Hi Ian,
The first game in the series is an absolute classic which other follow ups have failed to reproduce (IMO). FEAR 2 though is a little different, it has been called the most generic shooter ever but I liked it and not just because it was of the FEAR genre. It doesn't have as many scares as the first game but some of the fire fights are just awesome especially on the harder settings.. Seeing a replicant erupt into a ball of gaseous blood in slo-mo just has to be seen..
Is it as good as Crysis/HL2 ect? Hmm.... All I can say is that it has it's own little niche and gamers usually end up either loving it or hating it...
I do hang in the FEAR 2 forums from time to time and it's a good place for info:
http://www.projectorigincommunity.com/forum/