In addition, "The Passing" offers a new co-operative challenge mode of play, support for infected bot play in Versus, a new "uncommon common" zombie class (the fallen survivor), melee weapon (golf club), and firearm (M-60).

Available for 560 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360 and free on the PC, "The Passing" takes place just after the Dead Center campaign of L4D2. Set in a small town in rural Georgia, players assume the role of the L4D2 Survivors as they meet with the L4D1 characters.

Exclusively available for Xbox 360 and the PC, L4D2 sets a new benchmark for co-operative action games. The title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaws, frying pans, axes, baseball bats, and more.

With the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.

Finally, with new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original, featuring more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, new Survival maps, and the new competitive game mode, Scavenge.

The trailer starts by showing a beefed up nano-suit 2 soldier standing in the heart of New York City in ruin. Shortly after several helicopters fly overhead and are attacked by a new type of alien that are lurking in the shadows of destroyed buildings... and that's where I am going to stop and recommend that you have a full look at the trailer below.
On a side note I would like to talk about a couple things not completely unrelated, but more pertaining to the first game. We all know that Crysis was a top notch project, that really goes without saying, but it had its flaws. One of those flaws was what many called "unoriginal" environment. We all had a chance to go digging through a tropical jungle filled with realistic foliage when Crytek first released Far Cry in 2004. Many of those who played Far Cry didn't find Crysis setting to be all that different. No, it wasn't a sequel, and no it had nothing to do with Far Cry, however the feel of the environment and setting made Crysis feel like a second cousin to Far Cry in the sense that you were still sitting on a tropical island chain. Lets be honest for a minute, no one gave a crap about islands in Crysis. Sure the game wanted you to feel compelled to protect/save them, but realistically no player had any connection with those islands, it was an unoriginal and emotionally empty setting that very few if any players would really connect with. That being said the choice to move Crysis 2 to New York City should have an entirely different effect. It should allow far more players to feel compelled to protect or save New York.  Additionally in my opinion its a welcome change to the setting of Crysis and hopefully will make for a more interesting game. In the meantime we will have to wait for more information on the game, as Crytek seems to be keeping a close lid on the specifics.

Without further delay, below you will find the instructions to setup a server so you can play Survival Mode with 8 players.

Requirements:

1. Left 4 Dead Server
2. Metamod
3. Sourcemod
4. 8 Players
5. Rcon Access
6. FTP Access

To get your server ready to do this, you will need to make sure you have the latest MetaMod and SourceMod installed. Installation instructions for SourceMod can be found here, and MetaMod here. Once you have that done, you need to grab the extra player plugin for SourceMod. After which you need to drop the plugin in the plugins directory located in the SourceMod directory. Anyone who owns a server should know how to do this so I am not going to go into detail on it.

At this point you need to make sure your server has the following configuration to ensure that players are able to join the game. You need to make sure that sv_allow_lobby_connect_only is set to 0 (zero). If you don't set this to 0 and are using 1 you will find that you will be unable to change the gamemode and you will be given the following "error" message, "Unable to change gamemode to 'survival', it is locked due to lobby reservation"

Once the value is changed save the configuration and restart the server. Please note that you will need to have people join the game via the openserverbrowser (open console and type openserverbrowser and hit enter) in order to get the 8 player survival match to work. Alternatively you can also have them use the connect command via the console and enter the IP address to the server, but the former is easier.

Creating the Left 4 Dead 8 Player Survival Mode Game

• Connect to the server WITHOUT creating a lobby.
• Log into rcon and change the game mode to "versus" (rcon mp_gamemode versus)
• Tell the other 7 players you have waiting to join the game. (they will need to use the server browser to join)
• Spawn the additional players, in this case 4 players. You will need to wait for them to change their names to the normal AI names, so make sure no one on the infected side changes teams until the "I Am Not Real" is replaced with Louis, Zoey, Francis or Bill depending on which characters are spawned.
• Tell everyone to switch to the survivor team. YOU MUST MAKE SURE THERE IS NO INFECTED OR SPECTATORS IN THE GAME. So if there are at this point either ask them to switch over or kick them.
• Once everyone is on the survivor team, open the console and change the gamemode back to survival (rcon mp_gamemode Survival)
• Then kill everyone or slay them to ensure the map reloads properly.

