F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin with Craig Hubbard

Monolith's designer gives us the creeps

Is F.E.A.R. a long term project for Monolith? Will it be continuing beyond this sequel?

We have a tremendous about of story we would love to tell about Alma, and Alma's universe, Alma's... family... there's so much still there. We haven't really told everything. We have marker-boards full of story. There's a lot we could tell. If the fans are into it... we're into it.

Do you worry about the way the FPS genre has become more competitive since the first F.E.A.R.?

I think competition is always a concern... but it's healthy. It keeps you on your toes, and it allows you to see how other people approach the same mechanics, and you can learn from it. If they are great mechanics you can learn from it, and if they are bad mechanics you can learn from it... so, being able to take all that and add it to what you already know is a good formula. You can add and accentuate. Another thing that sets us apart is that a lot of other games out there do have a secondary aspect... I'm going to say horror in our case, but you can put in whatever you like. But, in an FPS, one of the big challenges is the high intensity combat; if you use it too much people get numb to it, so you create specific lulls... in a straight FPS you struggle to fill those spaces. We can use horror to create an ebb and flow between combat and horror... there are no dead spaces.

Do you use your own game engine?

Yes, this is Monolith proprietary technology, and it is very different from what F.E.A.R. shipped with. For starters, we now have a big bag of tricks. We have a number of advances now: full HDR, ambient light, fast volumetrics, in-camera effects (depth of field, motion blur), advanced physics - all this translates to stronger visuals and more activity on screen. So, you'll probably notice if you go home and play F.E.A.R. after seeing this game - there's a lot more going on here. The chaos of combat.

This is a real "next-gen" game...

Yes, it's a huge step I think, we've made significant advances... moving from the first F.E.A.R. to what players will see in F.E.A.R. 2.

Do you have any specific multiplayer plans?

Yes, absolutely... I can't say too much, but I can say that there will be multiplayer on it. There will be a separate announcement about this, but we've been playing it in the studio for months... over a year... and we're still excited when we play this on Fridays. So, its something that feels really good... there are some cool twists to multiplayer...

Where do your multiplayer influences come from?

I really can't say...

But we can expect a twist on the usual formula?

Yes, yes, you can. There's a lot of cool things that we've done... a whole new bag of tricks!

How long is the singleplayer experience?

That's a difficult question to answer because you can augment combat so significantly - in F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. 2. So, if you're the person that creeps through the game, the game is much longer, but if you're really aggressive, really push in, it's a different direction. So, the only way I can really describe it is speaking of content. So, in F.E.A.R., the content that was there, took normal players a certain amount of time, well, now we've a lot more content. So, I would expect a longer game. I can't give a specific answer though. It's weird, I took a long time playing the game the first time, but then I creep and I explore as much as I can. That took a long time. Others blaze through it.

The game is out in February...

Yes, in time for Valentine's Day... I think everybody should get their partner a copy of F.E.A.R....

Was there a deliberate move to avoid a crowded Christmas season?

You know, its interesting. A couple of people have asked this question. Ultimately, there were certain things we really wanted to have in F.E.A.R. 2. EPA being one of them. As we kept tweaking, and improving, we realised there were things we wanted to ensure were in the game, and done right. So we didn't want to ship half-assed, and we didn't want to omit key features. The game needs these things. So, we told Warner we needed more time, explained our position, and because they have a lot of trust in us they said "alright, done!" So, we're still coming out around the same time as Resi 5 and Killzone, so we're not afraid of the competition, we just wanted to ensure we delivered the intended game.

Thanks for your time, good luck with finishing the game.

By Luke Guttridge