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Review by Byron McDivitt

I played the original F.E.A.R. for about 30-40 minutes and just could not get into the game. I thought it was a bit dull and bland and couldn't see why so many other people enjoyed the game. I am all about second chances though and after talking to Cody last week I thought I would give F.E.A.R. 2 a chance, and I am really glad that I did.

F.E.A.R.2 starts 30 minutes before F.E.A.R. ends, throwing you into the shoes of Delta Force officer Michael Beckit. You and your squad have been sent to take Genevieve Aristide into protective custody, and keep her safe from a Black Ops team and a band of Mercenaries who are also after her.

Shortly after the game begins something happens (The ending of F.E.A.R.) which results in you awaking to find yourself being operated on, with Aristide overseeing the whole thing. This is where the gameplay and story pick up a bit of pace, as Alma (the villan of the game) starts to give you more than a headache as she closes in on you.

F.E.A.R. 2 feels strangely familiar to something you have played before, yet also fresh and slightly different as well. If I had to say which game it reminds me of most, I would have to say Half Life 2. (I know I shouldn't compare one game to another, but I felt like I had played the game somewhere before.) One difference though is the ability to slowdown time, which can result in saving your bacon when a mech powers back to life and turns its twin miniguns on you. That was also one thing I didn't expect to see in F.E.A.R. 2, never mind hop in one of my own. I really enjoyed using the mechs for the short time that you get to use them, they handle really well and it made me think about the lack of any good mech games on the 360.

The storyline is puzzling in parts with a specical mention going to the conclusion of the game, which resulted in Boss asking me "Did the ending make sense to you?" This is only a minor thing though as F.E.A.R. 2 is all about the gameplay, and this is where the game truly succeeds and has to be one of the best single player games I have played in quite some time. Like any game it has its high and low points, such as certain enemies such as the School Headmaster taking a while to kill even though your firing Rockets at point blank range at him.

Like most games these days there are a host of collectibles to find scattered around the levels, and these are a real pain in the arse to find as you would expect. There are two different types of collectibles in the game, with the first being Intel which gives a bit more details on the main story line. The second type is something called Reflex Injectors that increase your slowdown time ability. As most of you know I hate collecting anything in games, but with F.E.A.R. 2 the whole collecting element isn't as bad as in some games with only a few collectibles to find on a level. The majority of them are in plain view as well which is a good thing, as you don't miss out on the chance to increase your slowdown time ability or to get a bit more information on the back story. As a result you can just play the game without worrying about being penalised for not finding everything in the game.

The graphics are pretty good overall and there are some nice touches here and there. One complaint would be that the game is to dark making things really hard to see in some parts of the game, this is easily fixed with a slight brightness adjustment in the options menu though. I have no complaints about the sound in the game, as they did a great job making it feel very atmospheric with a mix of sound and the overall look of the game. Resulting in a great overall single player experience that even haters of the original game should enjoy.

As well as the Single Player mode we also have the usual tagged on Multi-Player featuring all the game modes you would expect to see such as Death Match, Team Death Match, a variation of Capture The Flag and one or two others thrown in for good measure. I would have to say that I didn't enjoy the Multi-Player side that much as each of the modes just didn't feel as exciting as many other online shooters. It just feels like online gaming from at least 5 years ago, the result is a rather lack luster experience with very few people playing the game online.

If I had to score this game on the single player game mode I would give it an 8.5 as it is a solid experience, but since the online side of the game was a wasted opportunity I have to knock it down to an 8. This is one of those games that you should play to try at least once, if not your going to be the one missing out in the long run.