Cry of Fear

Spoilers of the entirety of Cry of Fear

CW: disturbing content (mentions of suicide, mental illness and such)

I’ve always wanted to talk about this game. Not because it’s underrated or anything—it is one of the most famous horror games out there after all—but because of what it made me feel the moment I finished it for the first time. I’ve been a huge fan of horror games ever since I have memory. My mom would buy me games every so often and horror games would slowly become my favorite picks. Growing up with a modded ps2 was the best. I have this one clear memory from my first horror game which was Silent Hill Shattered Memories, where I got stuck in the first area of the game just because I was too scared to even open the door to the clothing store because SH:SM has this one mechanic where you can slowly open doors so I was afraid something would happen and I dropped the game for weeks.

I ended up completing it anyways, then she got me RE4. Now, being able to fight against the very same things that used to scare me was the shit. The rest is history really, point being that as I grew up I developed more resistance to feeling fear and getting scared while playing games or watching movies. Nothing would hit that sweet spot (FEAR got very, very close though. Excellent game) until I discovered Cry of Fear.

As a disclaimer for those reading this and haven’t played COF yet I’d like to mention that the main dev got outed fairly recently as a groomer and pedophile (check it here) so I can’t talk in good faith about COF without mentioning this first. Personally I believe that experiencing a piece of art from someone you could deem ‘a bad person’ does not automatically make you a bad person but it’s also understandable if knowing this turns you off from experiencing said art. That said, it's very different to experience something rather than directly support it but at least in this specific case COF is free on steam if you're still curious enough.

Now about the game itself, COF has a very basic story which revolves around a guy named Simon who suffered an accident which led him to never be able to walk again and that got an incredible huge toll on his mental health. COF revolves around said effects after the accident. Writing wise this game is 2010's as fuck. You'll see a lot of strong language thrown around and what is basically a very basic yet accurate description of depression.

"I've always felt alone. My whole life. For as long as I can remember. I don't know if I like it or if I'm used to it, but I know this; being lonely does things to you. Feeling shit and bitter and angry all the time just... eats away at you..." - Simon

COF doesn't try to reinvent the wheel so besides that the story doesn't have much to write home about. Simon doesn't get much more depth besides him being depressed and how he perceives those who are close to him. Sophie is the love of his life but gets rejected, meanwhile the doctor is seen as this big bad antagonist who actively tries to mess with Simon when in reality all he's trying to do is to be of help. The endings go from tragic to depressing. The 'best' ending still has Simon in a mental health hospital because of his actions. The worst ones lead Simon to kill another person (be it Sophie or the doctor) and himself. The most apt way to call COF's story is like what if you got a 16 year old to write a Silent Hill 2-like story. It's not subtle, it's edgy but you can also see how heartfelt it can be. To be completely honest, I don't care that much about the writing and I believe that it's one of the weakest aspects of COF. So what is it that makes it so special?

I've been pondering about it for quite a while. The gameplay is serviceable; it has a special mechanic where you can have one item per hand, but you'd usually use the phone because of it's flashlight. Inventory management is what you'd expect from your average survival horror - 6 slots for your healing and weapons. Some jumpscares here and there. Gunplay is okayish, bullets are scarce enough to make each shot count. It does have some parkour sections, they're really bad. Tip: crouch + jump.

Where this game really excels at is it's mix between sound design and overall artistic choice. It's oppresive - claustrophobic. It's a big yet empty city where all you can hear is your own steps, the air and sometimes - a melancholic guitar tune.

COF really pulled all of it's punches once we get to the apartments. I personally believe it's some kind of magic carried by the engine COF uses which is GoldSrc, the same as Half-Life 1. Once it gets dark, you really can't see a thing and even then with your flashlight you still have very little room to actually see what's going on.

Then the tone of the game suddenly shifts. The ambience becomes heavy industrial like and the enemies are loud. They're faster than you and if you're not careful enough you'll easily die. They do help enhance the 'Silent Hill 2-Like' overall vibe it tries to go for, as all of the enemies are parts of Simon. My favorite enemy is a ghost that if it gets too close to you it'll force Simon to kill himself. It is really tense.

It's hard to put in words, maybe because I still lack the writing skills to do so but it's mix of ambience, enemy design and level design created this sort of atmosphere that I just can't find in other games. I've played horror maps in Garry's mod to see if it can come close to what COF does but I've failed every single time. I've played other games to see if I can feel the dread COF makes me feel but only some have managed to do that.

At times it can feel like 'What if we made Hunt Down The Freeman but Silent Hill?' and others it can feel like a competent thriller. Both good and bad make it such an unique experience that I can only recommend it to everyone who loves the genre—at worst you'll lose 45 minutes of your time and at best you'll find a valuable experience.