If you want to change maps at this point call a vote to change maps/chapters. If you find yourself loading the map but it appears to return back to Versus mode change the gamemode back to Survival and slay or kill everyone to ensure the maps loads properly.

A few problems you may run into are issues with people who go idle not being able to reclaim their character. Also you will notice that once the survival game is started with 8 players if someone leaves someone else will not be able to take their place unless you change the gamemode back to versus. Additionally if you do happen to start a game with a spectator or someone sitting on the infected team you will find that Survival Mode won't load completely and players may be dropped from the server. You may also notice certain elements don't work as intended, for example the guns and the ammo pile are no longer unlimited and after a single player picks up a weapon it will disappear.  However that's very little to pay in order to play 8 players in a game type that was intended for 4 players. With that said Enjoy 8 Player Survivor Mode!!!

If you find yourself having difficulty setting this up or discover anything interesting drop us a comment, We'll provide assistance in anyway possible.

If you haven't caught wind of Prototype, it’s an action based game being developed by Radical Entertainment. Now when I say action based game keep in mind this game has a serious twist to it. Normally action based games don't give you a main character that has what seems to be limitless abilities, or at least not at the very beginning. Something cliche often seen in video games and I could name quite a few if I wanted to, is you get into the game and at the very beginning your basically a power house having all your abilities, then something radical (no pun intended) happens and your abilities are either stolen or lost and part of the adventure is to re-acquire them.

Now, Prototype is essentially all about chaos, destruction and deception. You play as main character Alex Mercer, a genetically mutated shape shifter, who has unfortunately lost all of his memories and has only one ambition, to figure out the mystery behind his existence. If that isn't enough, you get to rampage through a heavily populated New York City choosing to either destroy everything in your way or take the scenic route and blend in while trying to recover your lost memories. Now the game incorporates a parkour style, giving you the option to use your surroundings to your advantage. Just think climbing, running, jumping and in this case flying across New York City, which should give you plenty of options to get around town, or if you need to do some bad ass acrobatics before slamming down on whatever or whoever you feel like destroying, it’s really your choice. Just remember there is probably some consequence you will have to pay if you just go around town destroying everything, then again maybe not...

So before we loose track of where we are heading with this game, let’s focus on the story line for a moment. What is exactly driving the player and character in this game to do what he does? As we all know without a good story line even the best of games would play only mediocre. Prototype has an interesting story line or at least from what we've been able to gather so far. I already told you that Prototype takes place in New York City, or rather a damaged and destroyed New York City and you play as Alex Mercer. Now Alex has no memories, so part of the game play is going to be getting back those memories. As well as finding out how he's able to shape shift, what has happened to him and possibly getting his revenge. Unfortunately outside of that the only other elements of the story that we know right now is that New York city is suffering from a biological infection that spreads as the game progresses and can even infect entire buildings called "hives" which are described as the core of the infection and is where large groups of infected can spur out of and attack anything within reach. Along side that you will also find heavily militarized zones where the military is moving weapons and soldiers to combat the infection. Honestly it sounds pretty cut and dry, but what jumps off the page for Prototype is the potential this story could have if taken in the right direction.

