GamesRadar writes: "Monolith tells me that its pint-sized mascot of terror, Alma, is going to "touch me more" in FEAR 2, and that's a bad thing. I've got a general policy of keeping 8-year-old girls who command psychic clone armies at arm's length, and if you're like me, you perfected your "backpedal-while-screaming-and-jamming-the-trigger" technique in the first FEAR.
Monolith's staying true to its acronym (which it recently bought back the rights to from Sierra), but just as your character's slow-mo ability lets you manage scary shootouts, balancing the horror with empowering action is part of the game's plan. If I told you that I strapped into a bipedal tank and sprayed rockets and chaingun fire at helpless Replica squads (occasionally dismembering them with said weapons) in FEAR 2, would you believe me? It happened. And considering how pesky the mini-mechs were in the first game, handing out a few missile locks was sweet revenge."
Inspired by the J-Horror craze going on at the time, Monolith’s F.E.A.R. was a solid action fest of a shooter that entertained as much as it terrified. Bloody Disgusting goes back to see Alma ten years on from the launch of the sequel.
This game honestly killed all my interest in the franchise, I loved 1 and its expansions (even though they're technically non-canon now) but the sequel was such a let down.
WTMG's Kyle Nicol: "Whilst F.E.A.R 2 wasn’t the masterpiece I remembered from ten years ago, with its combat and level design being worse than the original, it is still a fun game that is well worth playing through today. "
PSU writes:
PSU continues its look at the horror genre over the past 20 years on PlayStation platforms, with our latest entry looking at the tail end of the PS2 era and into a new generation with the release of the PS3. Resident Evil 4, Dead Space, Siren: Blood Curse, and F.E.A.R. are just some of the pant-wetting pleasures you'll find in part 3.
Just Finished the 1st one. Was actually really good. Some of the best AI. Probably won't be a day 1 purchase but I'll get it sooner than later.