I can get why some people don't like this game, but I think it's a solid, if uninspired shooter. The Good: First of all, I think this is a pretty good looking game considering it's 10 years old. Unlike the original which curiously starts to have serious framerate dips before even an hour of sustained play, this game runs butter smooth on my computer at maximum settings. The guns are a bit by-the-number (but the original F.E.A.R. didn't exactly reinvent the wheel with guns either), but they do the job. It is a shame that the shotgun feels pretty underwhelming compared to the awesome shotgun from the first game. The campaign is well paced and only has a few hiccups and missteps when it comes to my personal enjoyment (the mech suit sections overstayed their welcome and turret sequences always suck). The Bad: The first thing that comes to mind is that the AI is dumber than the original. I don't know how AI can not only fail to improve, but regress in fidelity, but here we are. They're not brain-dead, but they feel much more like cannon fodder than the deadly, cunning commandos from F.E.A.R. For instance, they seem to leave cover a lot more frequently and make dumb decisions (plus there are more of them, so they feel even more like standard FPS cannon fodder) where the soldiers in the first game would rarely just try to rush you and mostly waited for you to come to them or tried to flush you out of cover. The story is once again utterly forgettable and the writing is laughable across the board, but who honestly cares since the original was hardly Bioshock in the story department. I never really found the first game that scary, but this game really scrapes the bottom of the barrel with tired scare tactics and cliched horror contrivances such as an overreliance on gore and loud noise to set the mood. Ultimately, I still enjoyed my time playing it. Don't expect a masterpiece and you should have a more than adequate experience.
Man, I was looking forward to playing this game. I wanted to play it ever since I read about it so long ago... The first game was mindless run and gun fun. I have few complaints about it. This one? Well... I wanted to love it. This is one of the goriest games ever made and I was stoked to see how awesome it played. I hated it. The Good: The gunplay feels meaty and impactful. Guns are loud and enemies drop in a few shots. Obviously, the game is incredibly gory, even moreso than most games on the market today. It's frankly embarrassing that a 20 year old game has better gore than most games on the market. The head alone can be split into 12 pieces. Holy shit. Enemies scream when you blow off limbs, they gargle on their own blood, they catch their guts as they spill out, it's nasty stuff. Very satisfying. The weaponry is more grounded, but that's okay. The guns feel good, that's all that matters. The Bad: Man, I fucking HATE the enemies in this game. They're smart: they'll use cover and try to flush you out with grenades instead of blindly rushing you. That's a good thing! However, they're total fucking BULLSHIT to deal with as the game goes on. They will dump so much lead into you with laser precision from seemingly across the map. A lot of people talk about how the jungle is total hell (it is), but the game never ever lets up. It is relentlessly difficult on Consultant and higher. They're all hitscan and they never miss. I will drop dead within seconds. The Hong Kong level is just a total clusterfuck of enemies coming out of nowhere and popping you in the face. I hate it. Being hard is great, if the challenge is fair. This isn't. This is trial and error bullshit at its worst. It honestly makes me sad that I dislike this game, but I don't think I've gotten this angry at a game in a long, long time. I have other myriad complaints, but the blatant artificial difficulty ruined this game for me. A shame, really.
