An amazingly pathetic and unnecessary sequel.
The graphics are quite sharp...when you have the brightness almost all the way down. Running this game on my TV made me think that my brightness was up too much, but it's the game, it looks VERY washed out and in turn makes the game amazingly ugly. Tack on an ungodly ugly grain filter and you have one ugly game that ruins it's otherwise beautiful graphics. The textures aren't particularly strong but they do the job and some of the character models are quite well done.
I wont spend alot of time on plot because its pretty non-existant and told almost entirely (and not very well executed) in text. Snippets of plot trickle out and by the end of the game you realize that their essentially is NO PLOT at all. The first game had a good plot in that it had a rich mythos and was quite mysterious and reserved, but atleast it had PAY OFF. This game has neither mystery nor pay off when you reach the end, it was pretty by the book and in some aspects, a carbon copy imitation of the first games plot.
Gameplay is your standard first person shooter schlock, nothing stands out particularly well except the feel of the guns. They feel quite nice and some of them really pack a punch, it's too bad there isn't much else to the game. It's point and shoot , and no puzzles to speak of and ZERO exploration, this game is as linear as a piece of string. The gun play is the only thing this game has going for it, its one trick, and its squandard on TERRIBLE A.I. Infact I CANT BELIEVE this is a FEAR game, the AI in the first one set the bar amazingly high for the industry, I would go out on a limb to call it the best in the biz. But this game is just abysmal when it comes to enemy logic and tactics. I watched an enemy jump through glass for no reason, right into my grenade he watched me throw.
All and all a terrible sequel to an amazing game. They should have let this one cook a little longer and completely revamped the script and story. It's a shame this game is so mediocre, I truly loved the first one , it could have been a real contender in an over crowded market. It's neither addictive, nor fun, and most certainly NOT SCARY. Why call a game FEAR when it instills none? The first one was creepy and haunting, this game is not scary even in the slightest. Save your money , this one isn't worth your time, especially when no one plays it online.