That name may sound familiar. Hall has been in the games business for years, having been boss of Monolith when they put out classics like No One Lives Forever, Aliens vs Predator 2 and, most awesomely, Shogo: Mobile Armoured Division.

But that was then. And now, right now, Hall is focused on TV, which is a bit of a jump for someone used to working on video games. It's also an interesting one; we're generally so focused on seeing what movie and TV types can bring to games that we forget games can give a little back, too.

Speaking with VentureBeat, Hall had some interesting things to say on the subject.

I think that my ability to get traction in Hollywood has created a slight crack in the door on the perception. What's going to be the biggest factor is how well V performs as a television series. If it works…if people watch and enjoy what's being presented, then that will crack the door open a little bit further to altering the perception. Hollywood will start to look at creative people in the videogame industry as viable authors, or resources, to come in and create interesting television and film programming. I'm trying really hard to sort of represent some of the best, because I'm one of the first people to do it. But I'm certainly not the most talented, or the smartest of the people in the videogame business. If I can come in and do this, and show it successfully, I'm hoping that it helps pave the way for others in the videogame business to push their talents into this area. Because honestly, I would watch the programming they come up with.

I'm fully behind this. There just aren't enough burly space marines on TV these days.

Video game creator Jace Hall tries hand at TV with ABC's "V" remake [VentureBeat]

I actually ran into Monolith's big star, Lucas Meyers, at the Warner Bros. booth at PAX 2009 this past weekend, and all I could do was stare at him and shake my head sadly. This made him think that perhaps I knew him, as "Only people that know me stare at me and shake their heads". After seeing him perform in several F.E.A.R. 2 DLC community videos, perhaps I do.

While we aren't in the habit of writing up a post every time a new demo hits Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network, the F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn demo is a special case, as it is a demo not for a full game, but for downloadable content. Reborn gives players a different perspective on the destruction of poor little psychic girl Alma, placing them in the boots of Replica Soldier Foxtrot 813, led astray by voices in his head on an adventure spanning four new levels.

The full release of F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn is slated for September 3rd, the same date the free Slow-Motion Deathmatch multiplayer mode becomes available.

The same group (of developers) that brought us the generational anthem "Miniature Replica Soldier" return to herald the coming of another F.E.A.R. 2 update, the Slow-Motion deathmatch. Announced at the end of last month, the Slow-Motion Deathmatch feature is coming by way of a free title update, adding in a mode where one player possesses the power to slow time, and the rest of the players get shot and teabagged in slow-motion.

And don't worry, they didn't forget a snazzy theme song.

Foxtrot813 is just your average Replica soldier, but soon beckoning voices lead him to go against Replica Command's orders, striking out on his own through four levels worth of single player action. In a rather strange move, Monolith and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will be releasing a demo for the downloadable content on August 27th for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. A demo...for DLC. Okay!

Those of you more into F.E.A.R. 2's multiplayer side aren't being left out in the cold, however, as an accompanying title update brings with it a new Slo-Mo Deathmatch mode, which introduces a slo-mo power-up that makes everyone else move like molasses while you gleefully run circles around them. Sounds lovely.

The second of three planned sets of downloadable content for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, the Armored Front pack's main feature is a set of four unique heads used to customize your multiplayer character, which should have the added effect of making it easier to shoot you in the face. Aside from the heads, Monolith is also providing a pair of new maps. Decoy is a training ground for Replica soldiers turned battleground, complete with pop up target dummies to add a little more confusion to the works. The second, called Conductor, takes place in a train yard, which I believe is a first in shooter history, not counting every other shooter ever created.

The Armored Front DLC will be available on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 21st, setting you back 540 Microsoft points or $6.99. Totally not worth it for just two maps, but toss in a couple pairs of heads and it all comes together.

There really isn't much to say here. I feel slightly embarrassed and slightly amused at the same time. What's worse is the fact that "Miniature Replica Soldier" is going to be stuck in my head for a week. Enjoy the free map pack, available today on the Xbox 360. PC, and PlayStation 3. Hope it's worth all of this pain and suffering.

We demand an MP3 immediately.

The Toy Soldiers Map Pack, announced on Wednesday, is a multiplayer add-on for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin that adds a number of new. giant-sized maps to the game's online component. Warner Bros. and Monolith wants to make sure everyone is aware that they won't be charging a dime for it.

We are aware that there has been some confusion regarding the upcoming F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin "Toy Soldier" map pack. As has always been intended by Monolith Productions and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the content will be available free-of-charge in mid-April on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network for the PLAYSTATION 3.

