Stepping out of the elevator high atop the Armacham corporate headquarters building in search of Genevieve Aristide, I startled two members of the rear guard from whatever paramilitary group beat us there. A quick shot dropped the first, but his buddy darted for the hallway. Before I could get him down, he managed to call out a startled, "We've got company!" and in the blink of an eye, the encounter ended. It came back to me in a flash how lightning-fast the firefights were in F.E.A.R., and the same holds true for its sequel, Project Origin. It also reminded me of the little details: the A.I.'s quick reactions and the vocal chatter among the enemy soldiers.
Playing through a section from early on in Project Origin brought several such rushes to mind, but something new stood out above all else: I had an Xbox 360 controller in my hand. While the porting of the console versions of F.E.A.R. was left to other developers, this time around, Project Origin on PS3/360 stands as every bit a part of the core development platform for developer Monolith as the PC version. It shows in the attention that's clearly gone into getting the feel for the controls right for playing with the controller. From the first squeeze of the trigger, aiming came naturally. The crosshair responded smoothly and predictably to the sticks, and there was just enough targeting assistance to make the shooting feel skilled but not frustrating.