I have spent about one and a half hour with the shooter and I am a bit cloven. Before I try to describe it I'd first like to say that I love the first game. It is atmospheric, fast, and bloody beautiful while delivering a a story about "the mother of the apocalypse" - aka Alma, a lonely girl who likes to hug the intestines out of people.

I played the first game on the PC, as well as its so called expansion packs who were bland and boring compared to the game they were built on. And I think it is that, among other things that feels out of place when I now play the sequel on the XBOX360.

The gameplay, the run-and-gun, style of FPS that made the first one a grand game has returned. You got your standard weapons and the slow-mo time ability so you can move up close and personal to deliver a shotogun shell to the back of the skull while passing through the face. Its not refreshing but very satisfying.

One of the big qualms of the first game were the level design (some people though so at least, I think it was suiting to the game itself so I didn't complain) and I has become a bit better - by those criteria, a bit cramped I think some times.

And the introductions big final: Alma - or the "fear" part of F.E.A.R.2 Well, I didn't crap myself while playing the first one, so the second game does nothing for in that department. I however like how it lends into the atmosphere in the first game, why fix something that ain't broken?

I suggest that this "don't fix..." attitude is maybe what is lacking in this game. It is nearly the exact game I fell in love with those years ago. The engine is the exact same, the gameplay likewise and the bells and whistles of how one tries to scare the living daylights out of the gamer are the same.

Yet - I still like it. The console version, the one I played, feels cramped and the controls a bit misplaced when you quickly need to flip up your shoot gun. Also I have noticed that a new enemy, a Sadoko like, wall jumping, asshole that "twitches" towards you, are hard to kill since it needs a pretty precise shoot to hit.

I suppose I should try the PC version, which probably redeems the "cramped" feeling, awkward controls, and the distant thought that the game is a bit dated for its time.

Concluding: A solid game. Does what one could reasonable expect since cleaning up after the expansion packs takes time to say the least. Slow-mo gun play and creepy girls that fucks around in your head is still fun, but you walk away, feeling a bit hollow, since it could probably been more - whatever that means.