Xbox 360

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

If you haven't already cottoned on to what I'm trying to say; I can't recommend Monolith's sequel highly enough. It might not have the jaw-dropping visuals to rival Killzone 2, but it's a hugely satisfying shooter that'll have you clinging onto that controller or mouse throughout its tension-filled campaign. If you like your combat meaty and with a solid dose of supernatural scares, there's every chance this will rank as one of your favourite games of 2009.

The game is a visual treat, with some great character models and environments, in spite of the industrial look of most levels. The ghost effects look especially convincing, with some nice stylized visuals to convey their movements. Character faces, in the few spots you are with others in your squad, look solid as well. The voice acting is a little underwhelming, but lazy writing, that makes some of the characters talk like an adolescent Samuel L. Jackson, is mostly to blame. The rest of the sound fares better, with some entertaining banter between replica soldiers and the requisite eerie score. F.E.A.R. 2 is a very good game that is just a few scares short of being great.

Project Origin really has two distinct aspects. One is a completely competent shooter set in some great environments that doesn't really challenge the player. The other sees you creeping down an elementary school hallway. Your flashlight suddenly stops working and you move towards the end of the corridor in almost complete darkness, save for an overhead light that flickers every couple of seconds. It's creepy as hell, but you almost wish it was completely dark when you catch a glimpse of the bloody walls and weird organic things clinging to the ceiling. A noise behind you. You see an apparition moving purposefully towards you. You fire at it and it lights up, then disappears. It soon becomes clear it's toying with you, approaching on all sides, leaving you wheeling in the dark, frantically searching for it, trying to finish it off...

The ending might not be conclusive, it might not be as scary as the last one and it might be too linear, but action is solid enough to make you forget all that.

Kun analyyttisemmän ja henkilökohtaisiin kokemuksiin perustuvan arvion ynnää yhteen, käy ilmi, että kriittisempi näkemys on syytä heittää menemään. Tämä siis, jos haluaa nauttia tunnelmallisesta yliluonnollisesta räiskinnästä. Kauhua F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin tarjoaa vain nimeksi, vaikka heikkohermoisille tämäkin lienee liikaa. Intensiivistä tuhoamista, ampumista ja yleistä sekasorron aiheuttamista on sen sijaan tiedossa sitäkin enemmän. Eikä tarinakaan ole hullumpi, kunhan muistaa seurata sitä tarkasti keräilemällä ja lukemalla muistiinpanoja.

Gamers who enjoyed Alma’s hell raising antics in the original F.E.A.R. will find what they are looking for in Monolith’s sequel F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. F.E.A.R. 2's spooky atmosphere and supernatural presence makes it an excellent alternative to the majority of “war-like” shooters. While F.E.A.R. 2 isn’t the most original in its core shooter gameplay, it makes up for any short comings with an interesting storyline with great cast members while keeping the action turned up high. Sure, F.E.A.R. 2 could have been so much more, but for what it is, it gets the job done and at times it down right creeptacular. F.E.A.R. fans you can safely purchase this one and take on Alma one more time, and for all the Newbies to F.E.A.R., Project Origin is a solid shooter set in a cool setting. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a defienate must for all shooter fans.

F.E.A.R. 2 has all the elements of a great FPS package, but a few very noticeable warts bring it down. The egregious head bob can cause headaches or nausea while playing, and there’s no way to turn it down or off. The combat feels great with a mouse and keyboard, but often finicky and annoying on a gamepad. Ultimately, the game never escapes feeling like a re-hash of the original, with the same ideas, themes, and gameplay elements repeated throughout. Nonetheless, F.E.A.R. 2 does what it does with great skill, and successfully delivers one of the better single-player FPS experiences around.

If you're expecting innovation and something new, F.E.A.R. 2 isn’t for you, but if you are content with the FPS genre then it is an absolute must. It's an exceptional FPS, but it could certainly have certainly been longer and perhaps pushed our comfort zone a bit more, particularly when the FPS market is so saturated.

