemies start filling the room, a powerful soundtrack plays and doesn't end until you kill all the enemies you see.

The graphics are on par with the original game. Throughout the game, you mainly go through dark areas, exploring the catacombs of the church and run-down apartments, as well as certain industrial areas and warehouses. You'll continue to search dark areas until after the finale, where there is finally light. I enjoyed exploring Auburn Hospital near the end of the game and see what was inside each room, with the operating theaters more interesting than others.

The Bad
As well as the “you can carry up to three weapons” rule, young Alma trying to help you doesn't make any sense. Why would she try to kill you in the original game, only to help you here? Seems like she suddenly has a guilty conscious.

The Bottom Line
For those who haven't played F.E.A.R. for ages, Extraction Point recaps what happens at the end of that game. You explore each location fully, trying to accomplish your objectives and bringing down anything that stands in your way. You must know that you have to deal with two versions of Alma: child and teenager. And it is the teenage Alma who is the real threat here.

The excellent soundtrack gives the game atmosphere, and the different locations are worthy searching, because you never know what you'll find. The game is rated 18 in most territories, meaning any minor cannot see the intense violence in the game.

The Good
FEAR Extraction Point is FEAR's add-on, which will be ignored by the developers for "FEAR 2", known as Project Origin because the name FEAR is belonging to the publisher. But, it would be a pity to ignore this add-on and its story. It shows something totally unexpected: the two Alma, killing everyone for revenge, are not anymore on the same side.

Well, if you don't want to know how FEAR ended, you have to jump what will follow. I can't explain Extraction Point without giving you the end of the original game and if you're waiting for Project Origin, you have the story on the official site, explained in a better English than mine...

You, the nameless Pointman, discovered why you were receptive to visions and why you developed some special abilities. You were the First Prototype, Alma's firstborn and Harlan Wade's grandson as your mother was his daughter. You understand now why Harlan was wanting forgiveness from Alma. And knowing where you come from - first by Paxton Fettel, your enemy, revealing that he was your younger brother and than by the final vision you had with your mother's file with the name Alma Wade -, you realize that your birth was a real horror for your mother as you were taken from her and because you didn't reach the expectations of your grandfather, you've been thrown in another project, saving your life instead of killing you (after all, you're only an experiment subject). And you do realize that Alice Wade, killed by Paxton, was your aunt. Even if you survived the explosion, even if you were saved by Jun and Holiday, the last thing you saw what the spirit of your mother when she died (the older form) climbing in the helico.

Extraction Point begins there. Your mother made the helico crash in Auburn and nobody can't contact you. You're separated from Jun and Holiday, in a place where Replikas are no more dangerous (Paxton's death). But soon, Paxton reveals himself, he doesn't know why he's still here - ask Alma the Older who wants revenge - but he didn't like the trick you pulled on him. Anyway, now, you have to escape this hellish place... with your mother trying to kill you and her younger self trying to protect you... Two Alma are fighting and siding with their sons... One with Paxton and the other with you. You can beginning to wonder if you were born in the right family.

With a storyline like that, even if Paxton's resurrection is something a little too crazy, I'm still wondering why Monolith wants to reject Extraction Point. I mean, it's more complex than FEAR with Alma showing two sides: her revengeful and bitter one because of what happened (she died in her 20's, after having seen her first son taken away from her and been calmed by being immerged) and the somewhere still not so negative one (when she was taken as a subject at the age of 8 - her usual form in fact: the little girl). It's something that psychiatrists would love to analyze.

Gameplay is still the same as the original game, so, I'm just copying what I've already written (lazy, me?). You have to shoot enemies, mainly Replikas and nightmare creatures sent by Alma the Older. But shooting while running like a mad dog into enemies isn't the right solution here. You have to be careful, using the environment at your advantage. After all, you have a special power, a sort of bullet time: time is slowed while you have still the same speed. It's very useful when you're fighting against the EVE robots or a bunch of soldiers.

One of the features of this gameplay is the fact that you can only carry three weapons. So, you have to make some choices and you never know if it's right or not. It adds to the realistic part of the game even if I don't like this kind of gameplay in a game like FEAR.

You have also new weapons, like the Laser, making me think to a certain Demon Head/Screamer from Painkiller Overdose. If my memory serves me right, you have three new weapons: the famous laser gun, a minigun and some turrets, very useful in the industrial zone against Replikas.

