Worst in series? Definitely. Totally unnecessary expansion? Undeniably. Still hella fun to play? ABSOLU
First off, I'm a believer in the notion that the most important aspect of a good game is a good story. For me, a compelling saga that keeps me engaged from start to finish is more important than graphics, game play, or anything else. And to be honest, the story that drives Perseus Mandate is…well…pretty weak, to say the least. It's not so much that the story itself is bad; it's just that we've already seen it…this game is basically a re-hash of the original FEAR. (Stop me if you've heard this one…an elite team goes into a super-secret facility to gather the super-secret files and capture the mysterious perpetrator, all the while battling countless bad guys and paranormal events.) HELLO-O-O? What ever happened to creativity?
And to make matters worse, there's no explanation for the new character, known only as "Sergeant". Remember how FEAR took great pains to wrap a mysterious back-story around Pointman? How he had these special abilities, and his past was unknown, and there were these cryptic references to "the proto-type"? So how come there's now ANOTHER guy with the same abilities suddenly showing up for the ride? No explanation, no tie-ins…nothing. This was very disappointing to me, as it pretty much tears the guts out of the original game's mystery about Pointman's origin.
The second major flaw with Perseus Mandate lies in the visual presentation. Note that this is not the same thing as graphics…die-hard photo-realism aficionados will probably find the graphics in PM (which are basically the same as the 2005 original) looking a bit dated. But personally, that's not a problem for me. I've never been a graphics fanatic, and I think the original FEAR still looks pretty good today.
But graphics are only one part of the total visual presentation, and quite frankly, this release is simply not as polished as the first two games. Many sequences look somewhat unfinished, and at times I couldn't escape the feeling that I was playing some kind of beta version. Many players will undoubtedly recognize specific areas from the original game, as Sergeant's path occasionally overlaps with Pointman's. These deja-vu moments are actually pretty cool, and the environments look much more refined, so I'm guessing they were probably ripped directly out of the original game.
But many of the newly created environments feel like they were rushed out the door, and the attention to detail is sorely lacking. As an example, every set of lockers in the new game is identical…a block of five, with the first door closed, the next two open, the fourth door closed, and the last door open. Even in a locker room containing several sets, this pattern is repeated every time. Granted, it's been over two years since I last played FEAR, so I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure there was more variety, or at least it didn't jump out at me the way it did here. Nit picking, you say? Maybe, but this is just one example, and the noticeable lack of variation in these kinds of detail results in the game having a blasé, unpolished look.
Now, these are two pretty egregious violations, and they should certainly drag the score down considerably. So why did I give a 7 to this obviously inferior production? In the end, any score assigned is ultimately a reflection of the reviewer's personal experience with the game, and I must guiltily confess…I liked it. Even with these significant flaws, I still had a blast playing Perseus Mandate. Why? To put it simply, it's just more FEAR. When it first came out in 2005, the game successfully meshed elements from a Japanese horror movie with some of the most intensely brutal combat ever seen in a shooter. Coupled with the over-the-top slow-motion effects, the combination was pure magic…and STILL is, as far as I'm concerned. Yea, the story is lame, the production values are weak, and the game is nothing more than an excuse to slog your way through another 8 hours of creepy environments, bloody gore and gruesome slo-mo effects. And I loved every minute of it.
So if you're looking for something more, you're not going to find it in Perseus Mandate. If you want a good story that builds on the FEAR enigma, or you require top-notch production values, or you expect some kind of advancement over the original game, then quite honestly, you should pass. Truth be told, there's really nothing at all remarkable about this release.
Still, having said all that, Perseus Mandate does succeed at serving up another helping of the chilling atmosphere and murderous combat that was the trademark of the original FEAR.
And for some of us, maybe that's enough.