Condemned 2 isn't an even experience, but you'll likely be too immersed to care.
Pros: Extremely immersive environment and great level design; Early stages are extremely creepy; Probably the most in-depth first person brawling system to date; Forensic portions are great
Cons: Shooting action, and thus later stages, fall flat; Gets progressively less creepy as the game goes on; Story is a weak excuse to visit a bunch of interesting locations; Limited replay value
Condemned 2 knows what scares people. REALLY WELL. From the beginning (almost) to the end, this game pulls out all the stops to unsettle you. And it will succeed.
Since the end of the first game Ethan Thomas has fallen on some hard times. He no longer works with the SCI and he is drinking himself to death. Suddenly he finds himself pulled back into the team after a distressing call from Malcolm Vanhorn and is required to investigate what is going on and fight for his survival. Frankly, the story for Condemned 2 isn't particularly strong, and it really just seems to be an excuse to bring Ethan to a series of creepy locations (ex: doll house, hospital, backwoods cabin).
Once you get playing though, things pick up. Condemned employs an interesting 2-handed combat system where you use the triggers to represent your fists (and whatever random item you've grabbed in them) and must get up close and personal, mixing blocks with attacks against some pretty deceiving enemies. Even better are the game's forensic portions, where you are forced to use your wits to investigate the environment and figure out what happened. These employ smart thinking and are unfortunately too far and few between later in the game.
This inconsistency between the beginning and the end of the game is probably its biggest weakness. The beginning is really creepy and altogether more immersive and fun, the middle peaks out thanks to some great scripted moments, and then the end just falls flat in comparison. Part of the issue lies with gunplay, which just doesn't feel satisfying in the game, given the level design wasn't meant for it, you can only hold a few bullets (and can barely aim), and you can't crouch. This becomes increasingly common later in the game, thrusting other gameplay elements to the side, and thus the game suffers as a result.
Gunplay excluded, the levels in the game are well designed, with a fantastic use of graphics and sound to keep you on edge the entire time. This is one of those games that uses enough psychological tricks to play the player (such as fleeing enemies and sounds such as footsteps) and also has enemies jump out frequently for some simple surprise scares. This balance is what sets it apart as a genuinely creepy game.
I think it goes without saying that Condemned 2 isn't for everyone. It is relentlessly brutal and creepy, thus ruling it out for the lighthearted. Furthermore, it has virtually no replay value, even if its campaign is a decent length. But taken as a cheap buy or a rental, this one will keep survival horror fans up for nights. And then some.