Deep Fear

"Deep Fear: Something Frightening that Lies Deep Down beneath the Surface!"

What the Playstation can do, The Saturn can do better. Alas, that is what sega thought. With the success of The ecxellent Resident Evil already evident on their console, Sega of Japan attempted to cash in and create their own Survival horror game. That Game Is Deep Fear.
Stranded with an arsenal of Weapons and Wisecracking Buddies In an Atlantis style Lab, will you survivr what lurks Beneath the surface?

The Story Starts off In Arecibo. The Government sent a message to aliens. The message comes back with a Tank full of Alien DNA Which just happens to turn the Innocents of the Docking bay into Hideous, Stinking Reptilian Zombies.
You never really know who is on what side. Hmm he's been acting strange, better have a talk to...Agh tentacle in the eye.... You get the picture.

You play most of the game In the Claustrophobic corridoors of the Huge Sub that's been sent out. While there are a variety of Sub sections that add to depth, I felt that It was a Tad boring, and the shock horror concept had now been a little underused. Their were no Jump out your seat moments. That was what made Resident Evil.

Graphics are a bit limited. The Monsters are awfully drawn and really look odd. When you pump them full of a clip of Machine Gun bulletts, you expect a bit more animation than the feeble twitchings you get here. Their Is also a Fair amount of FMV with 4 Discs worth of action and Cinemas. They all look well and are a match at least for the Short but sweet Ones off Resident Evil. Gory as well.

The Music Is really bad In this game. None of the excellent Horror style that was so good In Resident Evil which was a shame beacause Sega so nearly had a winner here. It would have added the dramatic tension that is sessential to make a scary game. Sound effects are plain avereage. I mean the Monsters Are suppossed to be Hideous Creatures but the Repetetive Grunts sound a little too bad. The voice acting is a little better than Resident Evil, and some characters work too well. The Designer of the Sub, Dubois has a hilarious effeminite Voice! Comic relief isn't bad!

The control System Isn't bad. You'll be used to it in a while If you've played RE. Their IS an extensive character list so be prepared to learn names!

Lastability. You all want to know how long you'll be playing it for. Honestly, it will take ages to complete. The Bosses are very difficult as is the game in general. 4 Discs of action double the Lifespan of Resident Evil.
But what ahppens if you complete it?
Sadly Nothing. Sega should really have worked on this because frankly After completing it there is nothing to come back for.

I can't help but think what a missed oppurtunity this was. Sega could have put the saturn out with a bang, but we have a shoddy, Repetetive and overall disappointing game with no Replay value whatsoever. If you feel ambitious then I recommend it. Like Tomb Raider? Get it! Just don't expect an easy ride!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/01, Updated 03/05/02