I suppose it is common practice for expansion packs to rehash the original. Something sold well, and the people who ponied up the dough for the next thing in that series don't want to risk people disapproving of any changes made. It does demand mentioning, however; at its best, this is as creepy as the first one. For not wasting any time(like other EP's) throwing you back into shoot-outs, it does not forget that a large part of that successful cocktail was the atmosphere and psychological terror, and this has a ton of occurrences of paranormal phenomena(and they get kicked up a notch at points, and without it getting excessive). It does reuse a lot of the stuff that worked before, and, honestly, where F.E.A.R. used the uncertainty to create and maintain a sense of dread in the player, this uses that element to explain why it exists, why things kept going. The ending is also a bit "meh". I didn't feel like anything had been accomplished afterwards, and this really doesn't provide details about the mystery. This requires a full version of the game to play, and that's good, because this picks up right where that one left off. For all the excitement and anticipation that was created by that, this starts by showing you what the outcome of that situation was. I don't know, I guess they wanted to stay with the characters that we already knew... and to be fair, they don't mess with their personalities or ruin them, and if you liked them before, you will, here. Voice acting isn't bad, or at least, it tends not to be. The level design remains great, although they are still entirely linear. Locations are OK. Puzzles are simple, again. It's nice that they don't alter what doesn't need it, but it would be appreciated if they would fix the things that do. Am I really the only one bothered by those red edges during Reflex Time? The fact that you can't turn it on *or* off if you're moving? That it doesn't allow you to dodge bullets, and seems out of place in a horror game? Why no explanation for why you can hear radio chatter, or why the soldiers can't tell that the other groups have been killed? And why does the annoying puff of smoke that obstructs your vision stay(to be fair, they may have made it dissipate faster) The game-play is repetitive again, however, with this being much shorter than its parent, it doesn't overstay its welcome. There is a new creature, and it looks pretty silly, if you ask me. I think music is added, and a little of it is... off, too like an action flick. Well, it isn't all that distracting. And the sound-side *definitely* continues to be amazing, and if you can play this on a system with a sub-woofer, *do so*. This has 2 more modes of multi-player. You are given two weapons, apart from the ones already there. They are pretty awesome, and since there wasn't really an unmet need for weapons, that is why they were thought up. They are a Minigun and a Laser Carbine, the latter being a sort of assault rifle. Then there is the Deployable Turret, that you toss(!), and it attaches itself to the surface it hits, and fires blasts at foes, increasing the amount of strategic opportunities. The troopers get a massive robot, and it destroys the environment as it tries to get you, very cool. Since this chapter doesn't take place at the same locations as the game itself, listening to answering machines gives no hints about what's going on, and you have to wonder why they bothered with that at all, in this. It reminds you of it being better elsewhere, especially in System Shock 2, a VG that neither of these are in the same league as. The AI is marvelous, and now, they make their own cover, knocking over tables and the like. Their being adaptive means that approaching them in different ways will get responses suited for that, so that they pose a challenge, well, somewhat. They do freeze up(or behave in a weird manner) on a few occasions. I insist that they aren't as imposing as they appear to be meant to be. There are some bugs in this... heed my advice for your own sake: Do not load and save many times in one area. There are glitches, as well, from the minor, if irritating and common one of stuff bouncing *forever*(or the audio of that playing for that long, anyway) to a dead body sticking in a door, thus preventing it from being opened. Yeah. Hope you stored your progress recently. You can do so at any point this time too, and there are checkpoints, to boot. This almost stays with the 1st person perspective, as it should; it does break it twice, each time awkward and disruptive. If you cannot live up to an admittedly tough form, *do not pursue it*. Any deviations from it will draw attention to the failure, and make you look worse than if you decided to go with a loose approach, one that would not be hard to avoid breaking. There are four difficulty settings, and this requires about the same amount of skill as the other one did towards the latter half. The plot is nearly non-existent, this is really just the pot being left on the stove with the heat turned down, until Monolith had decided where the dish was going, what ingredients to put in for the next serving. It's boiling, sure, and the flavor's there, if not completely as refined, and if you want another bowl, if you're *that* hungry, hey, go for it. There is plenty of disturbing content, constant gratuitous swearing, strong, graphic violence that can be brutal and gory, and numerous gallons of blood, in this. I recommend this to anyone who loved the title that this is a sequel to. 7/10
