F.E.A.R. 2 (PC) Review
F.E.A.R. 2 is the long awaited sequel to F.E.A.R. It is a first person shooter (FPS) with a horror-twist. The horror comes courtesy of Japan and its "little evil girl" genre of films (think Ring). It's a pretty good time in general.
The controls are what you would expect of a modern shooter, and the on-screen tutorial as you play through the first portion of the game is enough to teach what you need to know. I'm not going to go into detail here, suffice it to say that if you've played any other FPS of relatively modern vintage you've got a pretty idea of what to expect here. About the only thing I can knock the game for in this regard is the use of button mashing quick-time events, which is something I've never cared for in any game. Those are pretty rare, and don't detract from the flow of the game.
There's a nice variety of weaponry available in FEAR 2, from standard machine guns and shotguns to laser and other energy weapons. There are also four kinds of grenades, useful for fighting the different kinds of enemies that are around. Add in a sniper rifle for duels with enemy snipers, and rocket launchers to handle the heaviest of enemy units and you've got all the basics covered. A personal favorite weapon is the laser, which can sever limbs from the enemy - though it burns through ammunition very quickly. The automatic shotgun is another fun weapon, combining the punch of the shotgun with a faster firing and reloading rate, essential in close quarters. Once in a while the game gives you the option of piloting a powerful suit of power armor, or manning a gun turret, both of which are welcome changes of pace in the action.
There's a variety of enemies which attempt to use tactics such as flanking the player or using grenades to flush the player out of cover. More than once I found myself with an enemy that had worked his way around behind me using cover. The enemies come in various types: Amarcham security, replica soldiers, mercenaries, the big heavy robotic power suits, and the crazy dead people who can animate all the corpses around them as weapons. The power suits are dangerous when encountered outside of the security of a suit of your own, and require the use of electric grenades, terrain, and every rocket you can find to down. The last kind of enemy, the ones that are dead but don't seem to know it, make for frantic encounters as the ghostly enemy runs around and uses other corpses like puppets to fight the player. The fights are both fast paced and graphically cool, with the ghost literally pulling the corpse-puppets' strings. If each kind of the regular 'soldier' type enemies with guns had a few more body models, the variety of the encounters would help keep things from ever getting stale, but as it is after a while you've seen all the enemies and it starts to feel like you're killing the same three or four people over and over.
The plot of FEAR 2 parallels and takes place in the aftermath of the original game. Your team is sent in to deal with the Amarcham corporation and grab one of the antagonists. Things quickly go south and before you know it, you're surrounded by clone soldiers, mercenaries, and hallucinations with series antagonist Alma messing with your mind. The plot feels somewhat stronger in this game, than in the first FEAR (or its expansions) with less of what I like to call "people doing stupid things to advance the plot." The main character's team seems well developed in FEAR 2, less like cardboard cut-outs like the supporting cast in the original. The scare factor tends to fall flat, with me, though, just like in the first game. Having said that, there were still some moments of the game that gave me a terrible feeling of dread. Scattered through the game are items that can be picked up to advance the back-story, shedding light on what's happening through the game.
The environments for the most part are better built and more interesting than the places in the first FEAR. My favorite level was at an elementary school. Not only was it somewhat surreal to fight my way through classrooms, the cafeteria, and so on, but the area was structured in a way that didn't require any backtracking. Picking up the intel items and reading about the back-story at the school only made things stranger, and really started to creep me out by the time I had finished the area. Pretty much all of the game's areas are linear and don't require backtracking. To me in a shooter this is mostly a plus, though I understand that a lot of people don't like such linearity. Avoiding the specter of backtracking, getting lost, and wasting time going places I've been before is pretty nice, though.
The graphics are great. Enemies look good, the guns look good, special effects are good, the terrain is good; I really have no complaints. The sound is great; mostly because the music is pretty awesomely chosen. The voice acting is solid enough. The Amarcham black ops mercenary leader is a great antagonist, and his voice acting had me cursing him out as the game went on.
Now for a quick scoring summary for those of you keeping track of the numbers:
Gameplay: 8
Good controls. Toggling in and out of slow motion is kind of cliche in shooters anymore, but it serves to give the player a good edge over the enemies in the game; it's rarely required to defeat enemies. With its variety of weaponry and enemies with different weaknesses, the actual shooting action rarely gets boring or stale. The button mashing events that intersperse the game are somewhat lame, but for some reason the game industry seems to like them these days.
Graphics: 9
I love the graphics. I really love the static noise effect in the player's vision which steadily gets worse the closer to the end of the game the player gets. It helps set a tone of how much everything is spiraling out of control, but in a subtle sort of way.
Sound: 9
Love the music, everything else sits on the border between great and good.
Replay: 3
I'm not sure I'll replay the game. If I do it'll be so I can collect all the intel items scattered around and get every little scrap of back-story. I don't know anyone else who has FEAR 2, so I haven't been able to give multiplayer a try with people I'd actually like to gank, so this rating is based on the single-player experience.
Other: N/A
A lot of people have had trouble with the game as distributed via Steam. I haven't had any trouble like that, but it's something to keep in mind when you purchase the game.
Overall: 8
FEAR 2 is a great shooter with few flaws in its gameplay. Good controls, fun enemies with a lot of different weapons to shoot them with. The scare factor is probably too low for most of its intended audience. It looks and sounds great with lots of atmosphere. It's a must play for shooter fans. Horror fans might want to give it a try as well, because the game does pretty well at establishing the right kind of feel.
