F.E.A.R., while a beautiful game, decides to flaunt its technology rather than giving you varying gameplay.
Lets talk about gameplay, because, in reality, its a GAME, so GAMEPLAY is very important. F.E.A.R. does not intend to throw anything new at you in this respect. You have an assortment of pretty bland weapons, with the exception of the Rail Gun. The Rail gun is basically a gun that shoots nails, theres no way to really explain it and better. It shoots nails and the uninteresting enemies and gets them stuck to the wall. It's actually really cool to leave a room and see a bunch dudes hanging by their arms on the wall and to see the whole room be in complete disarray (holes in the wall, nails stuck in the wall, blood spattered all of the wall, and windows shattered).
The firefights are enhanced by the "reflexes" of your character which essentially slows down time (as if you've never seem this before). Once again, this effect looks very cool in the first 2-3 hours, but after a while, you'll be asking for a new gameplay element. Uhm, if you're an explosion buff, in slow-mo, the explosions look quite spectacular, sending your enemies' limbs flying everywhere.
Another good thing about the firefights is the enemy AI. It is nothing short of spectacular. Being a scary game, the fact that the enemy is very aware of their surroundings as well as your position makes it great. You'll hear them curse like drunken sailors as you assasinate their comrades, and watch them cordinate flank attacks on your positions. One of the ways you can tell they are smart is that they sometimes set up their own cover without scripts. They will knock over tables to put some separation between you and them. They are also not blind, like most AI. If you set a mine that is in plain view, THEY WILL NOTICE and chill out until you come and find them.
This AI is all well and good, but, in the end, you will see basically the same enemy the whole game.
The scary element is very well done, and if you sat in a dark room playing it, im pretty sure you would jump quite often, however, basically all of their fear tactics are drawn from The Ring (which is a movie, if you dont know).
So basically, F.E.A.R. is everything i just described it as. If I were you, I would buy it when it's cheap because while some things about it are amazing, it will not last you very long. It has a multiplayer which is good, but you have to like fast paced action, which i hate. Try to borrow this game or buy it when it is cheap.