In case you have not at least heard of the plight of the unnamed F.E.A.R operative (UFO) to stop the spooky supernatural strike against humanity in last year's F.E.A.R: First Encounter Assault & Recon, here's a review I prepared earlier that should catch you right up on this highly-regarded title that saw its first release on the PC in 2005.

With the entire city in ruins after a psychic explosion (no, really) at the end of the original game, F.E.A.R Files gives fans the opportunity to continue the exploits of our UFO immediately following the city-wide devastation, in "Extraction Point”, the first of two separate expansions contained within. In the second, cryptically named "Perseus Mandate”, you will get to experience the events from the perspective of yet another UFO who crosses paths with a band of mercenaries, as well as the game's bloodcurdling mascot –Alma.

Neither of the two expansions attempts to modify the winning F.E.A.R formula even though development duties were handled by TimeGate Studios and not the original Monolith team. Instead, both opted to stick with known quantities, namely the intense and cinematic gun fights fuelled by a reflex (ie. slow-mo) mode, punctuated by scripted scares. It is a relief then that the same excellent combat mechanics still feel as visceral and exciting two years on, even in the presence of the severely outdated visuals. The sharp enemy AI is matched by a powerful and responsive arsenal of weapons you will employ to put them down.

Both expansions also faithfully recreate some of the more effective scary moments from their predecessor, and even come with a few new visual tricks up their respective sleeves. However, with the antagonist dispatched and the mystery of the creepy girl largely solved, the scares just don't pack the same punch as they used to. Added to this the fact that they've also become more predictable, significantly reduces the likelihood that you'll be genuinely spooked this time round.

Were this the biggest flaw of F.E.A.R Files, we could all go home relatively content. In their staunch efforts to retread old territory, both expansions not only retained the look, feel and sounds of the original game, but also amplified its failings manyfold. Even for its time, F.E.A.R. was criticized for its reliance on repetitive environments and a ‘blink and you miss it' plot not helped by its entire lack of character development. Unfortunately, these same flaws appear in both expansions in abundance.

In Extraction Point, your goal is simple – get to the extraction point after your rescue helicopter crashes. To do so, you will make your way through the same mundane settings as in the original game, but now with 72% more dilapidation. And for the duration of this 5 hour passage, your exciting objectives will be composed entirely of many, many instances of "exit building A and enter building B”, a simple enough task in any other city, but thanks to some architects that deserve firing, and then drowning, in acid, even going to the toilet in the world of F.E.A.R. requires packing an overnight bag.

To make matters worse, you'll constantly be derailed by the most frustrating of conceits just so the developers can pack one more level into the game. One such infuriating incident happens just as you are about to reach your destination after several chapters of trying, only to be "blown onto the roof of a parking garage” by an explosion, and then having to traverse the entire building to get to an exit so you can then get back to the original objective of "entering building B”.

Extraction Point also attempts to disguise the lack of any semblance of plot by bringing back the two antagonists from F.E.A.R. with little to no explanation, as well as employing the neat trick of killing off established (and by that I mean ones with names) characters for "emotional impact”. The problem with this, however, is that they were never relatable to begin with, and as characters that are suppose to matter in the expansion, they appear in it for mere seconds. Their ensuing demise feels cheap, and a little uncomfortable, somewhat like being the new guy in the office and getting stuck with speech-duty at the farewell party of a long-time employee.

Perseus Mandate fares slightly better in terms of setting up an engaging journey for the player, once you get over the fact that this new character you are playing is utterly identical to our previous hero. The timeline of the expansion overlaps both the original campaign and Extraction Point, and the proceedings feel a lot more like a self-contained adventure. It also attempts to give more relevance to the incidental characters with the introduction of two squad members that you get to fight alongside periodically. It's a minute gesture, but works because these expansions otherwise feel so vacuous that you'll be glad of the radio chatter from your teammates.

By offering a different perspective on the events of F.E.A.R, the developers had a little more freedom to introduce several new tile-sets in addition to the overused environments inherited from the original campaign. While these larger and often outdoor settings provide a breath of fresh air to the usual tight-quarters combat, they come at a significant cost. These new settings stick out like a sore thumb visually even among the already dated graphics, with several environments looking embarrassingly sparse and primitive.

To add more value to what amounts to 10-12 hours of single player campaign, an Instant Action mode and online multiplayer mode that first appeared in F.E.A.R make a return. The Instant Action mode is as fun as ever, and really, in many ways undermines the existence of the single player expansions, since it condenses the best part of the F.E.A.R experience into an exciting and action-packed bundle that you can jump into and have fun with straight away! As for the online multiplayer mode, what was already a rather dated affair last year, not helped by it being released so close to offerings like Gears of War, is now even worse-for-wear.