So uh, I tried the FEAR2 demo after finishing FEAR1 last night and I actually thought it was pretty freaking awesome. Like it might have been because of low expectations, but it's soooooooooooooooooooooooo improved over FEAR1 X360.
First of all the graphics are a generational leap from FEAR1 which looked like an XBOX1 game. All the textures are sharp, the water is shiny, the debris glowing everywhere looks good. It's definitely one of the best looking games on X360/PS3, which is a HUGE leap from Fear1 which looked like Doom3. I can't think of another FPS/TPS out that looks this good outside of Gears 2. It definitely looks way better than CoD.
Then you have COLORS...omg where were they all this time. I can actually SEE without my flashlight because there is LIGHT. Yellow world >>>> DARK DARK DARK CAN'T SEE DARK DARK DARK Fear1. Also blue and red effects and stuff. Lots and lots of colors. I like colors, yay.
Next VARIED ENVIRONMENTS...who knew Monolith could make them? Everywhere in Fear and Condemned looks the same. Hear the school looked really good and unique, not just cut & paste corridors. The outside streets looked great as well. If the entire game can be varied like a REAL GAME that's a huge improvement.
Controls and weapons. MUCH BETTER. Having scope on L instead of grenade is good. Having actual USEFUL SCOPES on guns is 10000x improvement. I'm not sure about slow-mo on Y instead of RB because you have to take your thumb off the right analogue to press Y when you didn't have to with RB, but otherwise everything else seems good. Opening doors feels normal now, being able to knock over things for cover is cool, and having R6 type script jumping through things is great.
The mech part was decent. Nothing good or bad. I get the feeling unless they make the mech parts really easy, they'll be the 2nd most annoying parts in the game.
Now, the BAD. Ghosts are still TERRIBLE ENEMIES. I have no idea where they are have the time and then I just keep getting hit and taking damage. That's not fun. Enemies are more armored than Fear1. Charging in on some guys in slow-mo with a shotgun in Fear1 meant bodies split in half and decapped everywhere. Here they are just taking the hits and falling down and getting back up. The shotgun seems really nerfed (which makes sense as it's the only weapon I used for 99% of Fear1 as it dominated EVERY SITUATION). Again with the too armored comment, when you zoom in with the assault rifle and pump a full round into their HEADS in Fear1 they fall and die. In Fear2 they got blood on their head and keep moving. I think that's kinda dumb. If you pump rounds into heads they should fall.
So yeah, it's still got flaws (mainly the stupid ghosts and a mediocre mech part), but I'll be damned if Fear 2 doesn't feel like a generational leap over Fear 1 in visuals and controls. Better environments + better guns + zomg graphics = Ok, I'll give Monolith my money for this one.