Let’s recap for a moment, Parkour style game play, enormous destructive power, Shape-shifting abilities (oh did we mention you can kill and take the appearance of other people) and don't forget lost memories. Add it all up and it sounds like one compelling game. Now you might be asking yourself, well how/where does a guy like this intend on getting his memories back. Honestly its a good question and the answer is even better. As you scour through New York City and consume people you will acquire pieces of your memory as well as their memories, along side that you can also find bits and pieces elsewhere, but lets focus on the former. In order to "steal" people’s memories throughout the city you must first consume them. In a nut shell this basically means kill them and take over their mind and body and make it a part of you, which happens to be one of the abilities that Alex has in his arsenal. When you consume them not only do you get their memories, the ability to use their face but you also gain health as well. Lets put that aside for a moment though. The other way to obtain pieces to your past is from your sister who is a journalist, but unfortunately she doesn't have all the answers so you'll have to pull both resources to piece together your past.

Moving on to game play, more specifically the Parkour style this game incorporates as well as the shape shifting abilities that Alex Mercer has been blessed with or in this case cursed with depending on how you'd like to view it. Imagine the following for a second, being able to run at 60MPH, jump, dash and plow through any obstacles in your way. So you find yourself on Canal Street in the middle of New York and you wined up in the wrong place at the wrong time. So you dash through the streets, dodging automobiles, citizens and anything else in your way, but then the military shows up and they want you dead. You decide you need to get off the ground, so you jump and run on the side of a building then dash to the roof top where you start leaping from roof to roof. Soon you realize being in the wide open might not be the best place for you, so you leap off the roof top and deliver a devastating blow to the ground below taking out a few citizens, and couple cars stirring up some real ruckus.

Well you just blew your cover, and people are screaming and the authorities are alerted. Soon a military helicopter, tank and other vehicles show up. You've grown tired of running so you decide to take them all on. You go after the tank and helicopter first, delivering a devastating blow to the tank taking it out in one strike. You grab a car near by and launch it at the helicopter then you unleash a wide ranged attach to wipe out the surrounding citizens, soldiers and anything else in your way. Awesome you just destroyed and absolutely owned everything in your path, but you need to find a safe place to hide so things can calm down. You run down an alley way and a lucky stranger is sitting there, you grab, kill and consume her. Your new face makes it real easy to blend in so you strut down the street as if nothing ever happened.

This brings me to the huge arsenal that Alex Mercer has at his disposal. If you've read this far you should have noticed I've already mentioned a couple. To put it bluntly the developer wants you to be the ultimate and most powerful "hero" you can be and they've obviously climbed high mountains to ensure you feel that way while playing the game. Lets cover some of the abilities you have. So what are they, well to sum it up, the abilities/powers you have are as follows: super human strength, speed, agility, resistance/durability and regeneration. To put this into perspective, you can leap great distances, run extremely fast, throw heavy objects a fair length, resist damage from vehicles, explosives, bullets and other weapons used against you and if you sustain damage you can heal quickly with your insane regeneration, of course you need human biomass in order to do that, but that aside you are basically at the top of the food chain. Not only that but you have the ability to shape shift which I mentioned above. Basically your body can be shifted and used as a weapon itself, if it wasn't enough having super human strength the developer also gives you the ability to shape shift your arms into deadly weapons, anything from shields for protection to hammer like weapons or swords for offence. Further more you still have the wonderful ability to disguise and stealth. By slaughtering other people and consuming them, you get to take on their appearance and blend in. So if you've had a long day of vandalizing the streets of New York City and find yourself knee deep in the remains of those you have killed along the way, remember a quick appearance change might be just what the doctor ordered. After all going into hiding and having no one know where you are is a great way to let things calm down. Oh did we mention once things calmed down you should turn around and start destroying everything again? Well if we didn't and the thought didn't already cross your mind, remember once you go bad, err... ummmm yeah that was pretty much it. Seriously though, there is no redemption if you've already killed 20 people, so killing 200 more isn't going to land you any lower in hell...

