#F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate

[kerri-the-skunk]

This game is so fucking unstable

Just before this, it disconnected me from a server I wasn't even connected to, and I've gotten stuck on level geometry more times than I think I've ever had in a video game.

[acidxshark]

From July 16th to the 22nd, I'll be running the Sharkstream Mid-Aughts Shooter-thon to raise money for my wife Natalie's bills and medical expenses. For each donation of $20 or more, a new game will be added to the queue to be played from beginning to end. If we hit whatever our donation goal at the time is, I will also add Duke Nukem Forever to that queue, also to be played from beginning to end.

Our first stream will be on Sunday, July 16th at around 6:30 PM CST on https://www.twitch.tv/acidxshark

Hope to see you there!!

[mysteamgrids]

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate

[appealingtonobody]

[arcticgraverobber]

I just finished: The F.E.A.R franchise!

I'd heard a lot about the F.E.A.R franchise, and it seemed up my alley - as a big Resident Evil fan, a survival horror-esque FPS seemed perfect for me, however I wish I had looked into how people generally felt about the sequels.

The first game I enjoyed quite a bit - it's not anything super amazing in my opinion, but it's a pretty decent shooter with plenty of exploration and stealth. The horror elements are mild but somewhat effective in their subtlety, and the game is generally just fun - same can be said for the expansions, all though playing them one after another did feel like a bit of a slog.

The second game is takes a pretty quick turn off the deep end. The game is obsessed with trying to seem like proper horror, and it just seems a bit ridiculous. Frequent attempts to shock the player destroy any atmosphere the game may have built, which the first game managed to do fairly successfully. Lore documents also become more frequent but far less interesting, a trend that was felt across genres. Most of the time it's just telling you what you already knew from playing the first game, or just vaguely paying attention whilst playing this one.

The third game is the worst in many ways, although I ended up enjoying it more than the previous. The game is a bald faced attempt to turn the franchise into Warner's own Call of Duty clone, but at least that was different to what I'd been playing for so long at that point. After the second game the third felt like a breathe of fresh air - not being set at the same time as the first game and at least initially in a different place was very nice, and the fact it's extremely short helps a lot too.

The game is a decent enough CoD clone - but it is a travesty that's what they turned the games into. The idea that F.E.A.R 3 could ever compete with CoD is insane to me, it's just not a compatible franchise - not only is it an insult to the very idea of creative integrity, it's just a plain bad idea. CoD and Battlefield players are not generally going to be interested in a game called F.E.A.R.

The narrative elements of the game bug me a lot too - done away with now are any written story notes, CoD pl;ayers won't read anything - instead the story is told through painfully slow sections where the player is forced to walk through empty areas while listening to meaningless monologues. This was a trend in many games for a while, an attempt to seem deep and artsy without understanding any of the reasons why you might put these kinds of things in a game. Thankfully the trend seems to have died out now, but it lasted throughout most of the 2010s at least.

Overall I would recommend the first F.E.A.R games, maybe even the expansions - but I'd probably skip the sequels if you care about your own mental well being.

F.E.A.R: Significance: 1/3 Grade: B

F.E.A.R Extraction Point: Significance: 1/3 Grade: C

F.E.A.R Perseus Mandate: Significance: 1/3 Grade: C

F.E.A.R 2 Project Origin: Significance: 1/3 Grade: D

F.E.A.R 3: Significance: 1/3 Grade: D

[reggiez-corner-gaming-and-guides]

F.E.A.R in 2024!

I keep coming back to the F.E.A.R games over the years. Something about the gameplay just works. The first game does have some ago to it now though. So did a guide on how to get Perseus Mandate up an running on WIN11.

This was a fun one to do and it also gave me a good reason to play through the DLC campaign again. : )

This game still looks OK in my book.

[digitalstickzac]

My thoughts on the F.E.A.R. Trilogy

I recently bought and played the F.E.A.R. Trilogy on steam (all 3 games + all expansions) and am going to dump my thoughts here, mostly just about the gameplay and presentation.

FEAR still is and will forever be the ultimate horror FPS of all time. It's aged incredibly well, the horror is still terrifying and the overall experience only gets better with each playthrough. The environments are packed with so much stuff that something is always bound to explode if you shoot in any direction, the enemy AI giving call outs to player actions and providing covering fire as they flank you, it's all just phenomenal.

The Expansions are, less than stellar. Gameplay wise it still as tight as ever and the new set pieces are funny to fight through but after the millionth warehouse / office space / sewer it becomes a slog to go through. I do like the inclusion of a new enemy faction in Perseus Mandate, the new challenge really tests your FEAR knowledge and applying all your skills.

FEAR 2 is just FEAR but on a more modern engine with all the positives that come with it. A proper sprint system, proper aiming mechanics and a much more smoother experience. The best parts of FEAR but updated essentially. Thankfully they took the criticism about the lack of environments from the first game and expanded on it. My only complaint I would have is that the horror is more traditional instead of suspenseful. There are still some good moments, but nothing that truly made me unnerved.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Reborn DLC and I love Foxtrot 813. Even though it is quite short, the time we have with it is just as great as the base game and makes me wish we got another FEAR entry but from the Replica side.

FEAR 3 is a good game, just not a good FEAR game. I use to scoff at the 'Fear of Duty' or 'Call of Fear' jokes people made but playing it now, yeah I can agree. I'll get the bad out of the way

All horror is gone. Suspense? Gone. Tension? Gone. Every level is a set piece with something big and loud trying to kill you.

