Three years have passed since the release of First Encounter Assault Recon – the ridiculously awesome survival first person action game that raised the bar for what fear, action, and AI should look like in modern games. Two months before the official premiere of the highly anticipated sequel, the primary art lead at Monolith Productions – Dave Matthews was kind enough to answer all questions for FEAR 2 that we brought to him.



3dzone: We already saw the box art for the game and we can see that little creepy Alma is back, but how often are we going to see her in the game?
Dave Matthews: In FEAR and FEAR2, the story is about Alma. In the first game, we explored Alma as the little girl. We established who she was, what horrible things had been done to her, and ultimately laid the foundation of what she means to the FEAR universe. All that culminates with her release and a different aspect of her being exposed. In FEAR2, Now that she is out. We are exploring what that means for her wants, her desires, her abilities (now unbridled) and ultimately how Michael Becket plays a role in Alma’s story.

3dz: The title Project Origin was suggested by the community and Monolith has always been a company that pays close attention to its fans. What were the things that you’ve changed in F.E.A.R. 2 listening to the users’ feedback for the first game?
DM: We love how active our community is and we take the comments very seriously. Shortly after we shipped FEAR, we started receiving requests to make the Powered Armour from the first game into a skin or a selectable character. We thought it was a great idea, as we started to implement it for FEAR2, we realized that it wasn’t enough and didn’t carry all the great things we liked about FEAR’s combat. So we came up the big brother version called the Elite Powered Armour. More firepower, tougher armour, better maneuverability and new environmental responses were created because of the upgrade. What we have now really feels awesome! And we owe the inspiration to the community. This is only one of many things that we evolved from the first game. Needless to say, I think fans of the first game are going to see that we really listened to their comments in FEAR2.



3dz: The cinematography feel of the first game was really important for the player to get sucked into the horror atmosphere, but how will this evolve in Project Origin? Can we expect to see an adventure that is some kind of movie-like experience?
DM: I think part of the formula that makes FEAR so great is that over the top cinematic combat experience as well as the film like presentation of horror elements. Although we have added to the formula, cherry picking some other great influences from film, I think we have something that still feels like FEAR, but new and fresh at the same time.

3dz: We have seen the battle mechs from the trailers. They are big and carrying heavy weaponry and it certainly looks interesting to play with them, but do we get to use them multiple on multiple occasions throughout the game or is it just one-time thing?
DM: The EPA is merely one aspect of combat in FEAR2. Much like the variations in the size of battle fields, we wanted to create a game where the player was always on his toes. So we use the EPA amongst other aspects of the game to keep variety and pacing high. Throwing one thing at you over and over again becomes boring and players quickly learn to expect what’s coming next. This applies as much to horror as it does to combat. The Elite Powered Armor is one way we address that. Players spend much of FEAR 2 overcoming incredibly odds and barely surviving, you are one man against two armies after all. When you get a chance to get in the EPA for the first time, you finally get to take the fight back to your foes. Further fights in the EPA really drive home that feeling of empowerment, and it never fails to get people excited and continue building the momentum for what’s happening next.

3dz: Following the previous question – don’t you think that the mech suits seem to make the player so powerful and invulnerable? Isn’t this a distraction from the overall horror feel of the game?
DM: I think the tension created in combat triggers a very different emotional response from that of the tension created through horror. Keeping both aspects in mind we can create a nice ebb and flow of experience and tension that play really well together.



3dz: Except the battle mech suits, are we going to see other cool ideas in the game or interesting vehicles that we are going to be able to control?
DM: I’m not talking. You’ll just have to wait and see.

3dz: We already know that the player can carry more weapons now. What was the reason behind this decision? And should we expect the arsenal to expand? Are we going to see more weapons like the amazing nail gun from the first part?
DM: Expanding the number of weaponry that the player can carry stemmed from a level of comfort in the first FEAR. Basically you would become quite proficient with you three weapons and developed a strategy with them. Then you would come across a new weapon, “Do I drop the Shotgun for the Nailgun?” You always felt like if you could carry just one more weapon it would solve that dilemma…so we did and its felt better ever since.

3dz: F.E.A.R. had a big success in the multiplayer field. What can we expect in terms of multiplayer options and modes and online multiplayer in Project Origin?
DM: We have some pretty cool things lined up for MP, But you’ll have to sit and wait for the feature list just like everyone else, but I promise we are going to announce it really soon.



