SnazzyDroid reviews F.E.A.R. 2 for the Xbox 360.
The only thing to fear is fear herself.
F.E.A.R. was released for the PC back in 2005 and the released for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 the next year. It placed you in the shoes of “The Point Man” and his mission to stop a cannibal who has commandeered an army of clones bent on releasing a mysterious and deadly force from the Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC). That force is the mother of the games protagonist and antagonist. She is Alma and she is the definition of Evil. If you haven’t played the first then shame on you. The game is an excellent and challenging shooter with enough scary moments to make you go home and cry to your mommy.
F.E.A.R. 2 was released in Febuary 10, 2009. For the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and the PC. It takes place at the end of the first and goes on from that. You play as Micheal Beckett, a Delta Force operator who is sent to take the president of the ATC into protective custody. After the explosion that “Point Man” causes in the first game, you are knocked out and experimented on. To make things worse, you are now being chased down by Alma, and it is up to you to destroy her.
Story wise the game is pretty cool, after playing the first I became drawn to the story of Alma and the ATC. So I had to play this one and see what happens. Sadly it just told what we already know about Alma. Even though some deaths to characters are very cliche’ the way your team deals with the situation satisfied me enough.
First off, this game is easier than the first. I played it on Hard and found myself only getting pissed off at 3 or 4 missions. The achievements are also extremely easier to get. You get points for beating a mission on any difficulty and can even get 20 points for killing yourself 5 times, WTF?!
Gameplay is the same as any old FPS and if you played F.E.A.R. you will have a pretty easy time getting accustomed to the controls. You still have some killer weapons like the new laser and your Slo-Mo has returned. But now you can only hold 4 weapons so you should decide carefully what to use.
The Atmosphere is still dark and creepy in this game. But in my opinion, the first game had scarier and more creative hallucinations to share. Hallucinations that creeped you the fuck out and made you think of a Stephen King film are now replaced with random popouts of a creepy ghost chick and a few random demons killing people in front of you. Cliche’ I know.
(Possibly the freakiest moment of F.E.A.R.)
Now Multiplayer I am impressed with. The interface has improved for me, respawn time is like a second now instead of you just wandering around the map as a camera for a minute. A ranking system is now present as well. But some of the insanely strong weapons from the solo campaign are present in multiplayer and just as wickedly strong.
The graphics have improved, enviroments now have more detail and that just adds to the level of destruction seen and does manage to make the game alittle creepier. But some character models are just bland and boring, the detail of their clothes and weapons are good, but they are just occupied by boring faces.
The game is also rather buggy, controls stop working for a split second during a gunfight and I’ve found myself glitched into a black room with random objects laying around instead of an actual map, just after finding a checkpoint.
Aside from it’s flaws and dimmed down horror. The game is a solid shoter with an interesting story. FPS fans and Achievement Whores should definetly rent this game atleast. Fans of the first should buy it. I give it a B.
