Deep Fear

"One great survival horror action game that should have made it to the US"

If only the Saturn had more 3D adventure games such as Deep Fear. Then maybe the video game wars might have came out differently. The Saturn needs more 3D games, and this game fits nicely in the present ranks.

Deep Fear tells the story of John Mayor, a rescue worker at an underwater research facility known as the Big Table. Recently, the Navy has moved in to conduct experiments on something that has fallen from space (see the intro). However, situations begin to fall apart when a virus gets loose and begins to spread throughout the complex, turning everyone infected into monsters. Now everything turns into a survival trek to get out of the Big Table.

The game is basically Resident Evil underwater. But due to the underwater environment, the game boasts some differences. The air supply must constantly be replenished at special modules in the various areas in the game as running out will lead to an untimely death (well DUH!). Also, in areas which are completely submerged, Mayor will have to rely on a portable scuba-air tank to travel about. This apparatus also has to be replenished when near empty. One difference I like about the game is the ability to shoot while moving. This added feature makes fights more realistic unlike RE's "taken root and sitting duck" type of combat, where you can't move when you attack.

Deep Fear boasts some excellent FMV cut scenes to help enhance the story. For the Saturn, they're surprisingly well done, with atmospheric music, unfortunately, the voice-acting, which is in English, is just as bad RE's.

While the music is good, the sound effects in Deep Fear are just plain awful! With the exception of footsteps running on metallic floors, gunshots are muffled, and shrieks and grunts (from the monsters) don't sound at all threatening or painful. Also, there's nothing special about the puzzles in the game. Most just require Mayor to find objects to help him progress in the game, usually in the form of passwords, and keys.

The game is easy to get into as events are very linear, therefore a knowledge of Japanese isn't terribly necessary to play the game. The usage of English in the FMV, and important scenes further prove that a non-Japanese player can still understand what the story behind the game is about. So to those Saturn owners waiting for a decent alternative to RE, Deep Fear is the game to get, especially since there're few games for the Saturn in this genre

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99