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Monolith's games are always richly multi-layered and F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is no exception. Different game types- intense action, puzzle solving, horror elements- are seamlessly blended together and enhanced by intelligent level design, brilliant music & sound effects, smart AI and the controversial story. Every aspect is worth a separate praise, but F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is more than the sum of its parts- it's very creative & inspired Art.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is the sequel to F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon (2005). It starts shortly before the first ended- half an hour before the explosion of Auburn. But this time the protagonist isn't Point Man- you're playing as Michael Becket, member of a different military unit. But don't relax- Alma is back. And she's meaner and more powerful than ever before...

Plot Overview

From the very first seconds F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin dives you into the universe of Alma- she walks you through a dreamlike vision of ruined city's fires, so you would feel like being led by Beatrice in the modern version of Dante's Hell. Though, this hell was ignited at Armacham laboratories and mastered by their raging victim- Alma However, the new protagonist Michael Becket doesn't know that yet- neither does the peaceful city of Ausburn. His squad's task is simple- to take Genevieve Aristide, head of Origin Project, into protective custody. But you won't be enjoying her posh penthouse for long- Armacham Corporation sends in their own black ops. And like it wasn't enough, strange visions and even apparitions of Alma don't leave you for long. Finally Becket finds Aristide, but their conversation is short- explosion of Ausburn (F.E.A.R. Point Man detonates reactors of Origin labs) changes everything.

And from here all hell breaks loose. Armacham's forces are eager to 'clean-up' the mess from all evidences and witnesses. Becket has to fight them and escape the secret background hospital, but on surface he encounters additional enemies- the reactivated Replica troops. Like it wasn't enough, the liberated Alma is also constantly pursuing Becket and his comrades. And they die one by one in this blood bowl, where edge between reality and nightmare becomes thinner with every your step.

Undead remnants with paranormal psychic powers, super-quick almost-invisible assassins, the haunted school with ATC research labs in its basement, Still Island- all these and many more other odds will stand between Becket and Alma. And she really 'likes' him. But you even can't imagine how much Alma will like him in the end

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a genuine horror game and it does everything to make your pants wet. That's a difficult task if to consider that most of the game is a first person shooter and you get not only the most powerful weapons, but also the famous 'reflex time' skill (consider it as 'bullet time'). The action is truly cinematic and even epic, especially when you're operating Elite Powered Armor (EPA) with mounted rocket launchers and chain guns and devastating the remains of Auburn. Also you better don't use a shotgun in short ranges, otherwise your visors will be all covered in blood :)

There're few nice'n'easy puzzles in F.E.A.R. 2 too- otherwise it wouldn't be a Monolith's game, would it? And you'll be grateful for them- they give you some little cool down time from otherwise intense (and very, very bloody) game.

Horror

As I mentioned before, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is heavy on action, but the game is definitely not for easily heart-fainted. There are many moments that will make even 'horror veterans' jumping (I confess- I did, though generally I'm horror-immune). I don't want to start spoiling, but better get ready for a few surprises from Alma :)

AI & Game Difficulty

The vast majority of F.E.A.R. 2 the gameplay is pleasingly balanced and very hooking thankfully to smart AI and brilliant level design. Those, who are complaining about the game being too easy, wait till the last levels- that's where F.E.A.R. 2 shows off its true teeth. AI and level designs create genuine survival experience- waves of smart Replica Soldiers and other 'experiments' will force you to become really careful with ammo and health. And the amazing thing is that Monolith managed to avoid cheap tricks: everything's fair- that's just you and good AI.

Pay attention: NPCs know how to use the environment for their advantage. They will flip tables to create covers (you can do that as well- in fact, there's even a dedicated achievement/trophie for that), they will crawl to get behind you and use different fight strategies.

