Fear and that's it

Genre Survival Horror is in a very poor condition. Large publishers do not try to stay within the original concept, but offer players a massive blockbuster product, hoping for level sales Call of Duty. By adding many components unusual for the genre to their games, they forget about all the fundamental points, including the fact that horror, first of all, should be fundamentally scary. Fortunately, independent teams of enthusiastic developers are trying to return the genre to its roots, offering a variety of interesting artisanal developments.

Cry of Fear- a completely free game that grew from a modification to the original Half-Life, developed in the depths of an indie studio Team Psykscallar, consisting of only 6 people, half of whom are voice actors. The gameplay is based on killing various opponents and exploring a relatively open world, consisting of very narrow corridors and rooms, which sometimes give way to more spacious locations, such as a forest and the streets of an abandoned European town. You move between them in search of the right item that will help you solve the next piece of the puzzle. As a rule, they are quite simple, for example, you need to find a key, enter the correct combination on the computer, or arrange objects in a certain order. But there are also those that require extreme care and imagination from the player. Sometimes, in order to get out of another evil place, you have to perform incredible interactions with objects in the environment.

The plot of the game tells the story of a guy named Simon, who returns home, listening to reflections of his thoughts in the lonely night streets, and suddenly becomes involved in a terrible accident. Coming to his senses in an unknown place, he discovers an SMS on his mobile phone from his mother, who is very worried about the absence of her son and the onset of darkness. With no answers to why he was here or how he survived, Simon tries to get home.

The story is revealed in notes and rare screensavers on the engine. Around the middle of the game, if you carefully delve into what is happening, you can reveal the main plot trick, but this will not spoil your impression of the passage. The game has more than one, or even two, endings that are very different from each other, so you need to carefully evaluate each of your actions.

Every experienced gamer has a certain number of games, remembering which, some strange mechanism starts up inside: a mixture of nostalgia and a feeling reminiscent of the feeling of falling in love for the first time. Cry of Fear skillfully launches this mechanism from the very first minutes. When you walk along the streets of a rootless city, you can notice how the lights are still on in some of the nearby windows, as are the lights on the cars abandoned by the side of the road. It seems as if the real world is somewhere very far away, but at the same time, incredibly close, as if the player is a ghost stuck between two worlds. Cry of Fear is not just a scary game, but also a psychological drama with a powerful environment that, like a blank canvas, reveals itself in your own escapistic experiences, unique to each player. However, the powerful atmosphere is created not only by the gloom of the environment, but also by the musical accompaniment. Andreas Ronnberg - director Team Psykscallar- a truly talented person who wrote most of the music Cry of Fear. His recordings are a depressive tone of looped guitar strumming, mixed with dreary ambient and the piercing noise of the howling wind. The music, coupled with the darkness of the visual style, creates an incredibly hypnotic synergy.

Introduction.

To be honest, playing Cry of Fear is scary. And it gets scarier and scarier as you progress through the plot. The game is made on the basis of Half-life, in the form of a mod. However, you won't find anything from Half-life itself. Andreas Ronnberg, the main developer of the game, worked tirelessly for 4 years, and finally brought the job to the end, from which we will now quench our thirst for thrills.

About fear.

We have already heard a lot of clever statements about the nature of the formation of fear. The creators of the game even spent six months on this before starting the major development of the project. In Cry of Fear, there are 2 main elements that make the hair on your arms and head stand on end, and your heart beat at a speed of 140 beats per minute.

So the first one is, of course, classic screamers. I really liked this technology both in the Cry of Fear game and in the mod for . For example, you are walking along a long corridor, somewhere in the distance a small dot flickers where you need to go. You go on your way, nothing happens, when suddenly bam, and some scary face appears on a quarter of the screen and starts squealing that there is strength. The first brick has been laid. Next, you look around the street, take a step forward and in the distance the ghost of a murdered person, or even a group of children, appears. It is extremely difficult to remain calm in such a situation, and for me it is completely impossible.

Some will say that this is a cheap way to intimidate gamers, and they may be right. Remember what filled you with fear when you played? There were only 10 monsters per game. But each meeting is a separate chapter, a small story of the player, how he was almost caught, almost killed, and how he miraculously hid, survived and found the strength to move on.

So, in order to balance out the cheapness of screamers, Team Psykskallar carefully thought out and implemented confrontation with enemies in the game Cry of Fear.

Enemies in the game Cry of Fear.

