by EggChen on 19 May 2009 16:47
Well I have finished this, spent about an hour a night on it for a couple of weeks, taking my time.
It is average in almost every way. I had some fun, and some scares, but when I think back to the original FEAR it was better in almost every department.
Horror - FEAR 1 wins. In this you know when something is going to happen, you have quiet periods with no enemies, and the screen effects announce the horror before it arrives. Its still scary at times, but not as well done as FEAR.
AI - FEAR 1 wins. These guys just don't seem as smart, more often just running into your line of fire. In FEAR 1 I remember being flanked many times.
Sound - FEAR 1 wins. Not sure why, it just seemed to fit better, the horror sounds were really like fingernails down a blackboard in the original.
Story - FEAR 1 wins of course, sequels are usually far worse in story! I won't spoil it for those interested in playing this.
Guns - FEAR 1 wins. The weapons felt meatier, and the new version of the stake gun in FEAR 2 just let the whole game down. When I got it I was well chuffed, until I realised the guy has to be standing within one foot of a wall to pin him to it. I remember pinning guys to the celing in FEAR, or shooting them back 6 feet into a door.
Gunplay - FEAR 1 wins. I'm not sure what these guys are wearing on their heads, but in FEAR 2 it takes a number of bullets to the cranium to kill one!
Graphics - The only place this beats the original is of course graphics, but even they seem poor by other game standards, worse than Crysis, Stalker and Bioshock which precede it by over a year!! In some cases its worse graphically than the orginal FEAR, in the gunfight effects and animation of the NPC's.
Good points, runs well, very stable, and fairly easy on a system. Using the mech suit is just carnage, your virtually invincible, but its fun. The assasins are cool as ever.
Bad points, so very consoleified. The UI is terrible, and the setpieces just annoying. Its not hard, but breaks down into quicksave attrition at times. Especially with the snipers.
The best bit, it makes you remember how good FEAR was, I have uninstalled FEAR 2 after 1 playthrough, and just reinstalled FEAR.