It’s 2009 though and, from the game’s well-worn jolts right through to environments consistently drawn from the big book of FPS clichés – hello subway system, hospital, derelict street, science lab and underground bunker – there are simply too few moments that alleviate proceedings to the top tier of genre daddies. Admittedly, F.E.A.R. 2 raises its game in final few hours – with a few stand-out set-pieces including a cargo train assault, an eerie descent into ground zero and an ending so spectacularly obtuse it’s likely to elicit more than its fair share of “Wuh?”s. Overall though, rather than any sense of surprise or genre-shifting admiration, it’s the minute-by-minute assault of trigger-fumbling tension and horror, married with the games’ superb underlining shooter mechanics that drive you toward the game’s baffling conclusion.

Mit F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin wird uns wieder mal ein grundsolider Shooter präsentiert, welcher sinnvoll durch Gruselelemente ergänzt wird. Die Schockmomente reichen dabei nicht ganz an diejenigen aus Dead Space heran, verfehlen aber keineswegs ihren Effekt. Die Stärken, welche der erste Teil besessen hat, wurden zudem weiter ausgebaut: Die Physik der einzelnen Gegenstände wurde erweitert und eure Gegner agieren noch cleverer. Auch die Story wurde mehr in das Spiel integriert als es noch beim ersten Teil der Fall war. Insgesamt leistet sich der Titel keine großen Schwächen und sollte von jedem von euch, der auf Shooter steht, ins Auge gefasst werden!

As an overall product, F.E.A.R. 2 is a decent mix of self-aware cliche, gratuitous and hyperbolic violence mixed with the occasional touch of subtlety and reservation. It's a solid, dependable shooter that, in its best moments, gets your heart racing. Whilst the universe might be confusing and unfriendly for those who haven't played the first game, the shooting mechanics should be satisfying enough for fans of the genre. And, let's face it, that's pretty much everyone with an Xbox 360. The ending isn't as spectacular as the original's, but it is just as abrupt. Which is again a shame. It couldn't be more disparagingly abrupt unless it printed "F.E.A.R. 3, anyone?" onto the screen before the credits rolled.

After the embarrassment of The Perseus Mandate, F.E.A.R. 2 should be in consideration for comeback player of the year. While the multiplayer is weak and the mood won’t make people forget Dead Space any time soon, the solid action core makes it worth a play.

F.E.A.R. 2, zal je nog regelmatig de stuipen op het lijf jagen, ook al is de verrassing van de voorganger er wat af en hebben we ondertussen ook het uitstekende Dead Space gehad. De shootergameplay blijft echter zo intens als tevoren en op een taaiere moeilijkeidsgraad krijg je een mooi staaltje van wat intelligente computertegenstanders in elk game zouden moeten zijn.

Despite its flaws, F.E.A.R. 2 is a solid game, with some decent gameplay. But it’s not going to light your soul on fire like other shooters hopefully will, and might bore gamers who’ve played every single shooter out there and are looking for something new. It may not feel new, but it definitely feels polished and solid. If not very scary.

With F.E.A.R. 2, Monolith has crafted a solid follow-up to F.E.A.R. It’s a good shooter, bordering on great at times, but it’s not as groundbreaking as its predecessor. Still, it’s definitely faithful to the idea of F.E.A.R., which is mainly trying to get under your skin using a combination of tried-and-true horror elements, not the least of which is a creepy little girl.

The game is worthwhile and delivers. For a horror games fan this is a must own as it is one of the best of the genre in the last few years. The game offers a story filled with haunting moments and other times when pure terror takes over. Trust me, the first time Alma jumps your ass you will not only be caught off guard, but you might crap yourself. The story and updated gameplay are the real reason why you bought this game and there is nothing that proves that any different. Project Origin is built around the terror factor as I said before and damn does it use it like a midget to a stepping stool. The crazy fights, the insane encounters with supernatural shit and the aggravating replica soldiers all make for a bad stay anywhere you go.

"F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin" é uma continuação conservadora do marcante jogo de tiro de 2005, seguindo exatamente as mesmas fórmulas, infelizmente todas muito imitadas pelos concorrentes durante todo este tempo. No entanto, o novo game consegue prender a atenção não só pela mecânica precisa e sua boa dose de sustos, mas pela história complexa e bem amarrada, que se liga perfeitamente ao episódio original e ainda deixa as portas abertas para uma sequência.