The most terrible thing will, of course, be the appearance of a monster: always unexpected and literally paralyzing the player. It would seem that you are returning to the cleared corridor, opening the door and suddenly a terrible, vile scream is heard and a mad zombie girl is already running from behind, with a knife at the ready. Or like this: you scout the room, quietly, squatting. There is absolutely no one in it. You think poof, thank God it went away this time, you return to the exit, when suddenly the front door breaks with a crash and an unknown creature runs towards us with a sharp blade in its hands.

Because of such meetings, you develop a constant, never-ending feeling of danger and delusions of persecution. The enemy can be behind any locked door, or even a wall. It can crawl out of a closet, or a hole in the ceiling, climb up a balcony, or simply hide in a pile of garbage. There are no safe places. I remember how at the beginning of the game, I was looking around the room with photographs, when suddenly the lights turned off and I heard someone enter the corridor and rustle cheerfully there. Naturally, I sat in the corner, pointed my cell phone at the door and began to wait to see who would enter. But no one began to enter and I realized that the guests were waiting for me outside. Can you imagine how much endurance you need to have to open this door, to see instead of one enemy, a whole group of ghosts, and to your right, a real zombie whose head is exploding. There will be a whole brick factory below you.

The periodic rustling, giggling and grunting of monsters will also spoil your nerves. It seems that someone is sitting around the corner, but there is no one there. It seemed like the rumble was coming from behind a locked door, but it was empty. And then the wall breaks through and two wild children with knives run at you with furious red eyes.

Arsenal in the game Cry of Fear.

Again, inventory is a very delicate point in the game. This will not be our saving pause to catch our breath. Time will pass as usual and the enemy will very quickly kill you with his hands. Instead, the authors provided the player with 3 quick cells. You can put various non-key items in them, such as a cell phone, knife or pistol. So the player will be faced with a choice of what to take in the fast slots? Knife-mobile phone-gun. The scheme is good, but there is no way to treat it. Pistol-mobile phone-first aid kit. Not bad, but what to do when you run out of ammo? So further, forcing the player to constantly analyze the situation.

By the way, our mobile phone has a small built-in flashlight that can shine 2-3 meters ahead. Of course, this is not a spotlight that burns out the darkness, as in, but it still remains very useful. And by the way, this is a characteristic feature of games in the Survive Horror genre - placing the hero in dark rooms, giving him portable flashlights and forcing him to switch between weapons and light when danger appears, which without preparation is fraught with injuries.

We will also use our backpack to open doors with keys, read codes and notes found earlier, and even combine objects.

Finally.

Just think how varied the plot, environment and monsters will be. Each episode is like a small game, with its own trembling, abundance of monsters and gloomy surroundings. We will be on old streets, and otherworldly corridors, and in a psychiatric hospital, and in a hospital, in a word: an express excursion to hell.

Agreeing with many gaming publications, I give the game 10 out of 10. This is undoubtedly one of the best horror projects of 2012. The game is terribly scary, has a well-developed atmosphere, which includes sound, unusual terrain, screamers and zombies. Everyone will find for themselves what makes them most horrified in horror Cry of Fear.

Night train, long way home, rainy gloomy city. You are all alone, there is complete lewdness going on around you, and the balls in your head have long since rolled behind the rollers. The horror Cry of Fear finally made it to Steam, and from there - three years later - to our review.

Turn over there

You need to play Cry of Fear in the dark, without light, and in a cemetery to get the full range of impressions. In this case, one average gamer will provide building materials for all unfinished houses in Ukraine in a couple of nights, and enough for a couple of new private cottages.

The plot of the game is in the best tradition of Hitchcock thrillers, with all the psychological techniques and sound effects inherent in them. The story tells of the misadventures of a young boy named Simon in Stockholm. Only instead of tourists taking pictures of everything, here monsters devour people, and the hero experiences catharsis with all his might and suffers mentally. The story is also interesting because the player immediately has a ton of questions: “What? How? Where I am? And what is this warm thing in your trouser leg? But, to the credit of the developers, the plot does not remain unsaid: over time, the game gives unexpected answers to all questions and finishes it off with a dramatic ending that causes a stingy gamer to cry.

From the world by thread

Gameplay features of Cry of Fear were picked up from everywhere, like a careless sex tourist - sores in Bangkok. The hallucinations of the main character migrated from Dead Space, and the abundance of doors (half of which are closed), corridor locations along which you run back and forth, and interesting riddles are straight from the old Silent Hill. True, all this is wandering around houses/parks/subways can get boring quickly, so it’s better to play Cry of Fear in evening sessions for an hour and a half. The game is made on the ever-growing Source - which is not surprising, since it was originally a mod for Half Life. There aren’t enough stars in the sky, but there’s also bleeding from the eyes does not cause anything. Everything is done strictly, without much attention to detail. But even such a picture is an achievement for indie horror. And yes, there is co-op here, but to play with a friend, you will have to go through the thorns of glitchy settings and other connection failures. And then painful connection makes it difficult to enjoy the game. Besides, co-op in horror is like lunch for a fashion model - well, it’s impossible. Fortunately, by not playing co-op you don’t lose anything, because the game is primarily focused on the feeling of loneliness and helplessness. Long live Forever alone!