The controls are what you would expect of a modern shooter, and the on-screen tutorial as you play through the first portion of the game is enough to teach what you need to know. I'm not going to go into detail here, suffice it to say that if you've played any other FPS of relatively modern vintage you've got a pretty idea of what to expect here. About the only thing I can knock the game for in this regard is the use of button mashing quick-time events, which is something I've never cared for in any game. Those are pretty rare, and don't detract from the flow of the game.
There's a nice variety of weaponry available in FEAR 2, from standard machine guns and shotguns to laser and other energy weapons. There are also four kinds of grenades, useful for fighting the different kinds of enemies that are around. Add in a sniper rifle for duels with enemy snipers, and rocket launchers to handle the heaviest of enemy units and you've got all the basics covered. A personal favorite weapon is the laser, which can sever limbs from the enemy - though it burns through ammunition very quickly. The automatic shotgun is another fun weapon, combining the punch of the shotgun with a faster firing and reloading rate, essential in close quarters. Once in a while the game gives you the option of piloting a powerful suit of power armor, or manning a gun turret, both of which are welcome changes of pace in the action.
There's a variety of enemies which attempt to use tactics such as flanking the player or using grenades to flush the player out of cover. More than once I found myself with an enemy that had worked his way around behind me using cover. The enemies come in various types: Amarcham security, replica soldiers, mercenaries, the big heavy robotic power suits, and the crazy dead people who can animate all the corpses around them as weapons. The power suits are dangerous when encountered outside of the security of a suit of your own, and require the use of electric grenades, terrain, and every rocket you can find to down. The last kind of enemy, the ones that are dead but don't seem to know it, make for frantic encounters as the ghostly enemy runs around and uses other corpses like puppets to fight the player. The fights are both fast paced and graphically cool, with the ghost literally pulling the corpse-puppets' strings. If each kind of the regular 'soldier' type enemies with guns had a few more body models, the variety of the encounters would help keep things from ever getting stale, but as it is after a while you've seen all the enemies and it starts to feel like you're killing the same three or four people over and over.
The plot of FEAR 2 parallels and takes place in the aftermath of the original game. Your team is sent in to deal with the Amarcham corporation and grab one of the antagonists. Things quickly go south and before you know it, you're surrounded by clone soldiers, mercenaries, and hallucinations with series antagonist Alma messing with your mind. The plot feels somewhat stronger in this game, than in the first FEAR (or its expansions) with less of what I like to call "people doing stupid things to advance the plot." The main character's team seems well developed in FEAR 2, less like cardboard cut-outs like the supporting cast in the original. The scare factor tends to fall flat, with me, though, just like in the first game. Having said that, there were still some moments of the game that gave me a terrible feeling of dread. Scattered through the game are items that can be picked up to advance the back-story, shedding light on what's happening through the game.
The environments for the most part are better built and more interesting than the places in the first FEAR. My favorite level was at an elementary school. Not only was it somewhat surreal to fight my way through classrooms, the cafeteria, and so on, but the area was structured in a way that didn't require any backtracking. Picking up the intel items and reading about the back-story at the school only made things stranger, and really started to creep me out by the time I had finished the area. Pretty much all of the game's areas are linear and don't require backtracking. To me in a shooter this is mostly a plus, though I understand that a lot of people don't like such linearity. Avoiding the specter of backtracking, getting lost, and wasting time going places I've been before is pretty nice, though.
The graphics are great. Enemies look good, the guns look good, special effects are good, the terrain is good; I really have no complaints. The sound is great; mostly because the music is pretty awesomely chosen. The voice acting is solid enough. The Amarcham black ops mercenary leader is a great antagonist, and his voice acting had me cursing him out as the game went on.
Now for a quick scoring summary for those of you keeping track of the numbers:
Gameplay: 8
Good controls. Toggling in and out of slow motion is kind of cliche in shooters anymore, but it serves to give the player a good edge over the enemies in the game; it's rarely required to defeat enemies. With its variety of weaponry and enemies with different weaknesses, the actual shooting action rarely gets boring or stale. The button mashing events that intersperse the game are somewhat lame, but for some reason the game industry seems to like them these days.
Graphics: 9
I love the graphics. I really love the static noise effect in the player's vision which steadily gets worse the closer to the end of the game the player gets. It helps set a tone of how much everything is spiraling out of control, but in a subtle sort of way.
Sound: 9
Love the music, everything else sits on the border between great and good.
Replay: 3
I'm not sure I'll replay the game. If I do it'll be so I can collect all the intel items scattered around and get every little scrap of back-story. I don't know anyone else who has FEAR 2, so I haven't been able to give multiplayer a try with people I'd actually like to gank, so this rating is based on the single-player experience.
Other: N/A
A lot of people have had trouble with the game as distributed via Steam. I haven't had any trouble like that, but it's something to keep in mind when you purchase the game.
Overall: 8
FEAR 2 is a great shooter with few flaws in its gameplay. Good controls, fun enemies with a lot of different weapons to shoot them with. The scare factor is probably too low for most of its intended audience. It looks and sounds great with lots of atmosphere. It's a must play for shooter fans. Horror fans might want to give it a try as well, because the game does pretty well at establishing the right kind of feel.