You have also a passage where you'll be helped by Holiday in the industrial zone but as much as I love seeing friendly AI, in this kind of game, it's still sad to see that it's useless. Well, Holiday helps you to survive, I can't go against that, but I don't think that the Pointman would have loved to have a companion knowing that his dear mom is still trying to kill him because he's not as bitter as Paxton (after all, Paxton didn't show everything that Alma shared). And well, when a friend tries to help you, he'll be without doubt killed. Holiday isn't an exception... What is strange is that when Holiday is attacked and killed, the creatures didn't lay a finger on you even if you're firing at them...

Enemy AI is very good. The Replikas can duck, take cover or try to ambush you in order to kill you. Yes, everyone know that at the end, you'll be victorious (I hope) but having played games where the enemies do not see you even when you're in their eyesight or enemies running at you, making their death an easier task, I can assure you that Extraction Point, as in FEAR, can give some hard work to the hero.

Graphics are still excellent, particularly when in the subway station or in the hospital and above all, when you're in Alma's world, in a sort of prison where you can recognize some people of your recent past like the Armacham employees, Alice - who doesn't have a responsability in Alma's tragic story but is probably in this cell because of her sisterly link to Alma - and Harlan, her father, your grandfather - with a special treatment -. You're happy not to be in these cells but I do think that Alma the Older has deep inside her a soft spot for you, as the firstborn, as the one seen to be taken away. Yes, you've killed Paxton, the one she trusted for her revenge, yes, you're taking the path she would have prefer but you're still her son, the one who probably triggered her hate against the scientists because of your separation from her.

Contrary to FEAR, you'll visit open spaces. I agree to say that the church of the beginning isn't a real open spaces but after this passage, you'll enter some sort of industrial zone, travelling in a subway (not really open, I mean, with a sky, the sun and some clouds, but it's still larger areas than the usual offices or sewers) for finishing your escape in a hospital. As in FEAR, the path is very linear but you forget soon this flaw when you're fighting your way and trying to know what is happening in Auburn and how two Alma can exist when they're the same person at different times of her life.

Soundtrack is like in FEAR, sticking really with the ambiance of a raging war between the two factions (Delta Force, you and Alma the Younger, representing somewhere the good side and Paxton, Replikas and Alma the Older, deep down into revenge and hatred - even if Paxton seems not wanting to kill your friends, as if he doesn't want you to suffer).

It's here that the characters from FEAR are most important (with the exception of Alma, Paxton and Jankowsky): Holiday gives you some help, Jun is someone you have to save and for me, the fact that Alice and Harlan are present in Alma's jail is a strong point: Alice is somewhere innocent in this case and was investigating some facts leading to what happened to her sister, she probably wasn't aware of what her dad or Armacham did but still, she's been killed by Paxton and imprisoned in Alma's world. As for Harlan Wade, he knew that at the second that Alma would be free, he'd be killed for what he did, in the end, he just wanted to give peace to her daughter, as he was probably remorseful for what happened and trying to prevent the opening of the chamber, knowing what will happen. He's just atoning for his "sins" in Alma's world and I'm pretty sure that he's happy because he's receiving a deserving punishment.

The Bad
About the three weapons carrying thing, someone like me who is used to have all the weapons will be disoriented. Indeed, when you love more than three weapons, it's always painful to say goodbye to your favorites. You find the weapons on your enemies, so, it's not a problem for finding them or for resplenishing your ammo.

As I've stated previously, friendly A.I. is useless. It's fun to have a friend trying to help you but well, as a lot of players, I prefer going first than letting my companion doing the job.

Alma the Older is still creepy, reflecting her state when she died. And what can be confusing is the fact that Alma the Younger is trying to protect you when she tried to kill you (and also warning you by moments) in FEAR. "You're safe, now" is one of the sentences that shows clearly that Alma the Younger has a preference for her firstborn, probably because the spirit is coming from a time where Alma was still "innocent". So, if you don't like this kind of storyline, confusing and making you think about the behavior, you'll not be happy with Extraction Point.

The Bottom Line
Extraction Point is a rich add-on in terms of universe and questions brought by it, but Monolith wants to ignore it. I admit that reviving Paxton is probably one of the most crazy idea and perhaps, non necessary but I was impressed by the two Alma, same person, two different spirits.

I recommend to play FEAR and Extraction if you want an extraordinary experience and if you want to dive into a dark world of betrayal, revenge and blood with a touch of love and hope.