Environments

Monolith Team listened to fans and put extra efforts into environments- maps are not only huge and diverse, but also awesome and mysterious. My personal top favourites are Outer Shell of ATC facilities and streets of the devastated Auburn. Most surprisingly, the much larger environments didn't loose the eerie and dreamlike feeling to them- I spent a lot of time just exploring and enjoying them. Falling debris from upper floors, beautifully rendered flames, dust & sparks in the air, rats running by your feet- all these details really help in creating very memorable experience.

Graphics
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is not a mega-billion-polygon game, but it's rather the true evidence that the polygon-count isn't everything. I really liked that the developers, instead of pushing geometry till processors are red, used instead many layers of cinematic visual effects like film grain, blur, motion blur and such. In this way, F.E.A.R. 2 looks much more organic and consistent visually. Well, that also helps to smooth a little bit compressed textures, but you wouldn't notice that anyway- neither Alma nor Replica guys will give you the time for that :)

Music

Soundtrack of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin deserves a separate praise- it's so good. The music of Nathan Grigg is always subtle, yet very captivating and easily winning your attention. I would describe his music as 'alternative', though I think Nathan would disagree with me :) Nevertheless, it's a real shame that Nathan Grigg's music isn't available on separate CDs or on iTunes/Amazon.

Multiplayer

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is more about the story and Alma, but multiplayer is a great party too. The modes should be familiar to FPS fans: Deatmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the point. However, the fourth mode- Armored Front- gives Enhanced Powered Armors to players, so you could try the Hell Machine on your friends :) Plus, most of the trophies/achievements are earned from online games. My only nitpicking would be that getting into ranked matches takes sometimes too long

The Bottom Line

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is many times more than just a horror shooter with paranormal mysteries and over-the-top amount of blood. Monolith's consistent vision and creativity from the very details to overall Alma's tale brings you an unforgettable and very artistic experience. There's only one excuse for you not to play F.E.A.R. 2- it could be too scary for you. Otherwise, you don't want to miss this very special 'date' with Alma ;)

Mostly Multiplayer related

1. When server is full or otherwise rejects you, you should be dumped into the server browser instead of now the multiplayer meny, this would speed up the process of joining a server.

2. Automatic shotgun is not Automatic, it bloody well should be and theres already a key for alternating firing modes, making it auto would differiente it vs the Combat shotgun. Should also be done for Singleplayer

3. Proper mouse support so all buttons works, aswell mouse sensitivity to be lowered even further.

4. Ping should be shown in milliseconds not in green bars wich is utterly useless method of demonstrating ping.

5. Combat Shotgun, Automatic shotgun, Penetrator, Sniper rifle, Pulse, Rocket, Laser, Napalm and anyone I forgot should have their ammo restored in Multiplayer, ballance it some other way such as longer reload, but Dont mess with the ammo count.

6. Theres two things wrong with the proxy its sticky and it glows, on another note grenades could be more expensive.

7. Not being able to esc out at the end of round, id like to be bale to do more productive things at the end of a roudn than watch my score, say for example editing my loadout.

8. Autograbbing Bloody Ladders, is there anything more annoying than grabbing a ladder in the middle of a gunfight?

9. Seriosly fix the ASP, it shouldnt be best at Close Medium and Long range, defeat Light Medium and Heavy with ease, currently its a Shotgun, Penetrator and Sniper rifle...

10. Get rid of the black screen fade out when connecting to a server, since you cant even abot the connection attempt your left wondering of the game froze or not.

11. Sound is low and movments and gunfights are hard to triangulate by sound due to the low sound.

12.Silly amounts of everything must glow especially Proxy and Especially Penetrator, aswell enemies glowing while in slowmo in singleplayer. And WHY! do the assasins glow, arent they supposed to be stealthy? Because now they blind you with their radiant light.

13.Getting stuck on the smallest imaginable debris littering the ground, also its rather silly that your teammates can step in the way and completly block the movment of the EPA in armored front.

14. An armoured front map where you can pilot a REV6 or two.

15. LEANING!

16. quik saving, quik loading, manual saving and manual loading.