Lets take a moment to talk about the surrounding theme. This story takes place in New York City, specifically a heavily infected New York City that has probably seen better days. Honestly being realistic and using a place that exist on Earth is definitely a plus, especially based on the type of game we're talking about. Obviously throwing this type of game into a jungle region simply wouldn't work well for parkour and might take what could be a great game and turn it completely sour. Taking a look at the city and how the developer designed it, it definitely gives a clear indication of what the developer was going for here, and portrays a convincing theme for what the story is trying to tell. I am not entirely sold on whether or not it was the best choice, then again I don't know enough about the story to jump to any conclusions yet.

Wrapping this up the game looks like it could be a hit. Taking everything into consideration, this game is expanding on the action genre. There is definitely not a whole lot of games out there that I can name that let you play as a character that has almost limitless power. In this game you truly are the ultimate bad ass. That aside though isn't the only reason this game is on our radar for Games That Matter. Take a look at the unique game play experience, being able to shape shift honestly opens up a world of possibilities that are only limited by your imagination. Having the option to use shape shifting to either make deadly weapons or to consume and disguise yourself as someone else is a wonder choice and letting the player decide which way to use it is also a great way to let those playing make decisions based on how they may do things if they were Alex Mercer. On top of that you can always rely on your incredible speed and strength to tare through what seems to be a rather enticing experience.

Taking everything into account, this game looks to be a mixture of action, adventure and shooters all wrapped up into one mean green fighting machine, err well in this case biological weapon or whatever Alex Mercer has become, either way keep a look out for Prototype, which is scheduled to release June 5th in Europe and June 9th in the USA.

In this addition of Games That Matter, we're going to venture back in time and just roughly 20 leagues under the sea to explore a world that “No Gods or Kings. Only Man” rules (and apparently women don't count, sorry ladies). Bioshock had a summer release on August 21st 2008 and was developed by former Irrational Games; now known as 2k Boston. A side note for our readers, we won’t be referring to Irrational Games as 2K Boston during this article because we feel the credit should go to the original company behind the game and while we understand and know 2k Boston is now that company, Irrational Games will always stick in our hearts when we hear reference to Bioshock.

Traditionally we write articles regarding upcoming releases, so you’ll probably be thinking Bioshock 2 right now, and I’m thinking you’re right, if it weren’t for the extreme lack of information regarding the title, despite its release date being set to later this year. Instead we’re going to set our sights on something that’s a bit more real per say. Bioshock fits right into our series for many reasons (we’ll get to that soon), and that is why I have picked this game despite it being out for more than a year now.

What I have yet to see is developers actually capture what Bioshock brought to the table in terms of expanding the FPS genre and either push it further or just acknowledge that Irrational Games broke boundaries with Bioshock and it worked extremely well. At first glance Bioshock may just look like a traditional first-person shooter, but I assure you this is not the case at all. Sure you have weapons such as pistols, machine guns and my favorite a grenade launcher, but this game isn’t just an FPS, it has brought much more than that to the table.

Let’s start with the world; Rapture was a marvelous paradise at one point, where scientists were given the ability to advance technology and human modifications with no limits or boundaries. More surprising this paradise was not on land with the rest of the world, but under water on the ocean floor. The atmosphere Irrational Games created for Bioshock is among the most unique and refreshing I have seen in years. The game thankfully didn’t take place in a boring city, an alien world of some sort, Korea on a tropical island or in some post World War facility. It was an original setting; located in a place I’m sure most of us would have never given a second thought. Perhaps because when it comes to a world built on the ocean floor, it doesn’t seem that practical. None the less Irrational Games pulled it off and successfully brought Rapture to life.

Now what makes this game unique is what they actually incorporated into it. Bioshock had a top of the line production value, I’m talking cream of the crop here folks. Bioshock sported some of the best, if not the best voice acting to ever hit the FPS genre. It was Hollywood quality and it really helped to bring rapture and its people to life. Thankfully Bioshock sported a great plot as well, pulling you in from the start and not letting go until you discovered the truth. Story elements could literally be found all over the city. You could find remnants of Raptures glory days, what the people were like before things went to hell and even what transpired between the good times and your arrival. Most of the story was told through diaries scattered around the world, and the rest through the characters who were still living in Rapture and those who already passed on through some sort of spiritual scenes.

