Written by: Mark

 

 

 

In terms of first person shooters the original F.E.A.R (released in 2006) was one of the most overlooked games released on the Microsoft Xbox 360. At the time it offered a pretty unique story with excellent A.I and chilling gameplay. However it was by no means perfect and contained a number of flaws to prevent it being an essential purchase.

 

Now, more than two years later developer Monolith Productions have released a sequel entitled "F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin", and after a promising demo available on the Xbox marketplace it looked like this game had ironed out any flaws of the original and was shaping up to be a quality game. But how would the final version play?

 

The following review will reveal all.

 

 

Without giving too much away the story in F.E.A.R. 2 sees you play a 'Delta Force Operator' called 'Michael Beckett' who is still in pursuit of the ghostly girl called Alma who has grown up from the first game. Alma only appears at the end of each level but her appearances certainly add a level of tension and suspense to the story but on many occasions simply provide a distraction from the somewhat linear levels throughout the game.

 

A pretty cool feature however is the various communications devices which can be found at various parts throughout each level and these give clues to how the story will pan out. These make up a journal which can be accessed at any time and although useful probably won’t be looked at very often.

 

 

Sadly what is a promising and interesting story can soon be forgotten thanks to the inconsistent gameplay, but more of that later.

 

 

Upon commencing the game I thought that I was going to be in for a very enjoyable gaming experience however it didn’t take long to work out that the level designs are incredibly linear and quite monotonous in places. This is evident from the early levels which see you working your way through an almost deserted hospital (with the exception of numerous enemies).

 

After the first few rooms you get a major sense of déjà vu as each room is almost identical minus a few distractions to look at on route. This does not drastically change throughout later levels either as no level offers a massive amount of diversity despite being set in differing locations.

 

The major criticism about the level design however is that on a number of occasions you may struggle to identify the correct route you should take thanks to the lack of clarity on locations of exits and ways to progress. This often sees you having to re-trace your steps in order to find a hidden path or way out located somewhere in the dark areas you had previously visited.

 

The best thing about the way the levels are presented are the number of objects which are scattered about that can be used as cover when facing a barrage of enemy bullets. Not only do these items provide cover for you as enemies also have the intelligence to use them making for some tense and very clever shoot outs.

 

 

 

The graphics in F.E.A.R.2 have stepped up a notch from the first game and thanks to the dark surroundings certainly add a level of tension and suspense to the game. However the often darkness of the levels often leads to the player missing key items and ways of progressing. Whilst I understand the need for the darkness I also feel that on a number of occasions this does make the game more frustrating and less enjoyable than it should be.