I’m not going to lie, the story in F.E.A.R. 2 is forgettable.  Besides the fact that you’re constantly being telepathically poked by a half-dead she-zombie named Alma, there’s really no background information you need to know in order for things to make sense.  For some reason, you’re special and she wants you.   That said, there are some really cool creepy moments that make for fantastic displays of technical eye-candy.  Some of them feel a bit cheap, but most are welcome moments of legitimate fright.  Calling the game “gory” is a bit of an understatement.  F.E.A.R. 2 has some scenes of straight-up maniacal carnage.   These scenes become truly disturbing as some of them are set against paradoxical backgrounds like an elementary school.

Gameplay here is solid.  F.E.A.R. 2 controls just as you’d expect with a few wild cards thrown in meant to separate the game from other generic shooters.  Enemy variation is weak, as I can’t recall more than four character models I had the pleasure of shooting.  Level design gets a bit redundant–something the original game suffered from–but there’s a good enough change of pace to keep the action moving along smoothly.  I personally enjoyed the mech segements of play, where the main character is thrown inside a seemingly indestructible steel robot that fires all kinds of rockets and bullets.

The classic F.E.A.R. slow motion effect is back and is where the game truly shines.  Figuring out how and when to use the time-control asset takes some mastering.  There’s plenty of diverse weapons to toy around with and the game does a good job at encouraging you to try them all out.

At the end of the day, F.E.A.R. 2 is an above-average  first-person horror-shooter with a solid slow-motion gimmick that begins to go stale just in time for the game to end.  It exceeds other titles in terms of production value and polish and allows for an ultimately satisfying experience when all is said and done.

B-

Vitals:

• Release date: 2/10/09
• Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
• Completion: Story mode, 100%