The plot of F.E.A.R. 2 is a little easier to follow than the first game, thanks to the handy PDA Becket carries. This way, players are free to check back on certain plot points instead of trying to remember every phone message they happened to pick up in the middle of a gun fight. However, we don't recommend playing F.E.A.R. 2 unless you're already familiar with the events from F.E.A.R., or don't care about spoilers, since many of the events relate directly to discoveries made in the first game. This also ties into the story's major problem, which is that so much was revealed in the first game that there isn't much in the way of surprises in the sequel. Fans already know about Alma, her powers, and her history except this time she's a woman with major trauma issues instead of a creepy little girl. The game treats us to the psychic visions and hallucinations we expect from a F.E.A.R. game along with brief flashes of characters walking and disappearing into shadows. However, we've seen it all before, and it doesn't put us on edge like the first game did.

Although the game doesn't deliver much in the way of scares, it's still a very good first-person shooter. The sophisticated artificial intelligence is still impressive as enemy soldiers look for cover, try to flank you, and use grenades to flush you out. Things play pretty swiftly in normal mode, and we were able to shoot our way through fairly easily. Turning up the difficulty significantly increases the enemy's damage, making it exceptionally hard to gain any ground. Fortunately, players have access to the hyper reflex mode, which slows the world down to a crawl and accentuates all the blood and explosions the game has to offer. Another new feature is the ability to turn over furniture and objects to use as cover, which we didn't make that much use of, since the animation leaves the player open to being shot. We also thought it funny that a flimsy coffee table could protect us from heavy machine gun fire.

Levels include the usual tight corridors, like inside a school or subway, but there are plenty of outdoor areas, where players can take in the full scope of the bombed out city. The best sequences come when the player jumps into the EPA (Elite Powered Armor), a mech suit with extreme firepower, to cause massive destruction. Otherwise, with only a few exceptions, the weapons in F.E.A.R. 2 are pretty straightforward. Guns like the laser cannon force the player to stand in one place to fire solid beam, which doesn't make it a very worthwhile. Overall, we were more impressed with the weapon selection from the first game than we were with the sequel.

The seven to eight hours worth of gameplay flies by very quickly. In that time, players are treated to banter from teammates who will no doubt meet unfortunate fates. The game also uses a checkpoint save system, which keeps players from having to quick save, but also forces them to stay in the game or else risk losing their progress. All of this culminates into a pretty disappointing ending. Multiplayer helps to compensate for the short single player experience, and players have a chance to earn different weapon load outs in ranked play. However, apart from the Armored Front mode, where players get to use EPA's, nothing about multiplayer really stands out. Players don't even have access to reflex mode in multiplayer like in the first game.

Although the story leaves something to be desired, F.E.A.R. 2 is still an excellent first-person shooter. The game also features some fairly modest system requirements, so gamers may not need to buy new video cards to play at high settings. Overall, F.E.A.R. 2 does more to accentuate the first game than it does to stand out on its own. While the sequel is enjoyable as a shooter, don't expect the same level of creepiness from before.

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