The scares are much improved.

It's non-linear enough to where I didn't even get 75% of the Intel Items, despite trying to thoroughly explore each level. But if you knew anything about horror games, you'd know that they have to be somewhat linear. If you can skip all the scares by freely parkouring over the roofs with your magical psychic powers, it isn't very scary or thrilling.

The combat felt largely unchanged from the original game, it could have used some improvement. The vaunted FEAR AI is just not that great, and as you said, much like the original there just aren't enough enemies in most encounters.

The intel item system is a lot better than the original game. There are a lot of cool story tidbits that you get as a reward for paying attention and exploring a bit. This is much better than someones handy laptop just left sitting there, or a convenient phone with an unsecured voicemail. Especially since you can go back and read them again when you get more intel to help put more together.