I’ve heard some people say FEAR 2 is inferior to the original game, but I actually prefer it over FEAR 1. Most notably, the graphics of FEAR 2 are greatly improved, now comparable to other Xbox 360 games/ports. There’s still an issue with default key bindings being weird compared to other modern FPS games, but you can change those easily.

FEAR 2 picks up a little before the end of FEAR 1, ignoring the FEAR 1 expansion DLCs. This time your character has a name and you actually feel like part of a team, instead of just having a lot of people talk to you on the radio. However, similar to the first game you’re on your own most of the time when the bullets start flying. Your team is tasked with rescuing the CEO of Armacham Corporation, the private military contractor with more firepower than most first world nations. The Armacham leadership is trying to cover its ass by blaming the disaster from FEAR 1 on the CEO and sending in black ops teams to wipe out everyone and everything that could tie them to illegal activities. Not to mention *SPOILER* at the end of Fear 1, Alma was released, so she seems to have awakened all the replica forces around the city. You have a lot of visions of her wandering the halls and tearing people apart like Phoenix in the worst Xmen movie (you know which one).

Like its predecessor, FEAR 2 is a first person shooter with a time slowing power that you can use to achieve tactical supremacy. The game seems a lot easier than FEAR 1 for some reason, possibly because the enemies don’t seem to have perfect aim anymore. There’re at least half a dozen new weapons, some of which are pretty cool (Lasers and electro grenades) and a pretty badass mechanized power armor that you can use to lay down the pain. Of course there are a lot of new enemies as well to soak up your bullets. This time around there are non-human enemies that have either been created by Armacham or were summoned by Alma’s psychic presence. You also need to fight some enemies with their own power armor (at least you have a missile launcher). A minor gripe of mine is that not all the weapons seem to have designated “roles.” For example the assault rifle and the submachine gun are basically the same thing. One is weaker but fires faster, that’s about the only difference. There’s also an energy weapon that is basically the same thing as the missile launcher. I won’t complain too much about it though since more variety is nice in a game with modern graphics. I wish there was better documentation of how enemy armor works. Most of the enemies seem to be wearing heavy armor. Does it randomly deflect bullets like in Rage, or just lower the received damage like in the Fallout games? The Hammerhead rifle is supposed to be great against armored enemies, but in a fast paced game like this, it’s really hard to see the difference. This is really kind of nitpicky though and it’s just something that stuck out in my mind, not a real problem.
EDIT: I was wrong about the energy weapon being the same as the missile launcher. It seems to be more like a BFG 10k (from Doom) with lightning bolts shooting out of the main blast to fry people around it.

Pros:
+Great visuals and some unique looking monsters. The ghost summoner is pretty cool
+A lot of “intel” items can be found in the game, which give you a flavor for the game world. It’s disgusting the kind of things that Armacham has been up to.
+Slow-mo + sniper rifle = fun
+Good story and a lot of replay potential

Cons:
-There’s this weird issue where each time a level loads, it seems to pause around 50% and not move until I alt+tab out of the game and go back in. I don’t know if this is specific to my computer but it also happened with my old non-steam version a few years ago.
-The game has no Steam achievements despite having game achievements built right in (like 10 headshots or 10 melee kills).
-FEAR 2 is kind of short. I went through it in about 6 hours on normal mode. It may take longer for someone who hasn’t played it before.

Overall if you liked FEAR 1 you should like FEAR 2. I find it superior in pretty much every way. As much as I liked the first FEAR, I doubt I’ll replay it again because the outdated graphics really take away from the experience. With FEAR 2 I’ll keep it around to replay in a few months (smaller download size too). If you have this game in your inventory from the Humble Bundle, give it a try.

I’ve heard some people say FEAR 2 is inferior to the original game, but I actually prefer it over FEAR 1. Most notably, the graphics of FEAR 2 are greatly improved, now comparable to other Xbox 360 games/ports. There’s still an issue with default key bindings being weird compared to other modern FPS games, but you can change those easily. FEAR 2 picks up a little before the end of FEAR 1, ignoring the FEAR 1 expansion DLCs. This time your character has a name and you actually feel like part of a team, instead of just having a lot of people talk to you on the radio. However, similar to the first game you’re on your own most of the time when the bullets start flying. Your team is tasked with rescuing the CEO of Armacham Corporation, the private military contractor with more firepower than most first world nations. The Armacham leadership is trying to cover its ass by blaming the disaster from FEAR 1 on the CEO and sending in black ops teams to wipe out everyone and everything that could tie them to illegal activities. Not to mention *SPOILER* at the end of Fear 1, Alma was released, so she seems to have awakened all the replica forces around the city. You have a lot of visions of her wandering the halls and tearing people apart like Phoenix in the worst Xmen movie (you know which one). Like its predecessor, FEAR 2 is a first person shooter with a time slowing power that you can use to achieve tactical supremacy. The game seems a lot easier than FEAR 1 for some reason, possibly because the enemies don’t seem to have perfect aim anymore. There’re at least half a dozen new weapons, some of which are pretty cool (Lasers and electro grenades) and a pretty badass mechanized power armor that you can use to lay down the pain. Of course there are a lot of new enemies as well to soak up your bullets. This time around there are non-human enemies that have either been created by Armacham or were summoned by Alma’s psychic presence. You also need to fight some enemies with their own power armor (at least you have a missile launcher). A minor gripe of mine is that not all the weapons seem to have designated “roles.” For example the assault rifle and the submachine gun are basically the same thing. One is weaker but fires faster, that’s about the only difference. There’s also an energy weapon that is basically the same thing as the missile launcher. I won’t complain too much about it though since more variety is nice in a game with modern graphics. I wish there was better documentation of how enemy armor works. Most of the enemies seem to be wearing heavy armor. Does it randomly deflect bullets like in Rage, or just lower the received damage like in the Fallout games? The Hammerhead rifle is supposed to be great against armored enemies, but in a fast paced game like this, it’s really hard to see the difference. This is really kind of nitpicky though and it’s just something that stuck out in my mind, not a real problem. EDIT: I was wrong about the energy weapon being the same as the missile launcher. It seems to be more like a BFG 10k (from Doom) with lightning bolts shooting out of the main blast to fry people around it. Pros: +Great visuals and some unique looking monsters. The ghost summoner is pretty cool +A lot of “intel” items can be found in the game, which give you a flavor for the game world. It’s disgusting the kind of things that Armacham has been up to. +Slow-mo + sniper rifle = fun +Good story and a lot of replay potential Cons: -There’s this weird issue where each time a level loads, it seems to pause around 50% and not move until I alt+tab out of the game and go back in. I don’t know if this is specific to my computer but it also happened with my old non-steam version a few years ago. -The game has no Steam achievements despite having game achievements built right in (like 10 headshots or 10 melee kills). -FEAR 2 is kind of short. I went through it in about 6 hours on normal mode. It may take longer for someone who hasn’t played it before. Overall if you liked FEAR 1 you should like FEAR 2. I find it superior in pretty much every way. As much as I liked the first FEAR, I doubt I’ll replay it again because the outdated graphics really take away from the experience. With FEAR 2 I’ll keep it around to replay in a few months (smaller download size too). If you have this game in your inventory from the Humble Bundle, give it a try.