F.E.A.R 2 upkeeps the status quo of gaming in 2 ways. The first way being that you couldn't escape the brown and grey color palates of the 2010s. The second: It is impossible for Monolith to make a sequel that is better than their first game. Now saying that do I think that this game is the first spawn of a demonic creature that most people say it is... I'm mixed on that.

The game did what it set out to do fairly well. Its mission was to take what made the first game good, while crossing out the initial criticisms (i.e weak plot, lack of level/enemy variety) and I would say these things are made better in this game. Yet in pursuit of that, F2 lacks a lot of what made the first game so charming and unique. The AI barks aren't as frequent, The added cover system sucks and I NEVER used it, and the level design (while quite varied in location) never seems to hit the same highs the original did. I do think the core gunplay is better, but I think F1 made better use of it because its pacing never called for the same amount of high-intensity fights that F2 does. It allowed itself to breathe and have quiet moments that let you soak in the atmosphere.

Speaking of atmosphere, I think F2 does that really well. I love the demented scribblings and the idea of crawling through the ruins of a city made with a sinister motive in mind. The world building is great when its like the first game, but most of the time its just really bad text logs. The dialogue remains the same, largely unmemorable, but more palpable because it leans into that classic Monolith cheese (its such an unserious game at times). But I would be doing a bad deed if I didn't mention the elephant in the room: the tasteless SA ending. The one group of people I would not advise to play this are those deeply affected by SA-Trauma, I genuinely don't know what the hell Monolith was cooking with that one.

I had a fun enough time with F.E.A.R 2, yet its predecessor remains superior still.