F.E.A.R. 2 does present a strong, single-player first-person shooter experience, but making me mash the "B" button every time a disturbed girl's face flashes on my screen detracts, just as first-person shooter conventions like overpowered 'Mechs detract from the fright. In games, most horror comes from being ill equipped to deal with a dangerous situation in a disturbing or incomprehensible environment, not from being able to instantly reduce every enemy to a red cloud of blood.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin ist ein guter, aber kein herausragender Ego-Shooter. Einerseits stimmt die Action, die Zeitlupenkämpfe wissen immer noch zu gefallen und auch in Sachen Grafik und Sound gibt es wenig zu bemängeln. Andererseits mangelt es dem Spiel aber an Abwechslung und überraschenden Momenten. An die gruselige Atmosphäre des Vorgängers kommt F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin ohnehin nicht ran, denn viele Schock-Momente kamen so auch schon in F.E.A.R vor. Fans des Vorgängers werden mit dem Kauf sicher nichts falsch machen und auch diejenigen, die mal wieder einen kompromisslosen Ego-Shooter spielen wollen, werden den Kauf nicht bereuen.PS3-Besitzern empfehlen wir jedoch, sich lieber Killzone 2 zuzulegen.

I honestly think there are few developers today with both the technical and creative chops to establish such a specific tone as Monolith does so successfully with F.E.A.R. 2. Even though the ghost-story stuff ends up being about as threatening as a trip through The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, and the tactical gameplay is softened up by an abundance of player-boosting pick-ups, F.E.A.R. 2 still puts on one hell of a show.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin pakt moeiteloos de draad op waar het eerste deel was gebleven. Monolith heeft in dit deel duidelijk gekozen voor wat meer actie dan angst, maar weet nog steeds de juiste balans te vinden. Het uiterlijk van het spel heeft de tand des tijd echter wat minder goed doorstaan en ook de poging van Monolith om enkele nieuwe gameplay-elementen toe te voegen, had zeker niet gehoeven. Toch blijft F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin een angstig goed spel.

So yes, F.E.A.R. 2 is a strange one. In many ways it’s an old fashioned game, rooted in design mechanics (and to a certain extent visuals) that were doing the rounds years ago; but the whole thing is so polished that, after a short breaking-in period, you won’t really mind. F.E.A.R. 2 is just a solid video game: nothing more, nothing less. It won’t blow your mind, and it won’t change your life, but it most certainly won’t disappoint.

In short, if you like FEAR, you will love FEAR 2. It may be too scary for some and the wobble of your character walking might induce a slight bit of motion sickness, but it’s a well constructed horror/action title. A few more subtle scares rather than the “jump out and jar you” scares might improve the game, but it’s all over well constructed and engaging, even if you can’t begin to wrap your head around the plot anymore.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a successful blend of fast-paced first person shooting and nightmare-inducing visuals, all provided by the creepy little girl from the original F.E.A.R., Alma. Not only must you deal with her demonic hallucinations, but you'll also need to confront gun-carrying soldiers and giant mechs. The shooting is lots of fun, especially when you kick in your slow-mo ability and grind enemies to bloody chunks with the flame cannon and shotgun. The new mech segments let you rip through city streets while firing guns and missiles in a super-armored suit. The presentation is top-notch, with tight level design and no shortage of jump-out-of-your seat moments. Multiplayer is somewhat empty, with only a scattering of modes that are mostly the same. There's no reason you should F.E.A.R. this terrific shooter.

I'm extremely curious to see how gamers react to F.E.A.R. 2. Personally, I felt the first game was somewhat unappreciated, and maybe Monolith agreed, opting to churn out a near-identical game with hopes of getting more attention this time around. For shooter fans, the combat is still outstanding, and you'll get a great eight hours or so by the time you reach your final encounter with Alma, although fans of the first game may feel like they've done this before. In many ways, F.E.A.R. 2 feels like the middle chapter in a trilogy, and there's certainly enough momentum here for at least one more run.

Para definir F.E.A.R. 2 deberíamos utilizar la palabra sólido, con todo lo bueno y malo que eso conlleva. Por un lado resultan obvias las virtudes que atesora como heredero directo del original, pero al mismo tiempo le ha faltado chispa y ritmo para llegar a su nivel. No da la impresión de que Monolith necesitara más tiempo de desarrollo para mejorarlo, lo que transmite Project Origin es que pese a ser un muy buen shooter le ha faltado un punto extra de inspiración.

