Cry of Fear

Cry of Fear is a survival horror game developed by independent Swedish studio Team Psykskallar. Though originally a mod for the video game Half-Life in 2012, it was released as a standalone product the following year.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Dark, creepy atmosphere. It feels like a mixture between Silent Hill and Condemned: Criminal Origins.
 * 2) A good selection of weapons, you can even defend yourself by punching an enemy while holding a phone or a lantern.
 * 3) Very good soundtrack, in a similar vein to Silent Hill's composer Akira Yamaoka.
 * 4) The mod itself managed to push GoldSrc Engine's graphics beyond its limits, adding realistic features such as the water shaders (similar to the ones from Half-Life 2), specular reflection, 3D skyboxes, bump mapping, and at one point has actual physics. This is impressive because GoldSrc doesn't have physics, and according to the developers, they did it all by hand.
 * 5) Tons of unlockables (including hoodies), mostly through easter eggs or beating the "Nightmare" difficulty.
 * 6) A huge number of enemies with a lot of creepy and twisted designs, featuring the iconic Sawrunner.
 * 7) Interestingly, each enemy in some way is in relevance of Simon with enemies like the Sawrunner representing Simon's anxiety.
 * 8) A pretty dark and depressing plot about a man that recounts all the terrible things that's happened in his life by writing them in a journal.
 * 9) Custom campaigns, of course.
 * 10) Unique ranking system in which it shows up every time you beat either the main game or a custom campaign.
 * 11) Multiple endings to unlock.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The voice acting is a bit off, but still manages to be good.
 * 2) The soundtrack, weapon sounds and Co-Op mode will not work properly in the Steam release. This can only be fixed through the CoF Server Browser. (You can cancel the Co-Op mode while using it in order to play the Single Player mode.)
 * 3) The jumpscares are a bit overused.
 * 4) Some things are not explained like what happened to the man that asked Simon for help or why the driver hit Simon.
 * 5) The CO-OP mode is a pain to set up for people to play because the game doesn't have a master server.
 * 6) Both of the "true" final bosses pale in comparison to the fight against Dr. Purnell earlier.
 * 7) *The final boss for the bad endings, Wheelchair/Sick Simon, does nothing but spawn goons and use telekinetic attacks, both of which are easy to deal with (as long as the player saved up enough ammunition).
 * 8) *The final boss for the good ending, Book Simon, is just a chase down a long corridor where you occasionally fire off shots.
 * 9) Chapter 4 is the worst chapter of the game. Not only is a good chunk of the chapter spent backtracking, but it also has some of the most infuriating moments in the game. Those moments being:
 * 10) * The timed switch in the train station.
 * 11) * The section just after, where the phone loses power during one of the darkest areas in the game - you're forced to rely on a limited number of flares which eventually burn out, have to be dropped to reload or climb ladders, and can't be picked up afterwards because they're too hot.
 * 12) * The massive amount of backtracking, just to get two fuses.
 * 13) * The bloody apartment in the apartment complex.
 * 14) * The jumping puzzle section, just after you realize you need to get the fuses again which requires near pixel perfect jumping.

Reception
Cry of Fear received positive reviews, with reviewers praising its overall atmosphere and unique setting. It has an average user score of 8.1 on Metacritic.

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