As for the look and feel of the new maps, as you can see they're definitely a departure from standard F.E.A.R. fare.

Monolith will begin releasing premium downloadable content for F.E.A.R. 2 in April, including a premium theme, a picture pack, and this Toy Soldiers map pack. The announcement doesn't go into detail as to what the Toy Soldiers map pack is, though the mention of a new perspective might mean they're going to be tossing out a variant on the classic tiny-people, giant living area maps that have had gamers tickled pink since the original Unreal.

Interesting that they'd choose to create new content for what is arguably one of the weakest aspects of the game. I suppose new maps are better than nothing though, right?

F.E.A.R. 2 ignores the two TimeGate expansions, instead picking up more or less exactly where F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon left off, with the creepy psychic entity known as Alma understandably angry after a gigantic explosion failed to destroy her at the end of the first game. Players take control of one Michael Becket, a Delta Force military operative that Alma takes a rather special sort of interest in.

The original F.E.A.R. was lauded for blending together elements of psychological horror with first-person shooter gameplay, creating a game with a pleasantly different vibe than most other shooters on the market. Does the second game maintain the delicate balance?

Loved
Exploring The Story: A bit more straightforward than the original game, F.E.A.R. 2 can be as shallow or as deep as you want it to be. Players can run and gun their way through the title on their way towards a relatively confusing ending, or they can take their time, collecting data strewn throughout the levels in the form of email logs, office communications, or even letters to a school principle in order to understand what's truly going on. The ending was a bit abrupt, but definitely something you'll want to experience late at night with the lights out and the sound up.

Fear Itself: F.E.A.R. 2 is almost two games in one. On one hand, you have a relatively vanilla first-person shooter. On the other, a psychological horror adventure rife with terrifying images and twisted creatures, rattling about in the darkness. Staying true to its name, the game excels at creating a frightening atmosphere, weaving sound and imagery together with such expertise that by the end of the game you'll start seeing things out of the corner of your eye that aren't really there.

A World Gone Mad: While F.E.A.R. 2 certainly has more than its fair share of darkened corridors, several of the game's environments truly stand out amongst the title's peers, particularly the section set in the ruins of an elementary school, where bright, colorful pictures and children's furniture provides a macabre counterbalance to the horrific visions plaguing the main character throughout the story.

Supporting Cast: Unlike many hybrid horror titles on the market, Monolith has actually managed to instill a great deal of personality to the characters in F.E.A.R. 2, giving them a kind of life that you're actually a little sad to see slip away during the game's more tragic moments. Despite the odd cliché that seems to work its way into any game containing a military squad, the dialog can actually be quite brilliant, thanks to some clever writing and equally clever voice over work. One particular line involving pizza and anime conventions will stay with me for the rest of my days.

Hated
Going By The Book: F.E.A.R. 2 is a capable first-person shooter, but only just that. It delivers a standard shooter experience, with all of the features we've come to expect from the genre. At one point in the history of the genre hopping into a turret or shooting enemies on a moving platform was innovative, but not anymore. It's not bad, it just doesn't distinguish itself from other shooters, outside of the odd trip around town in a giant robot or the slowing down of time - and even that last one has been used again and again. Multiplayer suffers the same way, playing well enough but only offering the bare minimum in a market filled with outstanding multiplayer experiences.

Button Mashing Boss Encounters: After spending a long series of battles being goaded, insulted, and attacked by an enemy, I'd like to spend a little bit of time killing him. What should be major battles in the game are reduced to button-mashing affairs. One "boss fight" in particular simply consisted of me hitting the B button one time. One time. I wanted blood, dammit, not a mildly sore thumb.

Giant Mech Battles: Wait, shouldn't this be a loved? While I do enjoy any chance I get to hop inside the cockpit of an enormous robot, the experience feels completely out of place in F.E.A.R. 2. In a game that places a high value on trying to instill a sense of dramatic tension, suddenly finding yourself inside a mechanized killing machine tends to take the edge off. The mech combat is definitely enjoyable, if a bit simple, but it just doesn't seem right here. Save it for SHOGO II.

While F.E.A.R. 2 excels in several areas, taken as a whole the game falls slightly flat. The game has two faces - horror and shooter - and when the two meet the game truly shines. Unfortunately the instances where humanoid enemies and monstrous ones share the same screen are few and far between, leaving you basically playing either one game or the other.

Perhaps if the two sides of F.E.A.R. 2: Project origin were better balanced the experience as whole would be much more satisfying, but as it stands, Monolith has delivered an excellent psychological horror story tucked inside a first-person shooter that merely gets the job done.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin was developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. It was released on February 11th, for $60 console, $50 PC. Played Xbox 360 version to completion on normal difficulty, and participated in several multiplayer matches via Xbox Live.

