F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (2009)

The second F.E.A.R. entry is a direct sequel that continues the unsettling story of Alma Wade while shifting the series toward a more cinematic and accessible style. The game maintains the franchise’s hallmark combination of horror and first-person shooting, with firefights that feel impactful thanks to meaty weapons, destructible cover, and the signature slow-motion mechanic. Some people think this sequel was very weak compared to the first title, but I think it is a very enjoyable shooter, even though it's story is lacking compared to the original game, especially when it comes to it's ending (no spoilers).

Enemy AI is still aggressive and tactical, though encounters tend to be more scripted and less dynamic than in the original, which reduces some of the tension and unpredictability. The horror elements are front and center, relying on jump scares, nightmarish visions, and grotesque imagery tied to Alma’s haunting presence. While these sequences can be chilling, they often feel more straightforward and less psychologically nuanced compared to the eerie subtlety of the first F.E.A.R.. One standout for me are the mecha sequences, which is a nice change of pace but it clearly sets itself to be a more action-focused title at this point, even having some gameplay sections set at daytime.

The environments, ranging from devastated cityscapes to claustrophobic interiors, are atmospheric and showcase the visual improvements of the time, though the level design is noticeably more linear, trading open-ended combat arenas for tighter, guided progression. As a whole, F.E.A.R. 2 succeeds as a polished, unsettling shooter with some memorable moments of dread and adrenaline-fueled action. However, it sacrifices a bit of the originality, depth, and razor-sharp combat flow that made its predecessor stand out, which is a hard enough thing to tackle since the first entry was such a groundbreaking game, even for today's standards.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is surely not a bad game. It follows the story from the previous games and does this quite well. However, because of the new look of the game, the new sound design and the excessive lighting, it does not really feel like a F.E.A.R. game anymore.

The story continues in this game with Alma Wade, taking revenge on anyone who did her wrong because of all the experiments that have been conducted on her by Project Origin. After the catastrophic events of the first game, a Delta Force squad is sent to arrest Genevieve Aristide, the brains behind the whole operation. Thirty minutes before the ending of F.E.A.R., the team arrives and get to work. You play as Michael Becket, a guy that also has a strong physic connection to Alma.

The whole operation goes haywire and throughout the game, your squad gets wiped out, one at the time. This is because of the interfering ATC forces, Alma and her voodoo powers and the awakened Replica soldiers. The Point Man from the first game explodes the research facility where the experiments where taking place on Alma and Becket is knocked unconscious. You awake in a hospital, which is immediately confiscated by ATC forces. They want to erase all evidence of Project Origin, including you and your buddies.

You try to press forward while being taunted by hallucinations, shot at from all directions and assassination attempts. You meet some help underway, but they are killed off quicker that you can say “What the..”. No place is safe for you and your simple arrest mission is turned into a race for survival and escape.

In the end, Alma finally gets to you because Genevieve Aristide locks you and Alma in a metal ball thing. She wanted to lure you and Alma in this thing from the beginning to save Project Origin. The part that happens next is still one of the weirdest things in video game history. Alma goes full Cowgirl on you and, apparently, you put a little Baby Becket in her belly. In the end, she shows you her swollen belly and the game ends. Wow..

The graphics are nice in F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, but the problem is that they are to light. You can set the brightness to zero and still the game is to colorful and bright. I also don’t like the new HUD that overlays your screen. It is supposed to resemble some sort of glasses holo-screen thing, but it distracts and makes you feel like playing trough a simulator.

Although this installment is way less scary than its predecessor, it had its moments. The elementary school level was nicely done and gave some F.E.A.R. vibes back. The rest however, no matter how hard they tried, it did not work. For me, this had two reasons. One is that the scare effects and horror elements are all shown to you by static and interference, followed by a hallucination, and then, more static. The second reason is that there is no ice chilling, high pitched sound that goes through marrow and bone, like the first game.

The combat is fast paced, the guns accurate and it all feels very fluent and smooth. You still use health kits to restore your health and can find reflex boosters to increase your slow-motion time.

However, in the sound department (something that is really important for me when playing a game), the developers screwed up. The sound is horrible. It is so blend and lifeless, it genuinely shocked me. The voices of the ATC forces and Replica Soldiers sound very fade in the distance, and the voice acting for their actions and communication is terrible. The guns sound like pea shooters, all of them. The worst of all is the shotgun. When firing, a foul fart escapes its barrel and that is it. Explosions sound like the popping of a balloon and when enemies die, it sounds like you poke a hot iron on their asses and they are in discomfort rather than dying from your hail of peas.

