August 20, 2009

Monolith Associate Producer talks about the third downloadable content for F.E.A.R. 2
By Michael Lafferty

“…we here at Monolith definitely want to deliver as much gameplay to our fans as we possibly can”

The origin F.E.A.R. was creepy enough to send chills down the backs of gamers, and had enough action to keep those same gamers glued to their systems. Fans of the original eagerly awaited the second iteration of the franchise and were rewarded in February with F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin – a game that received critical acclaim while jumping off retail shelves and into the hands of gamers.

Ok, so how do you keep the second game alive and viable? Why you head down the path of downloadable content and come through with F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn, of course.

GameZone caught up with Lucas Myers, associate producer at Monolith Studios to talk about this release.

Question: We are seeing more and more downloadable content delivery for games being released. As a developer, what makes the idea of downloadable content so attractive?

Lucas: One of the greatest things about downloadable content is its accessibility. I can’t speak for all developers, but we here at Monolith definitely want to deliver as much gameplay to our fans as we possibly can. With F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn, we are able to offer a brand new campaign to our user base — that’s four new missions, at just the click of a few buttons; being able to extend the FEAR 2 experience so drastically without even having to leave the comfort of your own home is a huge advantage for gamers.

What new elements will the third installment of this DLC bring to the game itself?

Lucas: After FEAR 2 was released, we paid close attention to all of the feedback we could so we would be able to improve upon the overall experience in the new campaign. We wanted to continue and escalate the core mechanics that make F.E.A.R. great, while still maintaining a new and fresh feel for our fans.

This means new environments: we created new spaces that are much more open and offer vertical elements. Our combat mechanics are something we’re most proud of, and we definitely wanted to push them to the next level. There will be more avenues of attack, more choices in how to deal with your enemies, and more directions from which danger will be advancing. Speaking of enemies, players can expect to battle combinations of opponents that they didn’t experience in the original game.

All of this is building up to interesting and over-the-top fights in scenarios that are new and exciting to our fans.

Do you think it is important for DLC to drive the lore of the game, or the story, or just merely to provide new areas to explore and new challenges within the framework of the original game?

Lucas: Ideally, DLC for any given game will add to the core components that made its retail counterpart successful. With F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn, we wanted to hit on everything you mentioned. Players will get to experience the events of F.E.A.R. 2 from a completely different and novel perspective: that of Replica Soldier Foxtrot 813. Doing this allows us to tell more of the story from the F.E.A.R. universe as well as give our fans a look into ‘the other side of the epic battle being waged over the ruined district of Auburn.

While it was very important to us to deliver awesome levels that feature cool environments and intense combat, we didn’t just want the player blasting away at enemies -- exploring more of the story and bringing favorite characters back into the fray was clutch as well.

Is it necessary to have played the other DLCs to get value from this new installment?

Lucas: Absolutely not. Our two previous DLC offerings were multiplayer add-ons, which are a lot of fun in their own right, but are not in any way prerequisite material for F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn. The events of this new story occur concurrently with those in the retail game. However, I will say that there is a shout-out to the ‘Miniature Replica Soldier’ hidden somewhere in the campaign. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I strongly urge you to do an internet search on those terms as soon as possible…

What does Replica Soldier 813’s perspective bring to the game? Does playing as the Replica alter the game mechanics in any way?

Lucas: Well to answer in the most literal way possible, seeing through the eyes of a Replica Soldier is going to be different than that of the Special Ops member from the retail game. We have implemented a new HUD to be in line with what you’d expect a clone soldier to see — and we’ve listened to our fans on exactly what they want in a HUD.

Additionally, players will get to hear orders and more chatter through their Comm from Replica Command, as well as other strange voices which begin to contradict 813’s orders. This all allows us to immerse the player deeper into the role of a Replica and help push the story forward in an appealing way.

There are four new single-player campaigns in this DLC. How much game time does that represent?

Lucas: Each of the four new levels in the F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn campaign was designed to take about the same play-time as the levels in the retail game. However, we made a conscious decision to make the DLC experience more challenging than ‘Project Origin’. With the all-new environments and combined enemy types, players in our internal playtests have been averaging just over two hours. But of course, players who challenge themselves to play on harder difficulties and seek out all of the new achievements will likely increase their total time!

What is your favorite part of DLC 3?

Lucas: I’m not going to give away any of our cool moments in the campaign … We want our players to be pleasantly surprised with what we have in store for them. But I will answer that my personal favorite part of working on F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn is probably getting to help make our community videos. For those of you who are familiar with our work for the previous DLC packs, rest assured we are fully planning on an encore performance!

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