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F.E.A.R. 2 directly follows F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon, with the story actually picking up some 30 minutes before the massive explosion that occurred at the end of the first game, following a squad of Delta Team members who get wrapped up in the experiments of the mysterious Armacham Technology Corporation and the strange psychic manipulations of the incredibly scary little girl, Alma.

Does F.E.A.R. 2 stay true to it's terrifying roots, or is the only thing we have to fear F.E.A.R. the first?

Eurogamer
A robot suit and quick-time events. If you grabbed me in a bar and asked me what was memorably new in FEAR 2 (I'm not using the bloody full stops), that's all I'd be able to come up with. While it's a rock-solid corridor shooter, the lasting impression is one of a woeful lack of inspiration. There's plenty of stuff to talk about but nothing that demands to be discussed over a drink with friends.

GameSpot
After a short exposition, F.E.A.R. 2 picks up where the original left off—with a bang...Too much description would risk spoiling the game's few surprises, which are better experienced than narrated, though as it happens, there are few enigmas to unravel. F.E.A.R. 2's story paints itself into a corner, offering very little new to players already familiar with the Project Origin referred to in the title, and nothing compelling enough to wrap newcomers into its fold. With Alma now a known quantity, paranormal secrecy has been replaced by a series of near-cliche bump-in-the-night scares and murky visions that do the unthinkable where a horror-themed game is concerned: They become predictable.

Official Xbox Magazine
F.E.A.R. 2 also takes a break from the never-ending series of office and factory hallways that made the first game drag. This time, you'll blast through the nuked-out remains of a city and then barrel through the creepiest part of the game, an elementary school. Kids are untouched - as they should be - but it's downright unnerving to see gore splashed all over the primary colors of a classroom. The fresh scenery is welcome, but the game still leaves you plodding down one too many hallways. At least it takes a break from the FPS-ing now and again to give you a few exhilarating rides.

TeamXbox
Maybe I've become desensitized, or maybe it's something about the nature of F.E.A.R. 2's gameplay that doesn't make me feel like a quivering bundle of nerves as I play it. It's hard to be scared of a little girl, even if she does have supernatural powers and wants to eat my soul, when I've got an armory on my back that would threaten the entire armies of some third world nation. At least in the Resident Evil games I feel like I'm at a disadvantage with the drought of ammo that I have to face. In F.E.A.R. 2, my rocket launcher keeps me warm at night and the monsters under the bed seem a lot less threatening.

VideoGamer
After you've settled into F.E.A.R. 2's groove (it does feel somewhat different to the majority of shooters out there), you'll find you won't want to leave. There's a certain blood-stained beauty in storming into a room, clocking four armed guys, activating slow mo, lobbing in a grenade, taking out three of them with stunning shots to the head from a close range shotgun, and then watching as the last is obliterated by the explosion. It's combat that never gets old and is more or less unrivalled. In full flow F.E.A.R. 2 looks and sounds brilliant too, bettering the original in every way, but it is a step below the very best looking games available.

Ever get the feeling we're not all playing the same game?

Interested players who'll be in the London, England, area on on February 12th can visit whatisfearlive.com and enter for a chance to be one of eight players selected for a F.E.A.R. 2 multiplayer battle in a top-secret location. Those who don't make the cut will still be able to watch what happens live on the website on the day of the event.

Not sure what they've got planned, but you can probably bet there's going to be some LARPeting (marketing via Live-Action Role-Playing) involved. It's just what they do.

I have to say, I do admire Nurse Lauren's commitment to delivering her lines even though she knows not one dude is listening to a goddamn word she's saying. I've watched it five times and I still have no idea what this is about. Except I'd like that platinum level service. With a happy ending.

"Fear Away" [Monolith d/b/a Armacham]

Sure it isn't live-action roleplaying in the traditional sense (if there even is one), but when you have folks dressing up pretending to represent the fictional company Armacham from the F.E.A.R. series, requiring the folks undergo testing in order to play the upcoming FPS in a special chair, then yes - your are LARPing. You've got NPCs, and you have the players themselves, and while the players aren't wearing costumes and waving around foam-wrapped PVC piping, they are indeed stepping into a role, even if they don't take it all that seriously.

Don't get me wrong - it's one of my favorite marketing techniques, immersing the player in the environment of the game. I'm just calling a LARP a LARP. It's LARPeting.

