Suspense, mystery and horror make a good combination for FEAR 2 Project Origin. The chilling concept and creepy atmosphere remain relatively unchanged from its predecessor but they are still just as effective in creating a genuinely thrilling FPS. FEAR 2 may have all the horror aspects to it but does the sequel still live up to the expectations set by the original?

To begin with you will familiarise yourself with the ending of the first FEAR in a short introduction. You then jump into the shoes of Michael Becket, a member of an espionage/swat team known as Delta Force. Your mission it to apprehend the leader of the Armacham Technology Corporation, Genevieve Aristide. Once again, Alma, the evil little girl, is back and with evermore thrills and shrills. The once evil girl has now become an evil woman and her ghostly figure will crop up a lot throughout the single player story. By all means is it scary but by now it has become somewhat predictable and after playing for a while you can just guess when and where she will show up next. Nevertheless, you will enjoy playing through the story once but after that you probably won’t want to re-live your horrifying experience.

Fortunately, there are mores spooks to come than just from the story. The general gameplay environment has been perfectly suited for a horrific Sci-Fi FPS. Again, a lot of your time will be spent wondering around deserted office buildings and uncovering the odd unpleasant surprise here and there. Every so often you will get strange hallucinations and vision blurs when Alma is stalking you nearby. The quiet, eerie music and soundtrack make for a superb ambience which is a perfect accompaniment for all of the paranormal activity. Lights flicker, strange shadows appear and supernatural noises can be heard amongst the gunfire of the enemy guards. Although you are alone throughout most of the game, there is always the feeling of an unwanted presence not too far away.
In terms of gameplay, FEAR 2 Project Origin plays out like a regular FPS with lots of engaging moments which really give you the sensation that you are actually there on the screen. With a bit of fine tuning since its predecessor in 2007, the action and combat sequences are super with fantastic weapons that range from the conventional shotgun to the more refined nail guns and lasers. Another feature that strengthens the combat is the ability to temporarily slow down time. This will nearly always work to you advantage as the enemies are sometimes slow to react and you can mow them down with ease. Blood and corpses are obviously key elements of Fear 2 and you will see them almost everywhere. The blood looks particularly good when it is sent splattering across the screen in an effective slow motion style. When you take control of the armored mech suit, you become an almost indestructible killing machine firing wave upon wave of bullets at your foes.

You’ll be pleased to know that there are some new environments to explore in FEAR 2. Although a lot of the levels take place in typical haunted office buildings, there are plenty of other surroundings such as dark underground bases and vacant city streets filled with rubble.
Enemies come in a variety of shapes and forms, from your everyday security guard to your mind twisted mutant. Most of the supernatural mutants are well balanced adversaries and use fast and agile movements to jump around the room to get you by surprise but your ability to slow down time will makes tackling these creatures a lot easier. If Alma or one of the mutants gets too close then you get pulled into a quick-time event which basically revolves around tapping buttons to kick you foes off. Overall the AI is superb and soldiers will tip objects over to hide behind them, throw multiple grenades and attempt to flank you.

Multiplayer options may not be exactly what you would expect for most FPSs but they still produce a solid result. Matches of up to 16 players include the usual deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag but there isn’t really anything that makes it unique from similar shooters.

FEAR 2 Project Origin is a game which offers a good array of spooks and scares but doesn’t quite have the same well paced fluidity of other FPSs. The game lacks serious replay value and as a result you would be better off renting it rather than buying it unless you want to become a veteran of the online lobby. The sequel has its ups and downs but it is an effective way of ripening your lust for horror.

+ Effective and engaging shooting.

+ Fantastic horror allusions.

+ Fun slow-mo combat

- Graphics could be improved

- Simple and dull online play

7.9/10

By Ian Ratledge Posted Thursday, March 5th, 2009 9:56 pm