Every game is better with friends, but this one was terrible to begin with. The only reason you should own this game is because you get it with the FEAR collection (the only way to get the first game & its DLC on Steam). Avoid, unless you like playing bad games and also have a friend willing to endure it with you.

Also, why can't Fettel pick up guns when he isn't possessing anybody? He interacts with levers just fine, and manages to die to bullets despite being a ghost. But he can't pick up a rifle? Is he stupid?

Honestly, this game is a big disappointment.

And it's a shame because the graphics are hugely upgraded from the first two games, the game play is a lot smoother and the different little details relating to shooting guns and the flashlight are very cool.
But the game is NOT a F.E.A.R game. It is far more like a call of duty game. The other F.E.A.R games are a balanced blend of a shooter game and a horror game and most of the time you are going through a very creepy but engaging atmosphere. This game however is like 90% shooting and 10% random things happening that are supposed to be scary but aren't, because there is zero suspense or tension.
I also find most of the enemies flat out annoying. The zombie/mutant enemies with explosives strapped on them are without a doubt the most annoying but least scary enemy I've ever had to kill on any game. The mutant dog things in the final chapters of the game are again supposed to be scary, but aren't. It reminds me a lot like HALO, except Halo isn't supposed to be a horror game so it makes sense.
I think the fact that each chapter has a a scoring system, a leader board and a rank for how you kill enemies really summarises the fact that this completely fell off from the first two games. I'm more concerned about killing enemies behind cover with slow-mo headshots than I am trying to figure out the story.
As for the story, it's below average. I could talk about how both endings are complete nonsense like everyone else, but the actual narrative is really poor too. Some monster is chasing you, it turns out to be your granddad (His spirit is alive for literally no reason), and he becomes a huge monster to kill you for apparently being one yourself? Senseless. They also threw in a cameo attempt for Jin from the first game, and it turns out that her entire part of the story is irrelevant because the ending basically ignores everything that her and Pointman were trying to achieve in the first place. The fact that she can communicate with Pointman doesn't even make any sense anyway. They also completely insult the second game by murdering Becket like he's a little b*tch. I can't even play that again because it turns out that the protagonist went from a brave super soldier to a useless weak coward in this one. Shame. Great shame.
The model for Paxton Fettel is also weird. He looks like a slug. And I can't take him seriously. Then there's the fact that they show Pointmans face, it ruins the mystery of his character from the other two games.
I could go on about why this game is at best below average, but honestly it isn't worth anymore time at this point. I hope one day that they remake the first two games, and just ignore this one forever and pretend it doesn't exist.

Despite all of the hate this game gets, I can actually say that I enjoyed it. Even though this is not the F.E.A.R. game we all used to play, it's fun gameplay covers all of it's downsides almost completely for me. Except for one. Length of this game. Being only 8 intervals long, I was quite surprised, since I expected at least 10 of them. Last interval came out of nowhere and the game ended unexpectedly for me... Roughly speaking, it took me one evening to beat it for the first time. That was quite disappointing...

I've beaten this game twice, playing as Pointman, then Fettel, and I gotta say that gameplay wise this game is just something else. I've never played any CoD, BF games, so gameplay in FPS game being so vibrant is a brand new experience to me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't play any of the coop activities, because there are barely any online players in this game. So if you want to buy this game to play it online, you must persuade your friends to do the same thing and play with them.

Overall, I can say that this game deserves more love than it gets. All of the hate it gets, is basically based on "this game is not a F.E.A.R. game" or "this game has no horror atmosphere"(I actually agree with this, because I got scared only twice(since I'm a timid person)). So if you want a solid FPS game, I'd recommend you buying it(of course if it's on sale).