Health now passively regenerates rather than you having a set amount and needing to manage Med Kits to stay alive. Peak from cover, fire a few rounds and duck back down.

2 Weapon Limit, which isn't as big of an issue as all of the weapons are readily available so it's more annoying and a hassle to find what you need in the middle of a firefight

Now for the good

Gameplay has been improved again with one of the best cover systems in gaming yet. When leaning against a solid object, you can take cover which glues you to it, allowing you to move, peak out and shoot without fear of accidentally stepping out of protection or exposing yourself

The enemy AI is still as good, but now have more descriptors for where Point Man is. ("He is behind that car" "he is hiding behind that pillar" "he is over by the checkpoint")

More level variety and enemy variety. We still have Replica and Armacham forces with guns, but we also got Cultists and Cannibals who get close and hack and slash at you

Overall I enjoyed my time with all games and their expansions. FEAR 1 will forever hold a special place in my heart as a solid horror shooter. FEAR 2 is a solid sequel and FEAR 3 misses what makes FEAR, FEAR it is a solid attempt at a third game that should at least be given a try before dismissing.

[kingofdoma]

Random game it is! And since what I landed on was basically DLC*, we're gonna play F.E.A.R.! Woo! I'll let you know how it goes!

*I have 189 games in my library, so I had Google spit out a random number between 1 and 189, and it got 60. 60 is F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, so we'll just pretend that it landed on 58 instead, since I haven't played a second of F.E.A.R. to start with. Cool? Cool.

I have taken a sick day. Bunch of factors working together to make me need to take a day's break.

[wolfsong-the-bloody-beast]

F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate - Spooky Moments

[theinhumanbeatdown]

1st Impressions: F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate

[muldoon85]

Fettel has a demand..

[kerri-the-skunk]

I lied. I'm going to do this to myself.

If anyone wants to make a big mistake and play F.E.A.R 3 with me, let me know

[acidxshark]

LIVE NOW!!

The game that dares to ask the question: What if you were playing F.E.A.R. and hanging out with Steve Blum?

Art by @teamcatple

[theowlhousefanboy]

Terrible/Lackluster Video Games Ignored/Rendered Non-Canon/Semi-Canon by the Official Continuity of Their Series.

- Postal III, otherwise known as Akella’s Postal or the Russian Postal (rendered non-canon, and was made a terrible dream of the Postal Dude in Postal 2: Paradise Lost)

- Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War - Soulstorm (ignored, up to the point that the Blood Ravens refuse to speak of it again, due to it being their worst conflict in their history)

- Every Crash Bandicoot game released between 3: Warped and  4: It’s About Time (ignored but also canon, due to them actually still existing, but as alternate universes; Multiverse Theory for the win)

- The Diablo I expansion Hellfire (probably semi-canon, since a few story elements are mentioned in II+Lord of Destruction and even III)

- Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, the other (Diablo-esque) Brotherhood of Steel spin-off, and even some parts of Fallout 2 (semi-canon for the former, non-canon for the center one, and mostly non-canon for the latter, with some semi-canon moments)

Bonus special case - F.E.A.R,: Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate (mostly non-canon, according to the F.E.A.R. 2 and F.3.A.R. timeline; a notable of example of a canon timeline actually ending up lackluster compared to the non-canon one)

- The latter parts of the first God of War’s ending (rendered moot by GoW 2′s ending)

Special case again - Homeworld: Cataclysm/Emergence (rendered possibly semi-canon, due to the absence of the Bentusi caused by the expansion pack’s events; also, in real life topics, rights issues with the devs of the expansion pack and the original game’s devs)

- Of Myths and Monsters a.k.a. Kid Icarus 2 (non-canon, due to it not being referenced at all in the sequel Uprising and even the Super Smash Bros. games)

Another special case -  Leisure Larry 4 (non-canon, and not only that, it actually wasn’t even made at all... because the creator of the series promised to not make a fourth installment, and he kept that promise even in this absurd manner)

- Radical Dreamers, the spin-off sequel and prequel to both Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross (canon, considering the prevalence of Multiverse Theory in the games, and some hints of it in CC)

- The localized version of Streets of Rage 3 (non-canon, replaced by the original Japanese version)

- Star Control 3 (non-canon or semi-canon, it’s still unclear)

- The PC-98 Touhou games (also unclear, but maybe they’re semi-canon)

- Twisted Metal 3 and 4 (non-canon, and nowadays, Head-On is considered the real TM 3)

- Unreal Tournament 2003 (ignored, and is ultimately eclipsed in-universe and in real life by Unreal Tournament 2004

-Legend of Mana (non-canon in the World of Mana series)

Bonus, not a lackluster example - XCOM: Enemy Unknown (actually, both canon and non-canon, due to it being existent in multiple possible universes where XCOM won there, while XCOM 2 happens on similar universes where you... sorry, XCOM lost the events of EU/Enemy Within)

- Outpost 1994 (rendered non-canon by its loosely based sequel Divided Destiny)

Bonus - TRON 2,0 (depends, it can be canon, if you render the movie Tron: Legacy non-canon, or vice versa)

- Hotel Mario (a rare case of a Nintendo game series actually rendering such a work non-existent)

[monkey-butt-gamer]

F.E.A.R. EP37 PERSEUS MANDATE

[gameito]

F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate Interval 05 A(1) Infiltration Relic playthrough...