TGR: The AI in the previous F.E.A.R. games was very well developed and showed a good grasp of tactics. What changes or improvements will be made to the AI in Project Origin?

ES: I mentioned briefly before that when you destroy their cover, enemies react to that and change strategies, but that’s just one facet of what they can do.  We’ve taken everything that was successful about the AI in FEAR and expanded on it.  Enemies are far more aware of their environment, and act even more realistically than before.  They yell out commands to each other and respond to them.  They call out your location if they find you.  They’ll throw grenades to dig you out of any place you’re hiding, or maneuver to flank you if they see you charging into an area blindly.  If you catch them on fire, they are going to try to put themselves out either by jumping into a body of water, or patting themselves down.  If they drop their primary weapon, they’ll pull out their side arm and fend you off while they try to recover their rifle.  AI behavior isn’t scripted.  They react to how you play the game.  We like to think of how the AI works as "sandbox combat."  Even though the places you’re fighting don’t change when you replay stages, your experiences will change because the AI reacts to your actions differently every time.

TGR: What have you done to make sure that Project Origin will be able to stand out from the other shooters on the market?

ES: Players will really respond to the AI.  A lot of attention has been put into making it as realistic and intelligent as possible.  It’s something that enhances the game experience and makes it all the more fun.  The technology behind FEAR 2 in general is just impressive.  The tech is an internal engine created by Monolith.  Because the tools are internal, it gives the devs an edge in creating a world that looks exactly the way they want it, and it helps give FEAR 2 a stunning and visually unique look.  And of course that finely tuned balance of intense combat and horror that made FEAR so successful has been expanded on and refined.  Monolith blends these two concepts together seamlessly, and the result is a rollercoaster of emotions that keep players receptive and excited to see what happens next.

TGR: Can we expect to see any new weapons beyond what we saw in the original?

ES: Absolutely, what kind of sequel would it be if we didn’t give players new toys to play with?  One that I personally can’t get enough of is the Napalm Cannon which is a close range flame thrower that not only lights enemies on fire, but will light the environment up too.  Seeing flames crawl up the walls while a bad guy rolls around on the ground trying to put himself out is an incredibly gratifying moment.  Fan favorites like the nail gun are back as well, and it’s gotten as much attention as the new weapons.

TGR: Will we be seeing a demo of this title on PSN and Xbox Live in the near future?

ES: There will be a demo, and the team has outdone themselves with what they’ve put together.  We wanted to provide a detailed representation of everything that FEAR 2 has to offer, and to do that I think we’ve put together an incredibly robust experience.  It’s a great appetizer and really shows off what we’ve done to make FEAR 2 an amazing game.

TGR: Do you have any additional information you would like to share with our readers?

ES: One of the comments we got after FEAR launched was that while the graphics were incredible, it got tedious to navigate the same spaces repeatedly.  Players suffered from office fatigue by the end of the game.  When the designers sat down and began thinking about the sequel one of the first things they wanted to address was the variety of environments.  When gamers play FEAR 2, they are going to see very quickly how much work went into expanding the game world both in theme and in size.  The designers also laid out a color map of each of the game’s chapters, with the intention of using a color palette that evoked the moods they wanted to illicit.  If they wanted players to feel uneasy, they would use one palette, aggression, another, feelings of familiarity, yet another.  It’s a subtle detail and we hope players notice and enjoy it as much as we do.