Nothing to F.E.A.R here.
I will start this review off by letting you know that I never did play the first F.E.A.R game to completion. For some reason, I just found it boring at the time, only played like two levels of it.
So when I first put F.E.A.R 2 in the 360, I was pretty much brought right back to a very similar environment.... My first thought was "here we go again". I had to FORCE myself to play through about the first half of this game, it just seemed uninspired, boring, and like I had done it all before. But, once I hit the Elementary level, the game kicked into high gear.... At least for a short period of time.
Story: 7
As if we players have never had to escape to the surface from an underground medical lab, the folks at Monolith throw us right back there. How many times have we done this? How many times have we had to "uncover" the truth? Is there no more originality out there? Overall the story is not bad , it's just a been there, done that, again. And the way you unfold the story has been done over and over and over again.
Graphics: 7.5
Again, felt like nothing special. If you have played either the first F.E.A.R game, or either of the two Condemned games you will know what I am talking about. Sure the graphics work, but over all they are nothing to write home about. They are clean, and there are hardly any frame rate issues. However, what makes up for it is what you can see in the details of levels and slow motion effects. I don't know if it can ever get old killing baddies in slow-mo.
Level Design: 7
Holy crap, another office? Another underground lab? Another School? What kept me going through most levels was the pure desire to not play in them, I just wanted OUT!!!! Sure they tried to mix them up, but not enough to keep them interesting. One cool part was being able to use the Mechs. That too has been done before, but tearing guys to tiny chunks was awesome. They also did a decent job adding small detail to each level. It probably took me longer to play the game just because I found myself looking around at things.
Controls/Gameplay: 8.5
About what you would expect from a FPS. Easy to use, never seemed like you had to fumble around to use them. Although big gun battles seemed few and far between, when they did happen they were intense and fun. GREAT blood splatter effects, combined with Slo-mo is really what kept me in the game. Watching bodies fly
Creep Effect: 7
Boohoo.... Had me then you lost me. What is supposed to be a "horror/action/thriller kinda a game really only gets into that "What the hell was that" mode two, maybe three times during the game. From what I remember of the first game, it seems the creep effect was almost lost or forgotten in this game. Just one warning.... There is one OMG! moment in Snake Fist, that is all I am saying.
Multiplayer/Online: 5
Talk about been there done that. Is it a rule that all FPS games must have death match? Lag, along with a very weird physics thing going on made online almost a complete bust for me.
Fun Factor: 7
At the end of the day, F.E.A.R 2 is probably just a rental for most people. There are some fun moments, but nothing that would bring me back to play it again. I pretty much finished the game just so I could do this review
