Quick Review
I've played this game shortly after beating the first game. As a whole, there are things that I liked better here than I did in the first, but there were also things I liked better in the first game.
The story was much more straightforward and easier to understand this around. Despite that, I found that I enjoyed the confusing story from the first more. It had a good mystery that left me interested in trying to find out what's going on. With EW2, there wasn't any part that really left me particularly interested with what was happening. There weren't any notable plot twists to surprise me either.
I liked the new characters in this game, but I wished they appeared more often and were more active in the story too. The antagonists in the game weren't very interesting compared to EW1's Ruvik.
The gameplay, particularly combat has improved. Upgraded abilities are more unique and give interesting effects than simply an increase in numbers. The game is easier overall except that the monsters are harder individually. They move faster and can be quite relentless. Other than that, you can now craft ammo and items so the fear of running out of resources isn't as bad. There's a reusable full heal at bases and safe houses. Matches and fire are no longer required to permanently finish enemies (other than the standard head shots and stealth kills). Bosses are more straightforward this time around and kind of easy too. Finally, traps that can instantly kill you are pretty rare from what I remembered.
I have mixed opinions on the semi-open world aspect. I liked open world gaming in general so I did found enjoyment with it here, but it still runs into the same issues that other open world games do. The pacing suffers if you just disregard the main story point and explore or do sidequests. Despite the good rewards from doing them, I think the experience would be better with more of a linear approach like with EW1.
The horror elements feels lacking here. Other than the beginning part of the game and the instances where you're forced into stealth to avoid a recurring monster, the game isn't that scary. EW1 had a lot of unsettling moments and levels.
Overall, EW2 was a fun game and I liked that it wasn't as frustratingly difficult as before.
I've played this game shortly after beating the first game. As a whole, there are things that I liked better here than I did in the first, but there were also things I liked better in the first game.
The story was much more straightforward and easier to understand this around. Despite that, I found that I enjoyed the confusing story from the first more. It had a good mystery that left me interested in trying to find out what's going on. With EW2, there wasn't any part that really left me particularly interested with what was happening. There weren't any notable plot twists to surprise me either.
I liked the new characters in this game, but I wished they appeared more often and were more active in the story too. The antagonists in the game weren't very interesting compared to EW1's Ruvik.
The gameplay, particularly combat has improved. Upgraded abilities are more unique and give interesting effects than simply an increase in numbers. The game is easier overall except that the monsters are harder individually. They move faster and can be quite relentless. Other than that, you can now craft ammo and items so the fear of running out of resources isn't as bad. There's a reusable full heal at bases and safe houses. Matches and fire are no longer required to permanently finish enemies (other than the standard head shots and stealth kills). Bosses are more straightforward this time around and kind of easy too. Finally, traps that can instantly kill you are pretty rare from what I remembered.
I have mixed opinions on the semi-open world aspect. I liked open world gaming in general so I did found enjoyment with it here, but it still runs into the same issues that other open world games do. The pacing suffers if you just disregard the main story point and explore or do sidequests. Despite the good rewards from doing them, I think the experience would be better with more of a linear approach like with EW1.
The horror elements feels lacking here. Other than the beginning part of the game and the instances where you're forced into stealth to avoid a recurring monster, the game isn't that scary. EW1 had a lot of unsettling moments and levels.
Overall, EW2 was a fun game and I liked that it wasn't as frustratingly difficult as before.