Monolith are, however, less imaginative with their choice of scenery, and even in a bombed city you'll spend most of your time in the staple, unexciting landmarks of office complex, hospital, school and laboratory. Walking across the ruins is, however, the creative high point of the game: everything looks like it took the developers no small amount of time to map and design. Which, to be cynical, is probably why there simply isn't enough of it. Certain other moments stand out, though, such as a view from the window at the start of the game, when the assassin first makes its presence felt, or when you finally come across a scene featured prominently in flashbacks.

It's worth noting that the game features a wry sense of humour; with some comedy moments dotted around the background if you keep your eyes open. I laughed out loud when I realised what the rock song that plays at one point in the game is actually about.

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But, at its heart, 2 isn't a game about narrative set pieces, as nice as some of them may be. It's about running into a room, turning on slow-motion and dispatching a fleet of cloned soldiers, and watching them collapse to the ground when time resumes. It's also about when you're stuck reloading a gun whilst running at an enemy, hoping you'll get a chance at a headshot before everything speeds up. The slow-motion is a fundamental mechanic to the game, as fire fights are simply too quick and deadly if you're trying to fight them without it. The A.I. is still as devious as it was in the original, setting up flanks and refusing to enter choke points and other obvious traps.

There's more enemy types than there was in the original title, too, with the addition of some freaky test subjects and Alma-created apparitions that can cause actual damage. The variety helps spice up the game a great deal, especially if you're playing it on the harder difficulty levels. This is genuinely a game worth playing on hard, too, as the normal mode is a bit too simplistic for your average FPS-guzzling hound.

There are, however, not enough massive confrontations in the game. It's crammed with plenty of thirty-odd second fights, but some of the most rewarding sections of the game come about when you're fighting what feels like a war of attrition, scrambling to hold points of cover from enemies attacking from more than one direction. There's always a niggling feeling that the game would be better, sometimes, if they just stuck you in a series of big open rooms with a few points of cover and just let enemies flood in (which, to be fair, pretty much does happen at one instance in the game). It does often feel that the developers aren't confident enough to distil the game to its core fighting components, which is a shame because it's the basic gunplay that F.E.A.R. 2 excels most at.

The game is quite short, too, spread out over fourteen chapters but brisk enough to complete in less than nine hours. It keeps up a decent momentum, however, pushing you through the proceedings without a saggy, uninteresting gaming midsection. There's a mode, too, but this feels like a fairly compulsory addition. It, obviously, incorporates the various aspects of the single-player game that are compelling, such as the EPA's and the slow-mo. It's nothing near as bad as the lukewarm, contrived multiplayer often tacked onto your average game, but it's unlikely to draw the crowds away from Call of Duty, and Gears of War. Which would be a shame.

As an overall product, F.E.A.R. 2 is a decent mix of self-aware cliche, gratuitous and hyperbolic mixed with the occasional touch of subtlety and reservation. It's a solid, dependable that, in its best moments, gets your heart racing. Whilst the universe might be confusing and unfriendly for those who haven't played the first game, the shooting mechanics should be satisfying enough for fans of the genre. And, let's face it, that's pretty much everyone with an 360. The ending isn't as spectacular as the original's, but it is just as abrupt. Which is again a shame. It couldn't be more disparagingly abrupt unless it printed "F.E.A.R. 3, anyone?" onto the screen before the credits rolled.

Although, that wouldn't be a bad thing.

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By Martin Gaston