Survival horror games are quite commonplace now, with juggernauts like the Resident EvilВ series making the rounds on all platforms. With an interesting story and solid combat, this underwater nightmare is a rescue mission any fan of survival horror should sign up for.ДЄvailable on: Sega Saturn Publisher: Sega Developer: Sega AM7 Players: 1 Released: 1998ДЇull disclosure: This review is based on a retail copy of Deep Fear.Genre: Survival Horror Developer: AM7 Publisher: Sega Ent.

While not perfect, Deep Fear does more than enough right to warrant a playthrough. Overall, Deep Fear is a fine addition to the SaturnвЂ™s survival horror lineup. Also, the story itself is very enjoyable and has a few interesting twists later in the game. While Resident Evil had some pretty horrid dialog, Deep Fear takes the cake with voice actors who sound like coked-up Fraggles (Sharon), and the most blatantly flamboyant homosexual stereotype of all time ( Dubois), While the voice acting is atrocious, anyone with an appreciation for cheesy horror dialog will appreciate it. The boss theme, in particular, is catchy enough to be stuck in your head well after youвЂ™ve put the controller down.Дeep FearвЂ™s music may make you want to crank up the volume, but the unbelievably campy spoken dialog will make you want to jam sharp things in your ears. Composed by Kenji Kawai (of Ghost in the Shell fame), all of the music is excellent and matches the action on screen. While the visuals are nothing to write home about, Deep Fear has an excellent soundtrack. Everything looks either clinical or industrial, leaving many areas simply uninteresting to look at. The pre-rendered environments look good, however, the gameвЂ™s sterile setting makes them less than memorable. While the models are a little rough around the edges, they are animated decently enough. Much like Resident Evil, the gameвЂ™s environments are pre-rendered backdrops viewed from a fixed camera, while the character models are rendered in real time. Graphically, Deep Fear is a solid looking game. Very rarely do take your time exploring the facility as you are always racing to avoid suffocating before you reach the next refill station. The steady flow of enemies and limited air supply do make Deep Fear feel like an urgent affair. The underwater premise of the game ensures youвЂ™ll be spending plenty of time racing to computer terminals to replenish the vesselвЂ™s air supply, as well as to refill your rebreathing apparatus which you use in areas which are flooded or when the oxygen in a room is depleted. While monster encounters are plentiful, keeping a sufficient supply of oxygen can oftentimes be just as big of a threat as the ghouls that inhabit the Big Table. While this admittedly makes the game easier and minimizes the fear factor, which hurts the game in the long run. Health and ammo pickups are plentiful, and almost always come in the form of bottomless medical kits and ammo boxes which allow you to top yourself off in medical or storage rooms before you progress to your next destination. Speaking of combat, youвЂ™ll see plenty of it in Deep Fear. These changes make combat much less tedious than in RE, as youвЂ™ll spend much less time navigating menus than you do in actual combat.

Also, weapons like grenades are mapped to a face button, which allows them to be thrown without going into an inventory screen first to equip them. Unlike Resident Evil, which forced players to stand still while taking aim with their weapon, Deep Fear allows you to fire and move simultaneously, making combat a much more fluid experience. One of the biggest improvements in Deep Fear comes in the form of combat. While the formula is essentially identical to Resident Evil, there are some areas where Deep Fear deviates from, and even surpasses its competition. In typical survival horror fashion, John must combat these horrific creatures while exploring the research facility and solving simple puzzles. Players control John Mayor, a former member of SEAL Team 6 who, since resigning from the military, now works as a member of ERS, a rescue team stationed aboard the Big Table.ДЄfter a UFO crashes from space and plunges deep into the ocean near the Big Table, all hell breaks loose and the shipвЂ™s former residents turn into hideous monsters. Thankfully, all of the dialogs in the game is spoken in English, and all of the main menus are in English as well, so the game remains entirely playable for those without a working knowledge of Japanese.Дeep Fear takes place aboard an undersea research facility called the Big Table. Unfortunately, the game never made it to the US due to the SaturnвЂ™s poor performance there.

Way back in 1998 Saturn gamers in Europe in Japan were treated to Deep Fear, an aquatic spin on the survival horror genre popularized by CapcomвЂ™s Resident Evil.

Deep fear game