Ballistics Report

Pros

Sound Design: F.E.A.R. 2 features some of the best sound design we’ve heard in a video game in awhile, with excellent positional audio and creepy sound effects. The music works well for both the action and horror segments and really draws the player into the world. Voice acting is well done, as each respective character spouts expletives left and right in light of having some crazy telepathic chick assaulting them.

Action-packed game play: When you aren’t being scared senseless, the action takes hold and is a lot of fun. There a lot of sequences that work really well to get the adrenaline pumping, especially when you get your hands on some elite powered armor. SlowMo slide-kicking is a blast and if nailing an enemy to an opposing wall with a Hammerhead spike isn’t considered wholesome, family fun then I don’t know what is. All in all, when you are allowed to just kick some replica butt, you are almost guaranteed to have a blast doing so.

Cons

Really scary…at first: F.E.A.R. 2 drops the ball in the horror department about halfway through the game, where things start to get predictable. You begin to see the frights a mile away and they end up coming off as cheap and boring. While we know keeping the tempo of the first few levels would probably be an impossible thing to ask of Monolith, we weren’t prepared for the scares to become so mundane so quickly.

Multiplayer Issues: We wouldn’t complain about F.E.A.R. Combat with its fast-paced but generic game play, as it was a free add-on. However, we are actually paying for it this time. Not having dedicated server support will kill Project Origin in the long run as popularity wanes. The matchmaking-based multiplayer feels lacking from what we are used to on the PC and many clans probably aren’t going to bother with it. Also, a majority of the game modes play somewhat generically, with the exception of Armored Front. There, however, you end up with some of your teammates trying to get into the powered armor instead of just playing the game.

Office/Hospital/School: What’s the Difference?: Not a thing according to the F.E.A.R. developers. F.E.A.R. 2 could’ve done so much more with the city in ruins; instead it fell back into old habits and had us going from boring building to boring building.

Control Issues: Kicking cover over: Good. Removing lean: Bad. One thing negates the other, so it’s a shame they decided to do it. Also, we could not bind our 4th or 5th mouse buttons to common actions, which is annoying. When you grow accustomed to having reload and melee on your side buttons for a majority of game releases, it’s frustrating to hit them in the heat of battle and have nothing happen.