Essentially a straightforward first-person shooter with a crazy girl giving your character headaches and hallucinations of damnation, F.E.A.R 2 may have some things going for it, but for the most part, its execution lacks imagination. Whether the fact that you have to search out bits of the story is just an attempt to extend play time or not, it adds to a game where if the story wasn't interesting in the least, then the whole thing would feel completely uninspired. As it is, strong storytelling through various media makes for a single-player shooter that's digestible, and somewhat fun to play. Hopefully, should there be a threequel, next time the horror aspect will keep up with the exposition.

And that’s really how we feel about F.E.A.R. 2 as a whole. It’s here if you want to play it, and it’s well done in lots of ways. But it feels a lot like the last 007 movie: plenty of fun, but nowhere near as awesome as we hoped it’d be.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a competent, if unexceptional, game. The gameplay is more of an expansion of F.E.A.R. than a full-blown sequel, and unfortunately, the plot and "fear factor" don't quite reach the heights achieved by the first F.E.A.R. However, it's still a fast-paced shooter with some interesting set pieces, useful weapons and enjoyable gameplay. The multiplayer isn't quite as tacked-on as F.E.A.R.'s was, but it isn't going to hold a gamer's attention for too long. All in all, F.E.A.R. 2's biggest problem is that it feels like yet another expansion pack to the F.E.A.R. franchise instead of a sequel, and gamers eager for something new may be a bit disappointed. The biggest and most interesting change involves the rarely used robot suit, and everything else feels like more of the same.

That most damning of all things - neither memorably awful, nor memorably brilliant, but simply decent. The sureness with which Monolith revisits the original game's themes and dual gameplay structure is commendable, but the spark isn't quite there. A solid rental option with plenty of chills.

F.E.A.R. 2 delivers some meaty combat, but fails to improve on the original. Where was the ambition to innovate or surprise? It's by no means terrible, but for such a major franchise, more was expected. This is still an enjoyable shooter, just not a particularly hair-raising one.

You'll get the occasional heebie-jeebies from F.E.A.R. 2, but the magic of the first game hasn't been re-created here. It’s true that some of the changes in the new game seem like they were intended to address criticism of the first F.E.A.R.: tedious and claustrophobic environments, lack of enemy variety, and so on. Sadly, though these changes were made, the resulting sequel, while fun and well-crafted, seems to have lost sight of the strengths that made its predecessor so unique. Nevertheless, playing F.E.A.R. 2 is a worthwhile way to pass the time while we wait for the inevitable next installment.

F.E.A.R. 2 is perfectly fine from a technical standpoint.The character models look great, especially your squadmates, and the hallucinations can be quite trippy. All aspects of the audio design - the voice acting, ambient noises, and gunfire sounds - are strong as well. What's most striking about the game, though, is the lack of ambition in its design. It looks and sounds as it should and, hey, it's even got a pretty significant multiplayer segment (five modes, all of which are pretty standard fare but still) but the raw elements of the game are never pulled together to form a game you'll remember after you've finished the 10+ hour campaign. A F.E.A.R. 3 wouldn't be unsuspected and I hope that instead of simply churning out another installment using the exact same blueprint as the last two games, Monolith takes a step back to reassess the formula.

The fact remains that F.E.A.R evolved shooters back in 2005, but there appears to be very little progress in the four years since with F.E.A.R 2. Like the expansion packs before it, F.E.A.R 2 maintains the core mechanics, but ultimately fails to expand upon them or develop a sequel that really pushes the boundaries like the original did.

All in all, if you played the first few FEAR games and you want to know what happens next to the faceless, characterless, protagonist then you could do a lot worse than FEAR 2: Project Origin. I really can’t recommend this to players that are new to either the series or the genre. The lack of reiteration of the first game’s story is rather perplexing. Why wouldn’t you want new players? What is the dev team afraid of?

It's a checklist of genre-tropes, well performed. If you're just looking for more well-polished shooting, this will while away the hours pleasantly enough. If you've never played a first-person shooter before, you'll probably be in love - this is as archetypal a corridor-shooter as has ever been made, and there's a reason why it works. But for anyone who's been running down corridors with shotguns for most of their adult life, this is so uninspired that you worry for the spark of Monolith's soul. You guys made No One Lives Forever, remember? You're smart. You're better than this. FEAR 2 isn't terrible. That's the most terrible thing of all. Is mere competency enough to garner gamers' love? I don't know. But it's the one thing I really do fear.