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of Rapture was the propaganda found throughout the entire city, aside from the very unique art style and level design which mixed well with the 1960’s theme. Even more so was how the world used an audio system, much like a loud speaker to convey these messages to its populous. Messages all over the place painted a vivid picture for the player and conveyed a clear image of what Rapture is all about. It didn’t take long before entering the city to find out that genetic modification was a new fashion statement and everybody was into it, perhaps even more than they should have been. Andrew Ryan, the creator behind Rapture had one clear vision, he wanted a world free from an increasingly oppressive political, economical, and religious authority and he essentially achieved just that. Rapture at one point was populated only by who Ryan believed exemplified the best in humanity and his beliefs. For this reason alone Rapture evolved at a rapid rate, with breakthroughs in technology and genetic engineering.

These advancements brought Rapture “ADAM” and “EVE”, stem cells that were previously harvested from some unknown sea slug. ADAM greatly influenced the world of Rapture by creating a plasmid industry that sold everything from a cure for male pattern baldness to Fire at your finger tips. To improve the yield of ADAM, scientists created the “Little Sisters”, young girls whom all had slugs imbedded into their bodies. The initial purpose of these girls was to act as ADAM factories by extracting the ADAM from the dead and recycling it within their own bodies. The Little Sisters of Rapture were deemed very valuable and it comes as no surprise that their existence became threatened as the citizens of Rapture became hungrier for ADAM. To aid in protection of the Little Sisters the scientists created the “Big Daddy”, heavily armed and highly enhanced humans in diving suits.

As you know Andrew Ryan’s very ideals not only created a utopia, but was the very thing that destroyed Rapture; creating a dystopia that corrupted and lost his envisions. Ryan’s single rule was no visiting the surface, the idea was to keep Rapture a secret, making smuggling highly profitable. Smuggling goods into Rapture created a black market, which came to be dominated by a man that had the same ambition and determination as Ryan himself: former mobster Frank Fontaine. Though unlike Ryan, Fontaine wanted complete control of Rapture and with his wealth and con-artist ways he eventually got enough followers to overthrow Andrew Ryan.

Moving on, the story and voice acting is just the tip of the iceberg. The game features beautiful visuals and Irrational Games put much time and effort into the detail of the environments, and let’s not forget the water (oh soooo pretty). Though pretty visuals don’t always guarantee a great game, in this case it did. Bioshock introduced a first-person shooter, mixed with role-playing and stealth elements.

The RPG and stealth elements in the game really shine when it comes to Plasmids and Gene Tonics. Plasmids are elemental powers that allow players to shoot fire or electricity, freeze or hypnotize and even send a swarm of killer bees at your enemies. Each Plasmid was capable of being upgraded to increase its power and strength. Gene tonics worked on the other end of the fence as protection to the players, instead of using them to attack enemies, they were used to protect you from them or enhance your own abilities when on the attack. Genes tonics gave the player added bonuses and protection, such as resistances to fire or electricity or even the ability to have an added shock (literally) to melee attacks, which resulted in an electrical burst being emitted each time you landed a punch. In addition to this, the player can also customize the weapons via single-use weapon upgrade units called “Power to the People”. Each weapon has a selection of three different ammunition types, ranging from normal, anti-personal, and armor piercing bullets. Later weapons prove to have more variety by offering electric or explosive bullets, more interesting is the crossbow which allows the player to spring electric wire from one wall to the next, packing a powerful jolt of electricity when triggered. Moving on, the game boost a research camera as well, giving the player an opportunity to receive extra bonuses such as increased damage, plasmids and gene tonics based on the quality and amount of pictures taken. Each one of these elements adds to the depth of the game, as well as the replay value. Specifically the plasmids and weapons offer the player a large array of possibilities when fighting enemies or setting up a trap for a Big Daddy.

