A sigh of relief for your wallet - the unofficial sequel to the 2005 horror shooter F.E.A.R won't be arriving in time for the holidays. Monolith Productions has pushed it back into the beginning of early 2009.

Primary art leader at Monolith Dave Matthews revealed the change in release date to IGN at a demonstration of the game at Leipzig Games Convention. In mentioning the delay, he mentioned that the game was being developed for PC, PS3, and 360, perhaps implying that the delay was caused by the difficulties of simultaneous development. The game is now slated for a first quarter release in 2009, which is annoyingly vague - it could be as early as January 1st or as late as March 31st.

Project Origin, which isn't called F.E.A.R. 2 because Monolith switched publishers and lost the rights to the name, begins 30 minutes before the end of the first game. You control a Delta Force soldier named Michael Becket who has been sent to arrest the president of Armacham Technology Corporation, the shady corporation behind the paranormal experimentations you know and love from the original game.

To comfort those of you who were hoping for this game in September, here's a trailer from Leipzig.