Perseus Mandate is the second standalone expansion pack for the first-person shooter psychological horror video game F.E.A.R.

Developed by TimeGate Studios and originally published by Vivendi Games under the Sierra Entertainment label, it was released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2007.

On the PC, as well as a standalone release, Perseus Mandate was also bundled with the original game and Extraction Point for F.E.A.R.

The game is not a narrative sequel to Extraction Point, but rather a "sidequel" that runs parallel to the second half of the original F.E.A.R.

Finding themselves facing a previously unknown and highly skilled mercenary squad, the team must race to stop the mercs from acquiring potentially dangerous information pertaining to Alma Wade and Paxton Fettel.

On the PC, although they praised the combat mechanics, critics were unimpressed with the dated graphics and the game's similarity to the previous titles in the series.

New weapons in Perseus Mandate are a grenade launcher, night vision rifle, and lightning arc.

[8] The butts of all firearms can be used in close combat; lighter weapons, although less powerful, allow the player to move around more quickly and increase the chances of a successful melee attack.

As well as the basic melee attack, players can also perform a jumping kick and a sliding tackle, both of which, if landed correctly, instantly kill regular enemies.

[8] A prominent gameplay element in Perseus Mandate is "reflex time"; an ability which slows down the game world while still allowing the player to aim and react at normal speeds.

The duration which reflex time lasts is limited, determined by a meter which slowly fills up automatically when the ability is not being used.

[4][6] Reflex time is an important element of the game's combat mechanics insofar as Perseus Mandate's artificial intelligence allows hostile NPCs an unusually large range of action; enemies can duck to travel under crawlspaces, jump through windows, vault over railings, climb ladders, and push over large objects to create cover, all in reaction to what the player is doing at any given moment.

[6] Perseus Mandate also features three bonus missions that are unlocked after the single-player campaign is beaten.

's multiplayer, which includes new player models as well as the five new single-player weapons added by the two expansions (the lightning arc, grenade launcher, and night-vision rifle from Perseus Mandate, and the minigun and laser carbine from Extraction Point), and the deployable turrets.

and Extraction Point, beginning moments after Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC) security turn on F.E.A.R.

Raynes, Lt. Chen, and an unnamed sergeant (the player character), is preparing to infiltrate ATC's Global Data and Security Center.

Their orders are to find and retrieve anything related to Project Perseus, a classified ATC operation that was attempting to develop a unit of telepathically-controlled clone soldiers (known as Replicas).

Morrison acquires the DNA and is pursued by F.E.A.R., who discover the Replicas have shut down (coinciding with Fettel's death in the original game).

The sergeant eventually reaches the surface, and reestablishes contact with Raynes, who orders him to make his way to the cloning facility.

Morrison says that the Nightcrawlers are now attempting to acquire a sample of Alma Wade's DNA, which is housed in the cloning facility.

The sergeant navigates through the facility, occasionally encountering Fettel, who makes cryptic comments about Projects Origin and Perseus, the first synchronicity event, and Point Man.

When Extraction Point was announced, initial reports stated that Monolith Productions, creators of the original game, had given the expansions' storylines their blessing, and that they were in line with their own in-development sequel.

[20][21] However, in December 2008, a year after the release of Perseus Mandate and a few months before the release of Project Origin, Dave Matthews, Project Origin's lead artist, explained that the expansions were made outside of Monolith and they took the story in a very different direction than we had intended, so when we started working on F.E.A.R.

Although he praised the combat mechanics, the implementation of slow motion, the sound design, and the music, he argued that the game is "so familiar that an air of been-there-done-that sucks a lot of the life out.

"[32] IGN's Dan Adams scored it 5.9 out of 10, citing the lack of notable new content and finding the graphics and gameplay to be virtually identical to the original.

He was heavily critical of the graphics ("look like they'd fit in with a shooter from a decade ago") and the game's similarity to the previous titles; "it's difficult to play this expansion without feeling that you're doing the exact same things that you've done countless times before.

"[12] IGN's Erik Brudvig scored it 6.7 out of 10, praising the gameplay, combat mechanics, implementation of slow motion, AI, and the player's arsenal.

"[8] Game Informer's Adam Biessener scored it 6.5 out of 10, arguing that the expansions "fail to recapture the magic of the original."