Bioshock features a variety of enemies; you have Splicers (Baby Jane, Bread, Dr.Grossman, Ducky, Houdini, Lady Smith, Leadhead, Nitro, Pigskin, Rosebud, Spider, Thuggish, Toasty, and Waders), Big Daddy’s (Bouncer, Elite Bouncer, and Rosie), Security Bots, Security Cameras and Turrets. Each Splicer and Bid Daddy has its own unique look, weapons and attack patterns which players have to adapt to and determine the best way to defeat when up against. Stealth elements can be used to evade an enemy, set up traps without being seen and the most important to avoid turrets, security bots and the security cameras. Bioshock also allows the players to hack these units for use against enemies. Hack a camera and when it’s triggered, security bots come flying out with guns a blazing after whomever the culprit is, or hack a turret and when it detects an enemy it will open fire on them or my favorite, hack a security bot and have the little guy follow you around ready to put its life on the line for you.

Let’s briefly talk in regards to the A.I. and the moral choices incorporated into Bioshock. Please keep in mind that the enemies in Rapture have lost their minds and no longer are logical thinkers for the most part, even though they still remain human at heart. Bioshock boost some clever A.I., perhaps not as advanced as some hoped, but hear me out first. Before I go into detail, I want to say this, many gamers may argue that the A.I. in Bioshock should have been better, however I present you with this. The A.I. in Bioshock may be relatively simple in design from a programmer’s stand point, but in story terms, it functions in all the ways that you need it to function to make the experience convincing and life like. The A.I. in Bioshock is either minding its own business roaming the world of Rapture, or in attack mode chasing someone or something down. Now at no point during my play through did I feel the A.I. was stupid or not doing what it’s supposed to be doing. Should you light an enemy on fire, they will search for a pool of water nearby to put themselves out. Attack an enemy and get their health low enough and more often than not they will retreat to find a health station, just to return with full health and a badass attitude. Alerting a Splicer, Big Daddy or a Security Bot will result in the enemy chasing you down and attacking, simply running will not work, believe me they will find you. The only time I was able to run from an enemy I alerted without being found was after I equipped the “Natural Camouflage” gene tonic which causes the player to become invisible when standing still.

The most interesting A.I. in the game has to be that of the Big Daddy and the Little Sisters. Little Sisters roam the halls of Rapture in search of the dead, only to extract the ADAM from them and recycle it within their own bodies via consumption. They won’t bother you at all; in fact they fear you and any other enemy in the game. Should you approach them, they will either scream or run from you. Mind you this is where the Bid Daddy comes into play; Big Daddy’s are the most powerful enemies in the game and can be extremely difficult to take down depending on the situation. They will not bother you as long as you don’t bother them or their precious Little Sisters. Should you get too close to the Little Sisters, the Big Daddy will warn you and push you back, should you continue and attempt to attack either him or the Little Sister all hell will break loose. The A.I. once you have attacked a Little Sister or Big Daddy is not forgiving at all, at this point you have one of two choices, either take out the Big Daddy or die.

I didn’t mention this before while going over the story, however Irrational Games incorporated a moral aspect into Bioshock. This really adds to the experience, making the player feel like they are actually there and required to make a decision based on their conscience. You have two choices when faced with a Little Sister, you can save them by returning them to human form or harvest them for ADAM by literally ripping the sea slug out of them, resulting in their death. This adds a question to be answered by the player, and the game doesn’t allow you to be neutral either, you will be forced to make a decision. Though personally Irrational Games took this a step further in my mind, after all you can present a player with a task like such and keep it easy or you can up the ante per say and offer the player a benefit… making the decision a bit harder, think bribery. The game will reward you with a lot of ADAM should you harvest the Little Sister instead of saving her, which thus results in obtaining more stronger plasmids to boost your arsenal. However, if you decide to save the Little Sisters you will be rewarded with much less ADAM, despite doing a huge service for them. The decision is yours, you can be a good guy or you can be a bad one.

