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The AP-5 Deployable Turret is a weapon that appears in F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point and F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate.
Vivendi Timeline[]
F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point[]
The AP-5 Deployable Turret is much like the AT-S Proximity Mine in which the Point Man tosses it in front of him. It can stick to the floor, the walls, or even the ceiling. The device contains a single small automatic turret gun that will lock onto and fire upon any enemies that pass near it. Turrets have decent durability, and can take several hits from enemy fire before being destroyed. The friendly turret has a slightly better durability than enemy turret, as only one frag grenade or two to three bursts from most weapons will disable an enemy turret.
Turrets have a good rate of fire and do decent damage, especially if the player sets up multiple turrets together so that they can concentrate their firepower on assailants. Turrets also serve as a good distraction as they give the enemy something to shoot at other than the Point Man or the Sergeant. As a result, the player can often nail enemy soldiers while they're distracted fighting the turrets. In some cases, if the Point Man is not detected, he can use the turret to draw them out.
While they may seem invincible, turrets don't work well in wide-open areas, as enemies can just snipe them from long range, and their imperfect accuracy causes them to miss often. Also, the turret has a very short detection range (both friendly and enemy ones), meaning they are often attacked after being fired upon. They are best set up around corners, behind objects, or in cul-de-sacs. The player should set them up in such a way that they'll ambush any enemies running through an area that requires defending, preferably at a fairly close range to reduce the chances of grenades being thrown at it. This way will also make the turret detect the enemies before they get the first shot in.
In open areas, the AP-5 is suprisingly effective against REV-6 Powered Armors. the AP-5 itself cannot destroy the REV-6 alone, but it will be less likely to focus on the player, giving him openings to attack it. If thrown far enough from the powered armor, the turret will fire at it, and the powered armor will struggle to retaliate, as its rockets are inaccurate over longer distances, especially against a small target like the AP-5, and so it can only damage the turret by splash damage. The player can expect the turret to be active for a few minutes before it finally gets destroyed. If the Point Man is aggressive enough to lure the REV-6's attention back to him while it's still taking fire from the turret, or by using powerful weaponry such as the MOD-3 Multi-Rocket Launcher, the REV-6 will be knocked out fairly quickly without the AP-5 being lost. This tactic doesn't work as well against the REV-8 Leviathan, due to its superior mobility, firepower and aggressiveness. The turret still can serve as distractions, buying the Point Man about 30 seconds to land easier shots.
Although somewhat uncommon, several stockpiles of inactive turrets lying around can be found throughout the game. Turrets deployed by the Point Man have a green light, while turrets deployed by enemies have a red light. If the turret is consistantly beeping, it means it has taken damage; if it's sparking and smoking, the turret is almost destroyed.
Friendly units, friendly fire or Nightmares will not activate the AP-5. On the other hand, Shades can and will be targeted and shot at, and should they be placed above a Shade's head height, the turrets will attack with impunity, making them good at breaking flanking maneuvers during ambushes.
F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate[]
In F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate, a limit has been set for the number of AP-5 Deployable Turret that can be active at any one time. There can only be three friendly deployable turrets active on a level at once. If the Sergeant tries to lay a fourth turret, the first turret will blow up, keeping the number at three.
The AP-5 is less dangerous in Perseus Mandate, as two bursts from VES Advanced rifle will take care of one. Hostile AP-5's appear more frequently, and are regularly planted by Nightcrawler Elites during fights.
When deployed near an active scarecrow nest, if the AP-5 cannot aim at the inside of the nest, it will not kill the creature; if thrown into the nest, the turret will explode, causing minimal harm to the scarecrow. Otherwise, should the AP-5 be able to fire into the scarecrow's nest, it will do so and eventually kill the monster, but this tactic is impractical for several reasons:
- One, this will take over three full minutes to kill the scarecrow without any other sources of damage.
- Two, only the first location with a scarecrow features other enemies, so when the scarecrow is dead, the planted turret is pointless.
Trivia[]
- In Extraction Point, there is no limit to active turrets in the game, so one can fill entire rooms with turrets via cheats. This was fixed in Perseus Mandate by implementing a 3 limit of active turrets at once; attempting to place anymore will destroy previously placed turrets in the order they were deployed.
- Active turrets will fire upon the various harmless apparitions that appear, such as the ones that kill Douglas Holiday and Jin Sun-Kwon.