F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin Hands-On Preview

Origin of F.E.A.R

A new take on the story requires a new viewpoint is Monolith’s thinking, who has used the sequel to introduce a new host of characters to the series.

Gone is the old roster of the F.E.A.R Squad, gone is the old faceless, voiceless and nameless protagonist referred to only as The Point Man. Replacing them are new faces, voices and animations.

Chief among the new characters then is Michael Beckett, the player character of F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin. Rather than being a member of the elite First Encounter etc. squad that was in the forefront of the first game, Michael is a member of Delta Force. Still elite, yes, but not exactly accustomed to fighting the heebie-jeebies.

Beckett’s mission seems simple enough at the start of the game; to accompany the rest of his unit as they go forth and arrest Genevieve Aristide. Beckett’s squad has only minimal information and is mostly unaware just who Genevieve other than that she’s a corporate somebody at a corporate somewhere.


Beckett then is caught completely off-guard when the entire city suddenly explodes under his feet, his personal storyline catching up quickly to the end of the first game.

The supernatural explosion itself actually originated from one of Genevieve’s creations; the spirit of a small girl called Alma, who had been kept by Armacham for constant macabre experiments. Living underground and mostly in isolation, Alma led a tortured existence right up until she managed to use her vast psychic powers to control one of her sons, Paxton Fettel. Quickly the tables turned and the tortured turned into torturer.

The first game focused mainly on your attempts to find and kill Fettel, who was completely under Alma’s thrall. Another creation of Armacham, Fettel’s own psychic powers allowed him to mentally control an army of clones that he used to block your way. It was there that your own slow-motion abilities came in handy and you quickly closed in on the prey.


Fettel’s assassination, which had seemed simple enough despite the ghostly goings-on, quickly took a turn for the dramatic though when it was revealed that you were another of Alma’s children and Alma’s spirit devastated the city. You bullet-time reflexes suddenly made a lot more sense when your lineage was peeled back like a supernatural banana.

Beckett though knows absolutely nothing of all this though. All he knows is that he’s got a mission to complete, an army of clones and Armacham security forces in his way...and some cool slow-motion abilities of his own.

So, if you’ve played the first game through to the end then F.E.A.R 2’s twist in the tale is going to be pretty obvious. Like trapping your tongue in an industrial shredder, it’s the type of thing that you can’t claim to blunder into unknowingly.

Honestly though, the story in F.E.A.R has never really been anything to write home about. It’s not had any particular flaws plot-wise, but it’s borrowed so heavily from the world of Japanese horror that it’s moved past parody and into parrotry. The twists and turns of the narrative are totally predictable and uninspiring.

What matters is the actual gameplay...