F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (PS3)

The combat in F.E.A.R. 2 looks to be just as bloody as in the original

The development of F.E.A.R. 2 has been akin to a British soap opera. Original F.E.A.R. developer Monolith, a Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment owned development studio, couldn't make F.E.A.R 2 for Vivendi, so a sequel was announced for Warner. With Vivendi owning the F.E.A.R. name the Warner sequel had to be called something else, so a competition was set up for fans to name the game. It was decided that Project Origin fitted best, so until a week or so ago we'd been looking forward to a game that had the characters from F.E.A.R. but didn't have the name. Then, in a shock announcement, Warner revealed that it had acquired the name from Vivendi - presumably because Activision Blizzard didn't want another FPS in its portfolio - meaning we're kind of back to where we wanted to be a few years ago. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is due for release from Warner in Q1 2009 and we went hands-on with the latest build to see how it's shaping up.

The level we played takes place about three quarters into the game and sees you alone after what seems to have been an extremely bloody fight - blood is everywhere, in keeping with the tone of previous F.E.A.R. titles. Our Warner rep tells us that what we're going to play focuses on combat, with the horror elements the series is also known for being shown off at a later date. Even so, it's not long before Alma, the little girl from the first game, appears in a ghoulish vision - a genuinely scary moment. Alma will apparently have a stronger presence in F.E.A.R. 2, which is something we're looking forward to and dreading in equal measure.

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We headed out of what appeared to be a subway station and onto a war-ravaged city street. It's here that we experienced our first taste of combat and we're glad to report that it feels very much like F.E.A.R. The sequel is being developed by the team that made the original game, not the team that made Condemned (also made by Monolith), and it shows - not that Condemned isn't great, but its focus wasn't gunplay. We activated slow motion and felt instantly at home, pumping enemy soldiers full with lead and watching their bodies recoil in gloriously gruesome ultra slow speed. The AI in F.E.A.R. 2 is said to have been improved over the already quite superb AI in the original game, but these first few guys didn't get a chance to demonstrate their new smarts.

A little further down the street and the new AI was much clearer to see. Enemies were ducking behind cover, making holes to shoot through and generally trying to avoid being shot in the head. The level we played wasn't too packed with enemies, so it was hard to tell if their behaviour in a group has been changed, but things are looking good.

After taking on all comers with an automatic rifle and a sniper we headed into a small building and grabbed a handily placed rocket launcher - just the job for making mince meat of some totally unprepared enemies and for totalling the many parked cars littering the street. Wanting something a bit more useful during close quarters combat we dropped the rocket launcher in favour of the automatic rifle, which turned out to be a slight mistake.

The already impressive F.E.A.R. AI has been made even better

As we stormed into a cinema a trademark F.E.A.R. slow motion moment kicked in and what appeared to be a Heavy Soldier Replicant (a heavily armed soldier) from the original game burst through the door. We lobbed a grenade at him but it wasn't enough, so pumped a whole clip into him before he went down. Thankfully our skills from the previous game proved to be quite transferable so we didn't meet an untimely death as our Warner rep did moments earlier.

Next up came a moment many fans have wanted to see, but also something that might divide opinion. In F.E.A.R. 2 you'll be able to drive armoured walkers that strongly resemble the REV 6 Mechs that caused so much trouble in previous games. Monolith fans may well see similarities to cult classic Shogo: Mobile Armor Division. We're not decided on whether the change from on-foot FPS to tanked unstoppable killing machine fits, but it's good fun. Armed with a powerful machine gun and deadly multi-rocket launcher you feel unstoppable, and you pretty much are until other mechs enter the scene. Unfortunately our time with F.E.A.R. 2 came to an end just as a bigger enemy stormed into view in slow motion, bringing back memories of a similarly thrilling moment in the first game - spoil sports!

F.E.A.R. 2 has some time left in development (it was decided to push it back to Q1 2009 in order to raise awareness of the new name) but it's already looking like a worthy sequel. With a story that starts 30 minutes before the end of the original game fans were always going to get a true sequel, only now it has the name to match. Warner plans to reveal the horror and multiplayer elements over the coming months so expect more coverage soon.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is due out for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 early next year.