Kotaku: monolith productions

More F.E.A.R., Different Name

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:00:00 MDT

As previously announced, developer Monolith Productions is back with a new F.E.A.R. game, but it's not called F.E.A.R. 2. And we had a chance to check it out at this year's E3. Since publishers changed during development, the game is now called Project Origin. Different titles aside, this actually is the sequel and is set in the same world F.E.A.R. was — though the game does follow Delta Force sergeant Michael Beckett instead of the mysterious Point Man. The devs are giving Beckett the same slow motion that Point Man had in the original game.

Other tweaks the Monolith team have employed include giving the medkit system the boot and now using a regenerize system instead. Another pic change is that players can now carry four weapons instead of just three. The devs said that in F.E.A.R. most players got three weapons they liked and were hesitant to try out new ones — hopefully, this fourth gun slot will open up more experimentation. With the game running on the Monolith developed Jupiter Engine, the team has put in nice touches like a better depth of field and scope. The A.I. is much better as well, making the single player hands-on much more satisfying.

Another neat aspect was that enemies take cover behind cars. But they don't just take cover behind cars, they open car doors and use them for cover. Players can do this likewise as well as flip over cars and whatnot. There are also mechanical body suits (mechas) that players can get in and shoot stuff up with. ~~Mechas aside, the game might benefit from including the slo-mo as it still does feel somewhat nondescript — though solid.~~ The E3 build featured a city in rubble, and it was great to roam around, because Project Origin gives the player more freedom than F.E.A.R..

The game's release date will be announced "sometime after E3, but not the day after E3." Well, that's good to know. The day after E3 has already passed.

New Trailer for FEAR Sequel, Project Origin

Brian Crecente — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 13:00:00 MDT

More creepy little kids, more long hallways with flicker lights, more stuff to shoot, Developer Monolith Productions just dropped their new E3 trailer for Project Origin on us. Project Origin is the sequel to creepy shooter F.E.A.R. This new trailer shows off some new weapons, enemies and locations. Stay tuned next week for our hands-on impressions of the game when we play through a chunk at E308.

F.E.A.R. Fans Pick Dullest Name Ever For Sequel

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:40:09 MDT

With Vivendi retaining the rights to the F.E.A.R. name, developer Monolith Productions needed something unique, something catchy, something that's not a four-letter acronym for the follow up to the spark-filled first-person shooter. What did they wind up with? Something that's definitely not a four-letter acronym. What would have under normal circumstances been dubbed F.E.A.R. 2 will now be known as Project Origin. Memorable isn't it? Wait, what was it again? Right, Project Origin.

Sure, it may not have the sex appeal of Dead Echo, but at least it's better than the rejected Blood Let: Drenched in Desecration, isn't it? Project Origin is planned to hit the PC, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 at a mysterious future date. Try to remember the name when it comes out.