It starts off exacly where F.E.A.R. 1 left off.

The first thing you might notice is the horrible controls. Not only is it bad enough that you have to use R2 to fire, but L2 is also used for aiming. 

It still has the same horror feel as F.E.A.R. 1, using sudden pop-ups and other effects to make you jump. That, along with some a crazy-looking ghost that harrasses you abit - it's pretty awesome to watch. Killing enemies in this game is much satisfying.....very good animations and plenty of blood. The guns have a decent feel to them.

The graphics are pretty good, but nothing too amazing. There's a thing around the HUD giving you the feeling that you're wearing some kind of helmet, very similar to Metroid.

There's one thing I find really annoying: it seems that they did want you to feel like you're wearing some kinda helmet - the whole screen has this very slight yet noticable grainy static. They really need to adjust it because the way it is now, it just makes the picture quality look kinda bad.

I thought the best part of the demo was the last area. If you've seen any of the vids, you probably saw the drivable mech - yup, it's in there and it's a blast =p   

The demo is just one somewhat short level, but gives you a really good idea of what F.E.A.R. is. I'm just hoping more control options are added in the final game =/

I'm gonna go give it another spin now.

I HATED the first Fear. The horror aspect wasn't used nearly enough to create a decent atmosphere, the shooting was horrid, you could unload 120 rounds on an enemy and 3 would kill you. Just sucked

Take exactly what this guy said and turn it 180 degrees.

FEAR1 was the best single player FPS experience for me this gen. PC version rocked hard when it came out, the 360 one was just as rockin...

Can't wait for the sequel...day 1 purchase.

Is there any way I can get this demo. Torrents, newsgroups... :)

Either get the latest episode of Qore ($3) or just wait about a week or two. I think the free demo is coming really soon, should be able to find the date somewhere easy.

R2 for shooting and L2 for aiming is an epic fail on their part, its like they never even used the controller before. Its really bad when companies can't even get the controls right. I know Far Cry2 also has some screwed up aiming, its like these guys don't even care.

@Parasitic

thanks. I guess I'll wait... So by the impressions so far is it better than FEAR1, adjsuted for time inflation. If so, it has a serious shot at AAA.

 What are you talking about? COD does R2/L2 shoot/aim flawlesly.

Actually, using a trigger button for shooting makes more sense than using a button. When you shoot with a gun, you pull a trigger.

I've seen worse, for example in Battlefield: Bad Company. You know something is wrong when the accelerate button when driving a car is on the left trigger when every single developer use the right one!

If there's lots of time riding the mech ("Powered Armor"), then I'll definitely buy this. I just tried it out again...it's really great. It has a very good feel to it. Almost as good as riding Metal Gear Ray in MGS4. Too bad it's a really short part of the demo =/

Whether or not it'll be better than the first depends on how the campaign is because the way things are now, it feels pretty much exacly like the original, which isn't a bad thing. Right now, the things they need to fix:

- "Static" on the screen - I understand what that static is supposed to be, but it just looks bad....they need to remove it. The mech has it much worse. It reminds me a little of when I was playing PS3 before I got my HD TV.

- Controls - really bad right now. An option for custom configurations can easily solve this.

- Framerate - Some minor drops in some areas. It's extremely noticable, but still acceptable. When you're on the main menu and leave the controller alone for abit so that the random gameplay footage starts showing, you'll see how amazing the game looks if it was running at 60 fps.

I'll probably end up buying the game.

 It'd be fine if PS3's triggers weren't crap. Actually, if Cod5 made you use the triggers for shooting, I wouldn't be able to fire some it's guns ridiculously fast like I can now using R1.