Deep Fear

"''Hereafter we will have desperate days...''"

Introduction
Banking off the success of the hugely popular Resident Evil series, in 1998 Sega released their answer to the Capcom's cash cow. Even though the Saturn had a taste of Resident Evil when Capcom brought the first one over (a year too late by the way), in some ways this was the Saturn's answer to the Playstation's Resident Evil series. While the Saturn may have been dead in North America at the time it was still alive and kicking in Japan. I guess that explains why this game was never brought to NA in the first place. But don't despair, Deep Fear is one of the most importable games I have ever seen. The cutscenes, most of the menus, and control panels are all in English. And when I say cutscenes I mean that the characters actually speak English!

The game takes place, if you didn't know, in underwater tanker facility. This facility is a housing place for the Special Forces such as the Army, Navy, and Marines. It's sort of like the Pentagon except not as major and it's underwater. You play as John Mayor, a new guy on the ship that's had some previous fieldwork. They don't go into detail on his background and the instruction manual is in Japanese, so I can't tell you much about him or the past. The lid pops off when a bridge controller is killed by some mutant. They really don't give a real explanation as to how the mutant got there but that's how it goes. Your first encounter is with this one guy turning into a mutant. That's where the real action starts. Along the way meet the rest of your crew, become friends and ultimately enemies in a way. I won't give away too much. I guess you'll have to play the game to find out.

Graphics
To me it's not surprising that the Saturn could pull this game off so nicely. The pre-rendered backgrounds look great in my opinion. (Remember: the graphics are one of the most subjective things in videogames) There's lots of detail in the environments. Admittedly, however, certain hallways do look repetitive and generally bland. This really doesn't take away from the game's visual appeal I don't think.

The Saturn isn't really a polygon pusher when it comes to 3D stuff. But the characters look okay in this game. At first I thought that maybe they could've done better but I realized that I was wrong since the game does chop a bit in certain areas. The realization is that the Saturn was just not meant for 3D as much as the Playstation was, no matter how much you want to believe it or not.

One of the best qualities of this game is the Full Motion Videos (FMV). They are so damn good it makes you want to call Sega up and demand a sequel for the SATURN. Seriously, the FMV is probably the best I've seen on the system. While they're not Final Fantasy PSX quality they are damn good and prove that with a little work the Saturn can do just about anything. Players will especially enjoy an underwater scene where a main part of the underwater facility is destroyed. My jaw dropped when I saw this beautiful display of virtual destruction. You won't be disappointed.

Sound
Here's where I can see Deep Fear getting the thumbs down in *other* reviews. Keep in mind that I have not looked at another review for this game but I can see how some (mainly who haven't played it all the way through) will find the sound laughable at best.

First let me point out that the brightest people did not design the Saturn. Hate me if you will---I love the system to death---but this statement is fairly accurate. The Saturn games can have good sound if only (and that's a big if) the developers want the game to. The system doesn't have a built-in sound decoder, so the decoders differ from game-to-game.

That's not to say that the effects aren't good. They're just not great. The footsteps are good, the guns sound okay, but the creatures do sound stupid. Most surprising, though, is that there isn't too much ambient sounds or music. That puzzles me as to why Sega didn't think about putting some background music to get you pumped up. They do play some when you fight a boss but it's the same track every time... and not a good one at that. If there's one thing that Resident Evil has over Deep Fear it's the ambience audio.

The voice acting is something that you'll want to approach from both angles. The reason being that once you've played the game long enough you start to like the characters in general. Sure the voice acting is pitiful but the dialog is pretty good. Since the dialog is good the fault is really on the voice actors themselves. I chuckle when I think about it because it's so cheesy that I like it. :)

Controls
The control in Deep Fear is pretty basic. The three basic functions are Run, Shoot, and Activate. The manner here is similar to that of the Resident Evil series but with the difference being that you don't have to hold the aim button. Instead, you press the right shoulder button and your gun is armed. You then press the action button to shoot. In order to open doors and activate items your gun must be unequipped.

Since the game is pre-rendered the cameras are in a fixed position: you move from one area while the camera stays the same and when you get to the next area the camera is in a different spot. It's all triggered by your location. Again, this is just like the Resident Evil series and even Alone in The Dark. Controlling your character is not relative to where the camera is at. In fact it's always absolute. This means that if you press up, for instance, your character will move forward no matter what position the camera is in. This setup takes some getting used to if you've never played these types of games, but it becomes a breeze if you are familiar with the genre. Please note that if you're using the analog on the 3D Control Pad the control IS relative. I'm not sure if this game was designed for the analog but I know that it's one of those games that the analog does work with. I don't think the analog is best for this game but I didn't find it to be that bad. Newcomers just might like it this way.

The thing I didn't like about the control is that the character controls a little goofy. Due to the nature of the camera angles & control, he can seem like he's a fish underwater---whipping and whizzing through things. It's not necessarily an issue, it's just that it seems a little odd that's all.

Gameplay
If there's one thing to be said about Deep Fear's gameplay it's that while it might be a clone of another popular series (and it is, Sega) it still manages to be fresh enough to stand on its own. Like other survival horror games the goal is to get to the end of the game while managing your items & ammo while maintaining your health. The key, like with many more games, is survival. You must follow the somewhat linear path and very linear storyline in order to beat the game.

There is a variety of mutant enemies that you will encounter throughout the game. In most cases the enemies (or lack of enemies for that matter) you encounter depends on where you're at. There's really no classification or any reason for these creatures to be in a certain area, they just are. For example, if you're in an aquatic area (ex: Sea Farm) you won't see aquatic creatures.

Fighting the enemies isn't too exciting. Far too many times I found myself skipping past an enemy, not fighting it simply because I know that they'll be back the next time I come. Yes, the sad fact is that enemies reappear in this game. On the other hand a cool thing about them is that their positions that they're stuck in is random. Like one time they might jump out in front of you while the next time they might jump behind you.

In this game you have to manage all your inventory (stated above) but you also have to worry about the air pressure too. Spread throughout the game are these little yellow boxes on the walls. They are the Resident Evil equivalent of a typewriter but with two main differences. You can save, yes, but you also have to replenish the air pressure so you don't die. This is the most common use of it. The other thing you use it for is to recharge your re-breather. The re-breather gives you oxygen underwater. Yes, there are some underwater spots in this game! You don't swim but the effect is pretty cool. Instead, you sluggishly walk on the bottom of the water. It's pretty neat.

All-in-all I think that just about anyone can find the gameplay quite enjoying---especially those for looking for something that's NOT Resident Evil. Silent Hill would be a good choice if you have a PSX, but so is this if you have a Saturn. The length of the game is fairly long, even for expert gamers. It took me 12 hours and 38 minutes to beat it (according to the game anyway). I can't tell if that's good or bad but I think it's good. You be the judge and beat the game yourself. If you do, email your time!

Conclusion
Due to it's super high importability Deep Fear is a game not worth missing. I think that it should be in every Saturn owner's library. In my opinion it's one of the best games for the system and will remain one of my favorites. To play on your NTSC American system you'll need either an ST-Key or a cheat device (GameShark or Action Replay), but this is a small price to pay for a great game that spans two discs. You should be able to find it fairly cheap on import sites. I bought my copy for under $20, including shipping and handling. Check it out.

Le bien, le malo
+ Creepy, challenging gameplay that will entertain you for quite a while.
+ Some of best FMVs on the Saturn ever.
+ Good dialog between the characters.
- Cheesy voice acting.
- No sequel?!!

Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Control: 7
Gameplay: 9
Replay Value: 7
Overall: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/06/03, Updated 04/29/04