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Summary |
Last Updated: 03/13/2010 |
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In 2005, F.E.A.R. raised the bar for first-person
shooters with dazzling special effects, intense combat with
fiendishly clever and intelligent enemies; an engaging (if
somewhat cryptic) plot of a top-secret government experiment
gone horribly wrong, and the supernatural. In F.E.A.R.
Extraction Point, you reprise your role as the elite
operative of First Encounter Assault Recon who was sent in
to deal with the threat—and now find yourself the hunted
instead of the hunter.
F.E.A.R. Extraction Point continues after Armacham
Technology Corporation’s secret underground facility
(code-named Origin) has been destroyed, taking a sizable
chunk of the surrounding city with it. Rogue telepath Paxton
Fettle and his army of Replica super-soldiers have been
neutralized. A Black Hawk helicopter is carrying you, Jin
Sun-Kwon—the only surviving member of your team, and
Special-Ops Team Leader Douglas Holiday, out of the area.
It’s unclear what happened to the “entity” Alma, who was
responsible for the all the paranormal threats you
encountered; and at this point, you could care less. You’re
just glad that the nightmare you experienced over the last
48 hours is finally over—Or so you think.
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Editor's Review:
Tommy awakes to what can only mildly described as a nightmare. Clamped to a strange “conveyor” with Jen and Enisi at his side, it soon becomes apparent that they have been taken to a huge spacecraft in orbit above the earth with hundreds—perhaps thousands of abducted humans being herded like cattle by grotesque aliens--snarling in their strange, guttural language through rows of razor-sharp teeth; armed with weapons that seem as much organic as mechanical, and fierce, four-legged monstrosities on “energy leashes.” Freed from his restraints by the actions of an unknown ally, Tommy witnesses a sight that would make Dante’s Inferno look like a romp through Disneyland—humans being slaughtered in fiendish machines—including his grandfather Enisi, whose last words are for him to run for his life and that he will see him again in the “Land of The Ancients.” Tommy must now find a way to survive whatever horrors lie ahead to rescue Jen and escape the alien vessel.
Unlike most first-person shooter characters, Tommy is the strong, but not the silent type. When confronted with some new wonder, horror or threat aboard the alien ship, he responds appropriately, and not always with PG-rated language.
Fortunately, Tommy isn’t a chatterbox that will have you scrambling for the volume control on your speakers. Playing a character that does say something from time-to-time that lets you know what they are thinking or how they feel, allows you to identify more with your in-game alter-ego as a person rather than just another pixilated construct.
Incidentally, my non-Collector's Edition copy of Prey from GoGamer.com, which came in a rather nice DVD case and carried the PEGI—Pan European Game Information (www.pegi.info) rating of 18+ rather than the U.S. ESRB rating of Mature (M 17+) was the Prey (UK Import) version of the game. I doubt whether the differences between the two rating systems are enough to split hairs over. Suffice it to say, that in spite of the ability to disable or enable the use of profanity in the game with a simple mouse-click, Prey is clearly a game for mature audiences. American or Pan European ratings notwithstanding, gamers who are also parents with small children with access to your PC—consider yourself warned. Truthfully I don't miss the "bonus" Pewter figurines and other trinkets that are part and parcel of Collector's Edition DVD-ROMs anymore (the UK Import is seven bucks cheaper, by the way).
The impressive and sometimes majestic technology of the alien ship whose massive scale is rendered surprisingly well for the DOOM3 engine is a stark contrast to its more unsettling if not utterly gross “organic” construction. As you progress through the game, you discover that the alien craft that has abducted Tommy and his loved ones is one part Dyson Sphere, one part food processor and one part digestive system. That’s right: the force behind the alien ship uses it to scourge the galaxy for living beings to convert into food. Some of the abducted creatures are “experimented” on to make a more efficient food source, while others are turned into “watch dogs” to contain, capture or neutralize any creatures who manage to escape confinement and “processing.” Regardless, the end result is some pretty nasty and frightening monsters for Tommy to deal with. Prey’s plot takes on another unexpected twist when you learn that this is not been first time these cannibalistic aliens have visited earth. Their motivations beyond using the planet for an “intergalactic fast food joint” are even more surprising, but I’ll leave that for you to discover. During the course of the game, Tommy is reunited with his grandfather in the Spirit World. It is there that he realizes that in spite of his military background, he is facing a situation where he is way in over his head; and that the Cherokee heritage that he has rejected and denied for so long may be the only things that can help save not only himself and Jen, but the entire planet.
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Last Updated: 09/09/2010 |
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