Before I conclude there is one last aspect I would like to discuss. Bioshock is a sandbox game and what this means is you are not forced to go from “Point A” to “Point B”, much like you are in many other first-person shooters available on the market. Instead you are presented with a world where you can go anywhere’s at your sole discretion, explore every nook and cranny or skip right to the missions and move on. Either way this adds a nice flow to the game play because it gives the player the ability to move at his or her own pace and increases the depth of the game by adding exploration to it.

Bioshock in short is a masterpiece. It successfully combines exploration, role-playing, and stealth elements to a first-person shooter. Not only does it do a phenomenal job at that, but it has incorporated a great story and voice acting that is hard pressed to be second best even when being compared to Hollywood films. The visuals pack a punch, are fantastic looking and the unique level design and architecture found throughout rapture is absolutely gorgeous. From the visuals, the enemy A.I. to the voice acting, sound and story, this game has top of the line production value that not only makes it pretty to look at but also immerses the player in the experience. Irrational Games has redefined what a first-person shooter is and offered other companies suggestions to push their FPS titles to the heights Bioshock has reached. To conclude, I can only hope that more developers follow what Irrational Games has done by striving to push their games into new territories and expand on their respected genres.

So what do we have today folks? Well, it's F.E.A.R 2: Project Origins and to say the least this game has upped the ante in First-person shooters alike. Should you not be aware, F.E.A.R 2: Project Origins is the official sequel to the original F.E.A.R released back in 2005, on October 18th. A great release for Halloween fans because the title successfully mixed the two genres: FPS and Horror together. It was a refreshing title when it released and even today it still remains a great shooter with a bit of scare or supernatural elements incorporated. Now I have said this before and anyone who has read my previous articles regarding F.E.A.R 2 already should know this. F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin is NOT just a cheap expansion released to bring in more cash, much like F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and F.E.A.R Perseus Mandate, two expansions packed released and published by Sierra entertainment back in 2006 and 2007. These two titles did little to nothing in adding to the plot of F.E.A.R or the actual game play. What they did manage to do was give players who were thirsty for more F.E.A.R a somewhat healthy dose of what they wanted, more action, though for me personally they were a complete let down at the end of the day. I played both expansion packs and was left with more questions than answers at the end of them, and I am sure many other gamers feel the same.

I have kept up with most of the updates and news surrounding F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin since it grabbed my attention back when it was first announced and Monolith held a fan competition to grab a new name for the sequel. Should you not know, F.E.A.R 2 was originally dubbed Project Origin because Monolith Productions did not have the rights to the F.E.A.R name, though by luck I suppose they were able to obtain the rights, which lead to the final name F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin.

There are plenty of reasons why I have chosen this game for our series, and I’m going to quickly talk about them, in hope that people see why this game, its concept ideas, theme and what it is trying to achieve should matter. F.E.A.R 2 is a fantastic first person shooter filled with plenty of action to keep you on your toes, however many of you may be saying “It’s just another FPS, the market is flooded with them and well I already know what to expect.” I would say to you that while it is an FPS at its core, Monolith has spent a great deal of time making a unique and refreshing title. I have come to learn that most FPS titles on the market lack a very important element, a plot. You can have a fantastic title with plenty of action and gore, but without a good plot the end product may fall short. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of franchises out there that have a very simplistic plot but the game play itself is so refreshing and unique that a well thought out plot is not needed. This doesn’t hold true for First-Person Shooters.

In F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin we have been promised by Monolith themselves that the game will continue on the plot presented in F.E.A.R, adding to the story, answering questions fans have had for years, and perhaps raising additional questions to be answered in a later title. All in all I found the F.E.A.R plot very interesting and when it finally came down to discovering what was causing all the bizarre events to occur, it grabbed my attention even more because now I had more questions that I needed answers to, specifically regarding Alma and why the main character seem to be saved or even left alone when she rampaged the city and its inhabitants. Though still in question, what happened to Paxton Fettel and will he make an appearance in the sequel or has his usefulness expired?