In the end, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a good game, the combat works fine and accurate, the slow motion works just as good as the first game and the overall length of the game is fair.

It is just not that much of a F.E.A.R. sequel in my opinion anymore in terms of scariness.

I'm a very big fan of the first game and I was hoping for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin to be at least close to the first one. First off, this game uses the same engine that F.E.A.R. used so the graphics are similar, though some additional effects have been put into it. The AI seems different this time around but it's really hard to say if it's better or worse. There are many interesting weapons in F2 and some are new to the series, for example P90 and the laser gun.

On the other hand, there are things not so well done. The story is complex and all, but that means it's very hard to follow due to so many information you're getting at once. As for the combat system, there is no lean option this time around which is, as far as I'm concerned, a big minus for the developers. The HUD has also changed for the worse and it now feels like looking through glasses or something - kind of odd. These and some other things (the first game was also far more scarier) have killed the good old feel that was present when playing the original game, which is sad. The last thing I found disturbing is the end of F2, it is strange and it doesn't fit in.

There are many problems with the sequel and I was a bit disappointed, but F2:PO is still a pretty good game. Not as good as the first one, but still interesting enough to play and enjoy the moments.

Since I revisited F.E.A.R., which is one of my favorite horror games of all time, I decided to do the same with its only good sequel. While not in the same level as its predecessor, F.E.A.R. 2 managed to address some issues, while carving its own action-packed path.

Before I say anything else, F.E.A.R. 2 is very pretty to look at. It's not groundbreaking and the screen can be quite blurry sometimes, but I'd definitely put it on a list of graphics that still holds up. Also, in comparison with the first one, this is miles ahead.

Project Origin continues to blend horror and action very well. I did find this one way more frantic in its shooter roots than the first entry, but I think this helped the game to become its own thing, not "only a sequel." There are a lot more things to shoot at, more enemy types, decent mech sequences, more guns and dangers to tackle. The best thing is that, while not as groundbreaking as the first F.E.A.R., it all just works with ease. The spooky parts did feel a little less impactful, but there are still some very freaky moments. One HUGE improvement was the level design. Sure, it's still very linear and "corridor-oriented", but it's not as repetitive as before, areas are larger, more apocalyptic, features some memorable environments (especially towards the ending), has a better pacing and it's overall a LITTLE more dynamic. This is one of the things that bothered me A LOT in the past and I'm glad that they tried to fix it here. As for the story, It's still nice. I'm glad they expanded on what happened in the first F.E.A.R., answered some unanswered questions and actually created an interesting lore to follow. I do prefer the first one, since it's a lot more mysterious and told through a very bizzare writing, but it's cool to see that they did not stray from their weird path.

But I also felt that Project Origins faltered in many ways. Much more than the first game.

For starters, if you loved the soundtrack/sound design of the first F.E.A.R., you'll see none of it here. I do not know how they managed to fuck it up so much. While the story is good and can stand on its own, if compared to the first one, it feels weaker. Monolith explore themes and events a lot more here, but fails to make it in the quiet, ominous and very menacing way that the first one did. I liked the action, but, sometimes, it feels like they forgot the horror. Also, the audio message and audio logs are gone. Now you'll find files and you have to stop the action to read them. If you want to do that, you'll read A LOT! F.E.A.R. 2 feels a lot easier than its predecessor and, while that's not an objectively bad thing, I miss the tactical and mindful shooting system. The speed of duels and number of enemies hinder this feeling. Especially since their A.I. is very dumb. New enemy types like ghosts and the "undead" are not fun at all to fight against. In fact, they're even more annoying than the INVISIBLE enemies. Also, the 5th and 6th are not good. The school has some of the worst level designs of the game and the subways are just very uninspiring. I loved the final interval, but MAN! The game DRAGS a lot before you can reach it.

F.E.A.R. 2 is not as good as its incredible first game. That much is true. But it doesn't make it less enjoyable.

I definitely recommend this for fans of the first game and, if you're a fan of horror games, you should try it too. Now, if you do not fit into these two categories, you might find it forgettable and a bit generic.