Game Review: F.E.A.R 2

Will you fear Alma again?

Following a couple of expansions on the original, the first true sequel to 2006's F.E.A.R - innovatively titled F.E.A.R 2 - has made it's way onto the 360. Could it reach the high standards of the critically acclaimed original, or like so many other sequels would it fail to live up to it's predecessor's success?

F.E.A.R 2 doesn't waste much time before hurling you head first into the action. As mute Delta Force operative Michael Becket, you're immediately tasked with rescuing Genevieve Aristide from a group of mercenaries, without really explaining who she is or why people would be attacking her, probably assuming that you've already played through F.E.A.R and it's expansions and know exactly what's going on.

The action itself is decent, although if you've played any other big name shooter on the 360 this is going to feel very familiar. F.E.A.R 2 attempts to do nothing new with the first person shooting; the weapons have simply been nicked from other games and re-skinned, enemies are typical grunting cannon fodder and your squad isn't much better, and just about every possible level cliché has been included, each one playing exactly the same. A bland experience isn't helped by the almost absolute lack of challenge. Not only will you be falling over ammunition and health packs for the entire game, but the enemy AI is incredibly simple - a real disappointment, considering how the original F.E.A.R's AI was so widely praised in the past.

Oh look, another corridor. At least this one has windows.

Occasionally F.E.A.R 2 will attempt to liven things up with a brief stint in an indestructible mechanical suit. While being given a mechanical suit with massive machine guns, rocket launchers and unlimited ammo doesn't do the weak difficulty curve any favours, it at least does what it sets out to do: quicken the pace and bring a little more spark to an otherwise lacking single player. But even these brief sequences stink of plagiarism, specifically the end of Gears Of War 2 when you ride the Brumak, and subsequently serve as a reminder of how much better some other shooters were.

What place do massive mechanical death machines have in a horror-themed shooter, anyway?

But, despite being a generic and, more often than not a repetitive shooter, F.E.A.R's renowned slow-motion combat does a lot to keep the latest instalment in the series entertaining. The satisfaction of watching the gas tank on the back of an enemy soldier slowly exploding and engulfing all surrounding soldiers in fire will always be there. Although, even though time manipulation is still one of the coolest (if not slightly over used) mechanics, it only weakens the already feeble challenge that F.E.A.R 2 presents. It certainly doesn't help F.E.A.R live up to it's name, either.

The horror elements of F.E.A.R 2's gameplay are, like the rest of it, a little bland. Apart from the occasional jumpy moment - which has the edge almost completely taken off by a near reactionary use of the slow-time mechanic - there's barely anything to it. There's very little, if any, suspense thanks to the apparently scary moments being both predictable and unsubtle. What developers Monolith don't seem to have grasped is that a couple of jumpy moments and some mildly hilarious gore doesn't constitute as real horror, which is a little sad considering that their bedraggled little mascot Alma was the perfect foundation for something genuinely terrifying (see El Orfanato for details).

It would have helped if they'd kept Alma as a child, instead of just making her a zombie cat lady.

It doesn't help that the alternation between horror and straight-up shooter is so clunky. You'll never experience both elements simultaneously, and with F.E.A.R 2 gently easing you into each supposedly horrific moment with the same dull process each time it's going to lose any possible chance of spooking you very, very quickly.

Once the story comes to it's unintentionally hilarious close all that's left in F.E.A.R 2 is the class-based multiplayer which is, well, bad. There's no other word for it. Having seen the criticism of the 360's big multiplayer shooters, all I can say is this - play F.E.A.R 2 online, because you don't know just how good you have it. It's understandable that with Xbox Live developers have an obligation to stitch on a multiplayer, but doing so regardless of how bad it will end up being is a complete waste of time, and that's exactly what F.E.A.R 2's multiplayer is.

Despite all criticism, F.E.A.R 2 is still not a particularly bad game. What it is is another generic shooter that began with a decent concept but, by trying to do or outdo what other successful console shooters have achieved, ended up forgetting to focus on what it was trying to achieve in the first place. Simply put: there are better shooters out there than F.E.A.R 2, which you can now pick up for a lot cheaper. This is a rental, at most.

6/10

On the plus side, this is the only shooter on the 360 that has you get laid at the end. Take that, Call of Duty.

Can't help but wonder why they didn't just call in Supernanny - tomdoodle16@live.co.uk