3dz: The AI in the first game was really amazing! I have been witness to some of the best enemy reactions in my entire gaming career. Can we expect the AI in F.E.A.R. 2 to evolve and in what aspects?
DM: Absolutely! One of our biggest successes in FEAR was our AI, and that’s not something that’s going to be overlooked. In FEAR 2 we’ve enhanced what was created for the original game and built upon the strengths of that system. You’re going to see enemies that are far more aware of their environment, and a lot more capable of adapting to the way you play. We’ve added awareness to environmental hazards such as fire and electrified areas, An AI that catches on fire, doesn’t just continue fighting with complete disregard for being engulfed in flames, They will now drop their weapons, try to extinguish the flames by patting, the ever popular stop drop and roll, or if there is water nearby run to it. If they can douse the flames, they’ll either switch to their secondary sidearm or find a weapon nearby , pick it up and re-engage in combat. They’ll be plenty of opportunities for the player to experiment with new and glorious ways to bring about the demise of their foes. As for combat, you can think about it like sandbox combat. The environment you fight in doesn’t change, but the way enemies attack you and react to your behavior changes every time you play. You control the battle fields, and enemies will adapt to your play style. If you are a run and gun kind of player, the enemies will see this and use opportunities to flank you and attack you from behind. Players that use cover more heavily will find enemies using various strategies, like throwing grenades to your location, to flush you out into the open so they can attack you. The goal is to make players not notice that the enemies are controlled by the computer. We want our bad guys to feel as natural as possible, and for the underlying systems that control them to be completely transparent.

3dz: As we all know the sound is a vital part of the horror genre. F.E.A.R. featured music that perfectly fit the gameplay and the overall action on screen. Can we expect the same guys that were responsible for the music in the first game to return?
DM: Sound design is without a doubt a fundamental component of any horror game. And I’m happy to say we have a lot of returning players that crafted those great audio moments from the first game. Creating sounds that seem unearthly, and yet not entirely unfamiliar creates an odd discomfort with players. Then of course sudden loud sounds are also effective! And while shock scares are great, FEAR 2, and FEAR before it, prefer to build upon the suspense and grab players when they least expect it. The famous static effect comes to mind, but also the disembodied voices that you will hear and the general creepiness of the world are all being worked on and will be much refined. I don’t want to spoil it, but some of the sounds that the more unconventional creatures manifest are unlike anything! They’re great, and the moans and screams alone are enough to terrify



3dz: Right now every major movie studio is licensing game IPs and we are seeing more and more games being translated into movie adaptations. So in this manner, is there a chance to see F.E.A.R. on the big screen? Especially since the second game is being distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive which a division of one of the biggest major studios in the movie business out there.
DM: I haven’t heard any plans, but I think it would be cool if there was a movie made about Alma and the lives she’s touched and destroyed.

3dz: What horror games do you guys enjoy and what inspires you to make games like Condemned and F.E.A.R.?
DM: I love the genre, it’s tough to narrow is down to just a couple, the list is varied but includes games like the Fatal Frames, Silent Hills, Siren, Resident Evils, Eternal Darkness (Which completely messed with my head), System Shocks and we could go way back in time…Phantasmagoria for the gore. When I think of games for inspiration, I look to games that separated themselves from the masses at the time and helped forge new direction in gaming. Games like Ico, Shadow of the colossus, Mark of Kri, Cookie and Cream, and Flow all brought something new to the table. That innovation is what I find inspiring and it urges me to bring new things to the games I work on.



3dz: What were the most difficult parts of the development process and of course the most interesting ones?
DM: We restructured our pipelines for FEAR2. The first game PC was the lead and the ports happened later(and not by us). After the dust settled, we went back and changed our pipelines so that we build for all three platforms simultaneously. Its great. It affords us the opportunity to tune the exact feel and vibe of an asset and verify it across all three simultaneously. Its has helped the process so much and now we don’t feel like we have a lead skew with others to follow that might not be exactly what we intended.

3dz: Are there any differences between the versions of the game for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3?
DM: I think that gets back to the comment about the most difficult part of development.

3dz: Is there any chance for a demo version before the official release or eventually after that?
DM: We understand how important Demos are these days, so keep on the lookout for some announcements.



3dz: So what is the final ship date? Can we expect some delays between the different platforms?
DM: Worldwide is Feb 13th next year, just in time for Valentine’s Day…oh yeah that’s Friday the 13th. And it’s going to be all three platforms simultaneous release PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

3dz: OK, thank you for your answers. We’re looking forward to the game and your next projects. Any idea when we’re going to get some information on that? Any chance to see a project called B.L.O.O.D. or S.H.O.G.O.?
DM: We’re keeping our plans pretty quiet. So I can’t tell you the cool things Monolith have brewing. But you can expect some great things as we always learn and push ourselves forward from our previous work.