I played Perseus Mandate (PM) and F.E.A.R. 2 (F2) back to back during this weekend.

PM didn't add much new and looked more drab than the original game (F1) for some reason, but was still a fun experience.

F2 looks much better and levels are quite clever. In my opinion a very good game, better than the original, and the first one to play if you haven't played any of the F.E.A.R. games yet.

Gamespot's 7.0 for F2 was surprising. What did the reviewer compare with? F2 challenges e.g. Bioshock in level design and the scary parts of the game are way better than both BioShock and F1.

F2 is a game almost without any boss fights, which is a big plus (compare e.g. with the dreadful ending boss level in Bioshock, or the bosses in Prey or Quake 4). Rather it's quite realistic in its fighting and very fast-paced.

I initially disliked the lack of a proper save system, and in cases I had to re-play the same section a few times, but it worked out quite nicely as in most cases I survived on the first round.