Moving on, F.E.A.R 2 has expanded on the successful additional to horror/supernatural elements into the FPS genre. F.E.A.R had its fair share of scary moments, but they were far and few between, usually ranging from the typical jump out of no place to a rather more “What is that” scare tactic as the chills traveled down the spine of the player. The ante has been upped in the sequel, you no longer are just presented with a creature jumping or appearing out of no place, Monolith has pushed forward to incorporate a spine chilly ghostly effect into the game, much like many of the haunting reports found on T.V in real life, and they have done a fantastic job at making it real enough and scary enough for the player to actually feel it and be in shock. And this isn’t just some cheesy effect to scare the player for a few seconds; it sticks with you, in the back of your mind even after you’ve stepped away from the game. Care to enhance this feeling, play the game alone in a dark room with headphones on, and it will feel even more realistic.

F.E.A.R 2 doesn’t stop there; the genre its predecessor has successfully created came up short with the original release. The environments in this sequel are just as creepy as the supernatural and horror elements. Not only are they creepy they are extremely unique when passing from one location to the next. The original looked much like office buildings and industry factories, the scare factors didn’t quite match the environments, but they were isolated.

Many FPS titles these days have expanded the game play elements by adding in features such as helicopters, vehicles and slow-mo ability used by the character to gain an edge or perhaps just to have a cool fighting experience. F.E.A.R 2 has incorporated the Slow-mo ability once more and it’s beautiful, and it aids in leveling the playing field against the advance AI (we'll get to that in a moment). However, I have been long over traditional vehicle chases or battles in FPS titles, they are no longer fun and in most cases just feel like a cheep way to extend the game play. Monolith has honestly went a separate route here and added in “vehicles” that the player actually jumps into and controls much like a giant robot equipped with missiles and high powered machine guns. These “vehicles” control very well in F.E.A.R and add to the game play experience. I feel it was a great change to add to the series, it definitely adds upon the original extending the game play even further.

Finally AI or Artificial intelligence is quite important in any videogame, however in First-Person Shooters the AI no matter how smart it is, without the programming of movements and actions it is able to do within the environments, will simple just stand there unloading clip after clip at the player. Doesn’t sound like fun to me, after all if your simply going to stand there and shoot, I'll duck and take cover ensuring I am able to take you out before I even have to worry about you taking me out. F.E.A.R 2's AI is quite unique and intelligent, the soldiers communicate and work together when fighting against you, and Monolith has really went the extra mile to make it feel like your fighting an actual human, instead of a robot preprogrammed with limited movements and actions. I have covered this part in the demo impressions, but once again the AI in F.E.A.R 2 goes by a general rule of thumb; if you can do it, so can it. I think it is very important that game developers incorporate great AI in their games. It keeps things fresh and challenging and it also helps to make the experience different each time you play it. Much like the original F.E.A.R, F.E.A.R 2 changes up where enemies may be found or how they react each time you play it. The AI doesn’t just do the same thing over, which enhances the replay value.

In conclusion, F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin has set itself apart from other First-Person shooters for several reasons and has started a trend of added onto the genre by incorporating new elements that work extremely well together. By Adding great AI, Horror/supernatural elements, unique “vehicles”, an interesting plot and a little girl Alma that just wants to be loved (errr...maybe not) they have successfully established themselves as a developer that wants to expand the FPS genre and create games that are not only refreshing and unique, but stand out from the tiresome trend of traditional FPS titles that are unwilling to expand beyond the boundaries of what has been deem as the standard to the FPS genre.

Should you feel I have missed a vital reason F.E.A.R should be in our “Games that Matter Series”, want to further discuss why I chose this title or would like to suggest a game that you feel should be part of this series, feel free to leave a comment or head over to the forums and start a thread. I will be more than happy to engage in a conversation with you.