I played F.E.A.R. 2 [FPSBANANA Forums]

Warner Bros. Interactive just let slip that a single player demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is making its way to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC come January 22nd. Players will traipse through bloodied corridors, making little terrified squeaking noises in between emptying clip after clip of ammunition into whatever wants to kill you in the city of Auburn.

Mind you the PlayStation 3 demo is currently available to Qore subscribers, with the rest of the flock getting it the same day as everybody else. PC gamers are instructed to report to www.whatisfear.com when the time is right to secure their demo.

***F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Demo Available January 22***

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced that the single player demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows® and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system beginning January 22. The demo will be available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for Xbox 360 and PlayStation®Network for the PLAYSTATION 3. Fans can visit www.whatisfear.com to download the Games for Windows version. The PLAYSTATION 3 demo is currently available exclusively to Qore™: Presented by the PlayStation®Network subscribers. The full game will ship to retailers in North America on February 10.

The F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin demo will offer a glimpse of the action, terror and suspense of the full retail version of the game. Players will maneuver through bloodstained corridors and hallways from several locations in the game, as they combat through various parts of the city of Auburn, which now lays in ruin after the catastrophic explosion that rocked the finale of F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2005 smash hit game, F.E.A.R., is a blend of advanced visceral combat mixed with seamless game pacing set inside a sinister and paranormal universe that begins shortly before the ending of F.E.A.R. A Special Forces squad is on a routine mission when the city of Auburn is rocked by a supernatural explosion. Alma, a girl with immense power and a thirst for revenge, has unleashed her wrath upon the city and thrown it into chaos. The squad must combat enemy forces and the supernatural as they struggle to find a way to stop Alma and uncover the mysterious forces arrayed against them before it’s too late.

For more information about the game, visit www.whatisfear.com.

This is of course the culmination of the mysterious case event that had us on the edge of our seats towards the end of November, which involved some interesting documents, including a few schematics for the special chair in question.

This Saturday and Sunday, January 17th and 18th from 11am - 7pm, our mobile F.E.A.R Lab will be parked outside of the GameStop at 1282 Broadway on the corner of Broadway and 33rd (near Herald Square) to give a sneak preview of the upcoming first person shooter game F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin.

In case you can't make it (which I sadly cannot), the whole thing will be streamed for your pleasure at http://www.armacham.com/fearlab. If you do go, feel free to share the experience with us!

Here we see what looks to be a commercial for one of the precursors to the Armacham Ordog Advanced Series 7 mobile combat armor from Shogo, which comes with all the firepower you'll ever need to take on opponents both online and off. It might not be Shogo 2, but it's probably the best we're going to get for the time being.

Don't worry though. I am watching them. If they don't announce an official sequel soon I am going to storm in there and make it myself. *grabs his crayons*

Talking to CVG, Matthews said the Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate expansion packs, made by TimeGate Studios, may have brought some new people to the brand — "and killed off a few."

Says Matthews:

"[TimeGate] took the story in a direction that we didn't intend. We look at Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate as an alternate universe, a 'what could have been', and because of that it doesn't necessarily diminish the story that we were trying to tell. F.E.A.R. was about Alma, F.E.A.R. 2 is about Alma, and we wanted to continue the story the way we originally intended."

Less-than-fawning reviews of those expansions, plus some mehs for the console ports of original F.E.A.R., might have the brand in a slump, Matthews suggests in chucking Day 1 Studios under the bus. Day 1 built the 360 and PS3 versions of F.E.A.R., which didn't do as well as the PC version. Matthews vows that 360 and PS3 versions of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will be closer to their PC counterpart (also due in 2009) than was the case with the original.

Ports and Expansions "Killed Off a Few" F.E.A.R. Fans [CVG]

Witness F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin multiplayer quality assurance guy Lucas Meyers battle his way valiantly through this terrible parody of "Walking In A Winter Wonderland", "Walking In A Deathmatch Wonderland". While it is truly painful to listen to, it at least contains some footage of F.E.A.R. 2 multiplayer.

And Christmas was going so well. Thanks a lot, Monolith!

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Community Site [Official Site]

The small metal case was found inside a storage locker a short drive from my home, following directions that arrived via a mysterious letter in the mail. For the past week I've been staring at this thing, idly running through the numbers now and then to see if I might stumble across the unlock code, to no avail. Now a post on the Project Origin community forums from a user named Caseman has revealed the combination. Anyone have money on 332?

Hit the jump for a video of the case opening, and more questions.

Oh, and the flash drive contained another message from the shadowy figure, this time with clips of top-secret Armacham Technology Corporation experiments on unlocking the latent psychic powers in ordinary humans, which I probably shouldn't post.