While it won't be exactly be called F.E.A.R. 2, Monolith Production's Project Origin (PC, Xbox 360, PS3) is still just as nail-biting as its predecessors. In a video walkthrough of the demo, you can see the improvements they've inserted into the latest game set in the F.E.A.R. universe.

As the demo begins, it puts you in the hands of the same first-person perspective of the unnamed protagonist. All the standard blood-and-gore scenes were inserted quite appropriately along with the creepy soundtrack playing in the background. It's no wonder why the F.E.A.R. series was so highly-acclaimed both as an FPS and as a survival horror game.

All in all, Project Origin has the same look and feel of the previous F.E.A.R. games, which can be both a good and a bad thing. If you want to immerse yourself with the video then we suggest watching it with the lights dimmed and with good surround sound. But we don't want to hinder you any further, go ahead and enjoy the scary walkthrough of the demo.

Oh, and watch out for the token scary little girl at the end of the video.

There's nothing scarier than something that can move faster than you can shoot - at least in survival horror first person shooters. Fast, hungry, and rabid (not to mention out to kill you) monsters may not be on your "who I want to meet" list, but there's no avoiding them in Monolith Production's upcoming video game, Project Origin.

In case you've been in suspended animation in an iceberg for a number of years, here's a bit of a primer. Project Origin is F.E.A.R.'s sequel (why it isn't called F.E.A.R. 2 is a long story), and of course centers on Alma, the creepy little girl in the first video game. Anyway, today we'll be seeing those rabid things in Project Origin's debut trailer, plus a glimpse at Alma. (*shivers*)

Check out the video below and see if you like what you see. Project Origin will be creeping to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC sometime next year so stay tuned for more details.

Seems there's going to be another season of video game based movies coming out. Although they are notorious for being horribly adapted onto the big screen, we still hope beyond hope that the next one will give justice to the video game. The announced Condemned movie will be one of those games.

The production team of this new adaptation should ease some worries though. The new Condemned movie will be directed by Tarsem Singh, the director of "The Cell," and will be produced by Jason Hall, co-founder of Monolith Productions and was also one of the creators of the original game. Kurt Sutter, who wrote for "The Shield", wrote the script.

The new movie by Warner Bros. will be titled "The Unforgettable," and will be based on the first game, Criminal Origins, where a detective will be confronted with the supernatural during a criminal investigation.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot is also in development and is to come out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

While SEGA and Monolith Productions' Condemned 2: Bloodshot will be debuting at this year's E3, a lot of the fans are really anxious to get more details on it. Yeah, it's a bit much to ask the really hardcore followers of this game to wait a week or so, therefore we dug around a bit.

Apparently, IGN was lucky enough to sit down with a few members of the development team from Monolith. Producer David Hasle, associate multiplayer producer Tarl Raney, and lead software engineer Brian Legge appeared to be more than happy to have their brains picked, so here are a few of the interesting points that came out.

First up are the weapons in Condemned 2. Hasle gave word that the old favorites, such as the pipe, will still be in the game. They've also expanded the weapon list and added a few new twists in how you use the weapons. Apparently, you can throw them now. The practical application of this was explained by Hasle.

For example, you can throw your weapons -- that's really become a crowd pleaser internally. In fact, throwing is actually quite handy. If you time it right when a guy is running towards you, you can throw something at his feet and trip him up, hit him on the back when he's down on the ground, and then finish him off.

Another cool part of the original Condemned was the addition of finishing moves. Pulling these off required getting you opponent in a "daze state". Unlike the first game though, Condemned 2 will let you move your opponents around after you've dazed them by putting them in a half-nelson and dragging them to wherever you want to execute your finishing move.

This new feature is due to the addition of environmental finishers in Condemned 2. A fine example is the part where, as Hasle put it, "you'll find a bookcase where you can perform the old "American History X" move and stick his mouth against the edge and... Well, finish him off." That new finisher is just awesome, if only for the reference to the movie.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot is looking to be one sweet game. It will be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the US come the first quarter of next year, so watch out for it. No word yet on when it'll be coming to Europe, but it's pretty safe to say you guys will be getting it there by next year as well. If you want to read the full interview, feel free to click on our read link. More updates as we get them.

