By: Kevin Larrabee

Monolith unleashed the first chapter of F.E.A.R (First Encounter Assault Recon) just over three years ago. Since then it has had some legs through ports to the PlayStation 3 and XBOX 360 and through an expansion (F.E.A.R. Files) for the XBOX 360, which was not developed by Monolith. Since then, the F.E.A.R. franchise fell of the map and gamers moved on to other atmospheric horror first person shooters like Bioshock and the Condemned series.

F.E.A.R. 2 begins right where the first game left off. You wake up in the middle of a post-apocalyptic city with Alma, the pissed off little girl with the ability to control clones through a psychic link, still loose and causing our hero to see shit that would make Castro and Hitchcock clutch their teddy bears in terror.

The main gameplay structure is still present with the ability to slow down time and focus on the perfect shot and very intelligent A.I. enemies. Also, for better or worse, just like the previous entry, there are mech sections that break up the first person action. Monolith has added some new elements such as moveable cover and a new HUD that looks more like you are in a mech suit the whole time instead of some variation of SWAT armor. The moveable cover is useful in some situations, but with no cover system, it seems to be much less interactive then it otherwise could be.

Although the demo only showed a small section of the game, it seems like Monolith heard the fans complaints about stale, repetitive environments from the original F.E.A.R. In less than 30 minutes of the game you will find yourself in the street (albeit closed off) of a recently bombed city, the terrifying halls of a elementary school, subway tunnels, and finally back in the streets but now in a mech suit.

Throughout the demo there was a continuous feeling of tension and fear thanks to how the lighting and sound effects pull the gamer into the experience. 5.1 surround sound will make a colossal difference when it comes to the immersion. The way areas are setup with flickering lighting that gives of a strobe light effect makes enemies seem even more dangerous and combat more difficult.

Personally, I was not hyped up for F.E.A.R. 2 at all and didn’t even know it was coming out in three short weeks. After spending an hour with F.E.A.R. 2, I circled February 10th on my calendar with the fresh blood of a clone soldier (OK, I lied. I just pre-ordered it at Amazon.com).