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Title: Fear 2: Reborn(DLC)
Version played: pc, via Steam download
Price: $9.99(U.S.)
Aw man… that guys car battery is gonna go flat.
Rather than continuing the story of Fear 2’s Sgt Bekett, Reborn tells the story of replica soldier Foxtrot 813 who goes rogue during the events of Fear 2. The dlc pack begins with Paxton Fetel talking about the events unfolding during the game as well as the soldier you are about to begin playing as. Unlike Fear 2, Reborn starts off with you being as empowered as you could possibly get in Fear 2, ie; you’re in one of the powered mech suits with the giant guns.
Sure enough your suit gets damaged and you are soon back on foot again. The first thing I noticed was the user interface revamp, its alot better designed than Fear 2’s, especially the way certain parts are hidden when not in use. Really I’m just glad it doesn’t have the horrible ‘hud lines’ of Sgt Beketts sci-fi glasses. No new weapons have been added which is fine since the initial game had more than it needed to begin with. I found myself sticking to the trusty rifle and shotgun most of the time but their are segments where a sniper rifle comes in very handy so I recommend grabbing it when one is available.
The fights in Reborn are alot more intense as Monolith have made sure they aren’t against a single type of enemy most of the time, two encounters with powered armor suits and the cyber ninjas as well as the the corpse reanimating screamers and abominations particularly stand out as I died a couple of times.
The combination fights were really fun because it kept me on my toes and really made the combat feel alot more dynamic as the enemies all need to be handled in different ways. It does also mean that this dlc is a little tougher than Fear 2 was which if you played as much as I did shouldn’t be an issue.
Visually the game looks a little better than Fear 2 though nothing dramatic, the environments were a little more interesting, especially in one instance where you’re jumping down through a building sideways while trying not to fall to a firey death.
The highlight of Reborn is definitely towards the end when Alma begins to notice you and thus begins warping reality in the usual Fear style of the space you’re in temporarily changing and being filled with fire, blood and ghostly creatures that do alot of damage if they hit you. Its a shame it ends just as it gets really awesome.
Altogether I had fun with the four levels on offer, took around an hour and a half to finish and now I look forward to the next pack. Ten bucks is a good price and I recommend it if you enjoyed Fear 2, which you need in order to buy this anyway.
The end twist is also pretty sweet, I never saw it coming.