   

Monolith's forensic, horror and survival title Condemned 2: Bloodshot now boasts a stepped up graphics engine, although the game is only dedicated to the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. And according to Monolith's Frank Rooke, Condemned 2 is being designed to take full advantage of both next-gen consoles.

 

"Our engine is further optimized with a new shader system, new environmental effects and a new UI system. Our bloom support is now replaced by a new HDR functionality and we have made significant optimizations in CPU and memory use," Rooke said.

But all the new eye candy isn't going to hit the graphics powerhouses of Banzai Runners in the PC community. Rooke said that they have no plans for a PC version of the game at this time, although Condemned: Criminal Origins graced the platform about two years ago. Monolith is also known for Blood, a PC-only classic of... well, bloody proportions, making this call a change of moves for the developers.

But on the offset that opportunities might open up in the future, all fans of the game might want to know that a plethora of new gameplay mechanics have been added, including a new combo hit system. Successive hits mean additional and accumulated damage in the long run, while pushing up the chain meter faster.

Pipes no longer are glued to arms, since Rooke claimed that the pipe can now be hurled arm-to-noggin in graceful - but deadly - fashion. Add to that some new firearms, new weapons and more creative environment kills, and the Condemned player in you can be satisfied for months on end.

Aside from giving an in-depth focus on Ethan Thomas and a twisting story on violence, Condemned 2 will also sport multiplayer gameplay which Rooke vividly describes as something different from the single-player scare:

Imagine you are the only player left on the team and you have successfully tracked down the evidence hidden by the enemy. You're just about to finish the evidence scan and win the match when a bum charges in from behind a dumpster and bashes you in the head with a pipe. Win or lose, you can't reload and try that scenario again.

There are probably one million different things that we find creepy. A dark and lonely alley, for example. Or a museum closed for the might. Well, it looks like Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3 and Xbox 360) is going to play by our fears.

Sega and Monolith Productions have teamed up to bring us the sequel to Condemned: Criminal Origins. Little is known about the storyline so far but we do know that Ethan Thomas is back, but much changed. Looks like the events in the first video game have left him broken. In the character art, we see some old guys (maybe homeless), who look pretty harmless really - until we see the other people we might meet in Condemned 2: Bloodshot.

There's a guy who looks like he's bleeding from everywhere and another one holding a syringe (which is scary in itself). Anyway, Condemned 2: Bloodshot is reported to be coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 early next year. As we still have loads of time to wait, check out the art for a sneak peek at what's to come.

  

 

A rift between Monolith Productions and Vivendi SA is a video game developer; formerly known as Vivendi Universal">Vivendi almost cost fans a sequel to the FPS title F.E.A.R (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). Turns out, fans will be getting two sequels to the title: one from Vivendi (who still owns the F.E.A.R. title and plans to release F.E.A.R. 2) and another title from Monolith set within the F.E.A.R. universe.

Since Vivendi still owns the brand name, Monolith can't use it for their upcoming sequel. With a bit of quick thinking, Monolith has come up with a cool way to get around the whole name issue. They've announced a contest where gamers can send in their suggestions for what the new F.E.A.R. game should be called.

The contest will run until June 22, when submissions will be narrowed down to three finalists. These finalists will get an all-expense-paid trip to meet the game's dev team at Monolith and get a grand tour of the company's facilities. All three finalists will also get their names and likenesses included in the game.

Once the finalists are chosen, the ball will once again be in the fans' court. On July 23, voting will be open to the public to let the fans decide what name to go with. The voting will continue until June 27. For more details, click on the read link below.

Buy: [F.E.A.R. for the PS3]
Buy: [F.E.A.R. for the Xbox 360]

Monolith is now enlisting your help in naming the sequel to its horror FPS game F.E.A.R. (First Encounter Assault Recon). Now, the news of a sequel isn't much of a surprise, judging by how well the first game was received by critics and gamers alike. However, as reported a few months earlier, F.E.A.R. needs to get a new name. Why? Because of the Monolith's rift with publisher Vivendi SA is a video game developer; formerly known as Vivendi Universal">Vivendi, who still owns the F.E.A.R. name, Monolith is left with no choice but to release a game under a different name, but will share the same universe as the first game.

