F.E.A.R. Extraction Point
From F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. Extraction Point is an expansion pack for the horror themed first-person shooter computer and video game F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon, published by Vivendi Universal and developed by TimeGate Studios, rather than Monolith Productions, the developers of F.E.A.R.. It was released on October 24, 2006 for Windows and requires the full original game in order to be played. Also, a stand-alone single player demo has been previously released. This expansion owes its name to the game's ultimate goal for the player, to reach the extraction point and leave the city where the adventure takes place. Extraction Point adds new weapons, enemies, and single-player levels, but no new multiplayer content. Additional improvements were also made to the enemy artificial intelligence.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Intervals
Interval 01 - Contamination - Aftermath
Interval 01 - Contamination - Metastasis
Interval 02 - Flight - Ambush
Interval 02 - Flight - Holiday
Interval 02 - Flight - Desolation
Interval 03 - Descent - Terminus
Interval 03 - Descent - Orange Line
Interval 03 - Descent - The L
Interval 04 - Malice - Leviathan
Interval 05 - Extraction Point - Malignancy
Interval 05 - Extraction Point - Dark Heart
Interval 06 - Epilogue - Epilogue
[edit] Plot
The plot of the expansion starts off exactly where F.E.A.R. left off; while the huge explosion of the Origin Facility has flattened the Auburn district and devastated the city, the helicopter evacuating the survivors of the first F.E.A.R. team crash land in the midst of the chaos.
The Point Man is reunited with SFOD-D Douglas Holiday and F.E.A.R. medic Jin Sun-Kwon. They mention that they are unable to contact F.E.A.R. or Delta Force command but a SFOD-D extraction point has been established at the roof of Auburn Hospital, informing the Point Man that he should proceed there as well. Continuing, the Point Man reunites with Paxton Fettel in a nearby church. Fettel notes that the circumstances do not make sense since he had been killed. He continues by reactivating the Replica soldiers, who have been dormant since his death, and sends them after the Point Man. Meanwhile, Jin is captured by Fettel's Replicas, but she is later able to escape while being transported via the subway; from there, she proceeds on her own to Auburn Hospital. The Point Man and Douglas Holiday eventually meet up and navigate through a warehouse but Alma Wade, through her apparitions, kills Holiday.
The Point Man is forced to proceed alone through the subway, which leads directly to Auburn Hospital. During the Point Man's journey through the winding tunnels, Alma Wade, in her younger form, clears the way for the Point Man multiple times by killing Replica soldiers impeding the his path. Replica forces eventually become desperate and place demolition charges in the subway tunnels with the hope that the resulting explosions will kill the Point Man. While initially unsuccessful, the Point Man is eventually caught in one of these demolition explosions and is ejected from the tunnels onto a nearby parking structure. From here, the Point Man proceeds to the Auburn Hospital which neighbors the parking structure.
After finally reaching Auburn Hospital, the Point Man hears a scream from one floor above him. He bursts into the room, only to find three ghostly figures floating around Jin Sun-Kwon's dead body. Now, with nothing to fight for but his own survival, the Point Man proceeds to the life service elevator. Suddenly, a power outage occurs and he must find a way to restore it. While walking around the dark basement, the Point Man witnesses several hallucinations which include a series of prison cells, containing the dead Armacham Technology Corporation victims of Alma Wade's murders in F.E.A.R.. Eventually, the Point Man witnesses a hallucination that involves the older and younger Alma Wade reuniting in a blue light. After that hallucination, the Point Man returns to the Auburn Hospital and is contacted by Rowdy Betters telling him to get to the roof for extraction. The elevator is then reactivated and the Point Man finally reaches the roof of the hospital. Paxton Fettel unleashes a squad of Replica Elites on the Point Man. As the Point Man finishes dispatching the squad, a UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter proceeds to evacuate him. However, when he approaches, Fettel, through unknown methods, destroys the Blackhawk with the resulting explosion throwing the Point Man backwards into a wall and knocking him unconsciousness. When he awakens, he staggers to the roof railing, to witness the entire city in flames. The credits roll, ending with Paxton Fettel's line from F.E.A.R. "A war is coming, I've seen it in my dreams. Fires sweeping through the earth, bodies in the streets, cities turned to dust. Retaliation..."
[edit] Release date problems
Originally listed as an October 24 2006 release, many stores had still not received their shipments of the game by the end of October 25 2006. The issue as to the game not actually being available in many locations on its scheduled release date confused many gamers who had eagerly awaited the game. In-store and even online pre-orders went unfilled as the release date came and went.
[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay remains essentially the same as in the original F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon, though Extraction Point touts some new additions, including 3 new weapons (a minigun, a laser weapon, and a deployable turret), a few new enemies, as well as new locales (though frequently similar to the original game's environments, a common complaint of reviewers). Firefights are still cinematic and usually on a grander scale than in F.E.A.R. - there are frequently a larger number of enemies to deal with and lengthier battles. Another new feature of Extraction Point is the ability to bash open doors by using the mêlée function, as well as blast them open with explosives. The 'hallucination' sequences are notably more gratuitous and frequent than they were in the first game. In addition, certain supply crates bearing the Armacham Technology Corporation logo can be bashed open, revealing weapons or Medkits. Overall, the game's atmosphere is darker than the original game's.
Extraction Point also has higher system requirements than the original F.E.A.R., and users may notice signs of system overload (such as graphical slowdown) if they run Extraction Point using the same performance settings as the original game.
