monolith posts

On Monday Big Download posted up the first part of our two part look at upcoming games that are so secret you aren't supposed to know about them yet. These were the titles we are labeling as "Code Black" games (formerly as Black Ops games). These are the titles have have been mentioned only in passing or as a listing on an online job description but have yet to be formally announced to the public.

But there are still a ton of such games that we have yet to talk about, including some that have more recently come to light. What are these games and what do we really know about them? In the second part of our Code Black games feature we will once again try to open the doors and slide the windows out so we can see a little more about what these games are about.

Alma's fractured psychic mind is the cause behind most of the disturbances in the previous FEAR games. However, the damage to reality was local, rather than widespread, leading to the visions and minor apparitions players are familiar with. However, in FEAR 3, Alma is losing it for real and showing off just what her demented, abused, destroyed mind can produce. The result is the Almaverse and this trailer. It shows off some of the new environments and gives brief glimpses at the monstrous enemies the player will be fighting, although the trailer is so dark it's really hard to tell what is going on.

Download HD FEAR 3 'Almaverse' Trailer
Check out all FEAR 3 downloads

FEAR 3 is coming, and all the trailers up until now have shown off just what Day 1 is doing with Monolith's most recent franchise. But where does that leave Monolith? This trailer talks about the history and connection between the two companies, from Day 1's involvement in porting the original FEAR to Monolith's involvement in the newest game. It's intriguing, mostly because this is the first canon FEAR game to be developed by a company other than Monolith. There's also some cool gameplay footage, so if you aren't that interested in the talking heads, you can still get your fill of supernatural gunplay.

Download HD FEAR 3 'Passing the Torch' Developer Video
Check out all FEAR 3 downloads

For some reason the first trailers have have promoted the upcoming shooter sequel F.E.A.R. 3 have been a weird mix of animation and live-action gameplay. Now GameTrailers.com has put out the first actual trailer showing real gameplay footage from the title that's due out late in 2010 from developer Day 1 Studios and publisher Warner Bros Interactive.

We get to see a lot of shooting from super soldier Point Man in the trailer and we also see his telekinetic (and dead) brother Paxton Fettel doing his own brand of damage on normal humans. You can check out the gameplay trailer after the jump and then download the previous three live action trailers from us.

Download HD F.E.A.R. 3 Announcement Trailer (128 MB)
Download HD FEAR 3 Brothers Trailer (130 MB)
Download HD FEAR 3 'Fettel' Trailer (115 MB)

Officially there have been no screenshots released yet for F.E.A.R. 3 but publisher Warner Bros. Interactive has sent out the official box art for the horror-themed first person shooter sequel and we have to say it looks like artwork from a pulp magazine or novel cover than art for a PC game box

The two men are super soldier Point Man and his telekinetic brother Paxton Fettel framing and even merging into the image of their mother Alma. As we reported previously, Day 1 Studios takes over from Monolith on this third installment and we hope to get a first hand look at the game during E3 this June.

Earlier this month GoG.com re-released the original Blood game and added it to its line-up of DRM-free titles. Today the PC game download site has added the 1998 sequel Blood II to its library. The game, developed once again by Monolith, was one of the first to use its own LithTech engine which was later used in Monolith's future titles as well as a number of third party games.

The game, which includes the Nightmare Pack expansion pack, sell for $5.99 at GoG.com. We are just hoping that the site brings Monolith's other big 1998 game, the terrific shooter Shogo, to its line-up at some point.

The DRM-free web site GoG.com has added another classic game to its library of titles. The latest entry is One Unit Whole Blood, a collection of the 1997 first person shooter Blood with its expansion packs Plasma Pak and Cryptic Passage. The game was originally under development by 3D Realms but then the game was passed onto Monolith Productions in what became their first game. The developer later on went to make acclaimed PC titles like No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R.

If you want some entertaining, funny, gory and even scary fun, the Blood collection might be right up your alley. You can get the game now at GoG.com for just $5.99.

2009's release of F.E.A.R. 2 was a little bit of a dissapointment to us. Developer Monolith's sequel to their well done mix of horror and shooter felt like more of the same rather than an evolution of the concept. However the game apparently sold well enough that it looks like we might be getting a third entry in the series.

One of the NeoGAF forum's members posted up what they claim to be an image from a Spanish-language gaming magazine showing a "next issue" teaser image of F.3.A.R. Yep, that's the title they are going for which means we are going to have a hard time typing that moniker out if this turns out to be true. So far the series' owners Warner Bros. Interactive has yet to comment on this image:

[Via Kotaku]

Monolith's 2009 release of F.E.A.R. 2 got mixed reviews from critics who felt that the sequel to the horror-shooter looked and felt too close to the original. Now the internet rumor mill is getting word on the possibly of a F.E.A.R. 3 via a casting sheet that VG247.com has posted on their site.

The casting sheet seems to indicate that a live action promo for the unannounced game was being filed last January. The director listed on the sheet is Marcus Nispel who directed the recent theatrical remakes of the Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre horror movie franchises. The sheet also has some story details that we won't reveal here. So far neither Monolith nor the game's publisher Warner Bros. Interactive have not made any announcements on F.E.A.R. 3.

If this was The Bachelor, these folks would not be getting roses. Shacknews is reporting that a total of 25 employees have been let go across all three of Warner Bros. Interactive's Seattle area development studios: Monolith (F.E.A.R. series) Surreal Software (the upcoming This is Vegas) and Snowblind Studios. The article claims that all three studios still have just over 400 employees in total.

In an official statement, Warner Bros. Interactive has admitted to some layoffs without confirming Shacknews' specific numbers, saying, "Unfortunately, we had a few too many resources in certain functions and some positions were eliminated in this process." The publisher would also not comment on the current status of This is Vegas which was the project that Surreal Software was working on for its former owner Midway before Warner Bros. bought the developer in the summer of 2009.