Help out Monolith by submitting your suggestions to nameyourfear.com, and you have until June 22 to think up of a good name. Monolith will then pick the best suggestions and put them up on the site where everyone is free to vote for their favorite name. It wouldn't hurt to try and think up of a name, so give it a shot!

If your brain needs jump-starting, Monolith has provide a couple of concept art as well as a short write-up about the game's concept for inspiration:

A monstrous explosion devastates an American city: thousands dead, innumerable injured.

Within the chaos, Alma awaits…

A child born with extraordinary psychic power, Alma was once the center of an advanced weapons research program. The program was designed to breed psychic commanders who could telepathically control an army of bioengineered soldiers. Despite her potential, her power proved uncontrollable - with deadly results. The program was closed and buried.

Some cruelty cannot remain hidden. Freed from the program's containment facility, Alma stalks a shattered city. Her motives are unknown.

Sent by the government, you must seek out the answers to the unfolding catastrophe. As the line between reality and nightmare blurs, Alma's suffering has just become yours.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss… but not this time.

  

Stay tuned for updates about this naming contest here at QJ!

Just fresh from the "late" presses is SEGA's recent announcement of its games lined up for a 2007-2008 cycle. According to the report by game dev haven Gamasutra, SEGA has set Condemned 2: Bloodshot, Ghost Squad, Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm, Universe At War: Earth Assault and...what's this? A "new PC RPG deal with Gas Powered Games"?

 

The announcement of the title line-up for the next cycle was made at SEGA's Gamer's Day in San Francisco, and the details of the titles were spilled to certain extent although not as comprehensive as you might hope. The big mystery title being developed with Gas Powered Games comes with even more minute details, keeping the specifics of the game as an "an original and as yet unspecified role-playing game for the PC" coming for 2008.

Coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is Condemned 2: Bloodshot from original franchise creators Monolith Productions. The game was mentioned to be coming with "an all-new fighting mechanic and online multiplayer functionality." It was also added that players will be able to engage in "visceral" combat using the usual firearms, blunt makeshift weapons and combination moves for defensive and offensive purposes.

For the Wii, arcade game Ghost Squad, by SEGA's AM2 division, will be coming in the holiday season of 2007. Revamped with a few more Wii-specific features and game modes, the game will otherwise be coming with its original arcade feel and gameplay, for the casual and leisure gamer in you. Players can expect to use the Wiimote for targeting enemies, defusing bombs and rescuing hostages.

Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm will be heading to Xbox 360 gamers over Xbox Live Arcade, featuring the ironically gory concept of the animated series "Happy Tree Friends." The title, currently under the creative hands of Stainless Studios, will be available by fall of 2007. Combining action elements with puzzles, gamers will have to make use of concrete, ice, gasoline and nitroglycerin (among other resources) to save the Friends from their own bad luck.

Universe at War: Earth Assault, which is currently headed for the PC, will also be making a debut on the Xbox 360 by the first quarter of 2008. The game pits planet Earth under siege by an insurmountable Alien force, and Xbox 360 RTS fans can rest assured that the game is being developed with "a control scheme built from the ground up to ensure smooth gameplay and ease of command for console gamers."

After giving you updates about F.E.A.R (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), we now focus our attention on the shake-up in the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (which owns Monolith, the game's developer). Samantha Ryan, former CEO of Monolith and producer of the No One Lives Forever series, has taken on the role of senior vice president, development and production at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

She is replacing Jason Hall, who joined the company after WB acquired Monolith in 2003. Hall was the co-founder of Monolith and even served as its CEO until he took over the responsibility for overseeing and managing WB's games development team. He will now be focusing on his own production company, HDFilms. Aside from that, he would take on the role of executive producer for high profile WB games.

On the other hand, Ms. Ryan will be in charge of managing development and production staff and will take overall responsibility for all of WB's videogame titles. WB president Kevin Tsuhijara has this to say about this development:

We’re extremely fortunate to have Samantha take the helm at WBIE...She has worked with us since Monolith was one of our important production studios and has continued to do so since we acquired the company. We have always been impressed with Samantha as an executive, a game developer and as a person and we anticipate this being about as seamless of a transition as one could hope for.