Normal phenomenon

By the way, the guys from Team Psykskallar have already released their new project - Afraid of Monsters. This is a spiritual successor to Cry of Fear, but nothing more: the game tells a new story, still reflects on the essence of fear and in some places is even more frightening than CoF. So, if you are a pregnant housewife with an unbalanced psyche, it’s better to pass by, straight to the TV with another melodrama.

Verdict

One of the best representatives of the genre with a good plot and a frightening atmosphere - just look at the local metro! Horror fans who still haven't completed Cry of Fear should immediately correct this misunderstanding. At the same time, you can clear your karma with charity: there was a good indie horror show and it provided housing for 10 people.

Final score: 9 points out of 10!

10 Best Indie Horror Movies:
Which
Paranormal
Haunted Investigations
Inside
Scare
Pasadelo
Survivors Viy
Slender
One Late Night
SCP: Containment Breach

This article will continue the theme of indie horror and modifications. - a game made on the engine of the first Half-Life, however noticeably redesigned. There are all the ingredients here to scare even the most desperate daredevils: a thick, dark atmosphere, unpredictable and dangerous monsters, the surreality of what is happening. There is also a full-fledged plot, real emotions, interesting, humane characters. The creator of the modification is Andreas Ronnberg, the author of the acclaimed horror film. Afraid Of Monsters.

The game begins with some guy named Simon (our main character) simply returning home in the evening. His mother is worried that he will be gone for a long time and writes him an SMS asking him to hurry up. On the way to the house, he is hit by a car... However, a second later we are already playing as him, Simon is back on his feet. And without an explanation of what happened, we begin to survive in this crazy world full of monsters and fear. We have one goal - to get home as quickly as possible, lock ourselves in there and never go out again. After all, what is happening in the city cannot be tolerated by the human psyche! And along the way, we have to figure out what the hell is going on here?!

You should not play on low difficulty, because at first it will really be too easy for you. For a complete experience, more tension and fear, try to beat the game at least at an average level. And then there will be a shortage of cartridges and syringes with morphine (the local equivalent of a first aid kit), lives will end much faster and the effect of the sudden appearance of a completely unreal and insane creature will be more serious and more noticeable.

The creators very cleverly used all means of “intimidation”. Dim light, darkened rooms, lack of ammunition, the effect of surprise. Enemies always appear suddenly, somewhere behind or to the side. Often these monsters look so awkward and inhuman, unnatural that, the first time you see them, you can simply freeze in place in surprise. Then, of course, you get used to them, you learn their simple tactics, and they are no longer so scary. However, by that time someone else appears, acting differently, again mysterious, incomprehensible. And again there is no time to figure out what to expect from him. You pull the trigger until the body of this creature stops moving or simply disappears into thin air.

Don't ask why this creature has a paper bag on its head.

To say that the enemies here are unusual is to say nothing. They simply stupefy and confuse. A giant head in the middle of the room, a huge man with a chainsaw from whom you can only run away, some strange creatures with boxes on their heads that shoot at you when you are far away, but blow out your brains as soon as you get closer (by the way, suicide in there are a lot of hints in the game). There would also be a dark-haired dead woman like Sadako from The Ring or Alma from . And some kind of creature with a knife crawls out of her stomach - well, a completely crazy, hallucinogenic fantasy. How do you like, for example, a flying bed with a monster under it that is constantly spitting something?! In what narcotic delirium can one imagine such a thing? Yes, we are constantly surprised by something, we just have to get used to it and choose the right tactics.

Monsters are also frightening because they not only appear unexpectedly, but also scream loudly as they do so, so that you are more frightened by the scream itself than by anything else. And here the sounds are so well chosen that the tension is already created by some kind of knock, scream, distant whisper, sounds of approaching steps. Even when expecting danger, you don’t know exactly what they’ll come up with next time. And when you suddenly relax for a minute, everything happens. In addition to ordinary opponents, there are also bosses. They are completely different, they do not act according to the same pattern, and their very appearance is very interesting. However, defeating them is not so difficult; their techniques are not very diverse. But you probably don't expect to see the final boss.

Scary? Take a stick

The gameplay does not become boring at all, despite the fact that we are forced to descend into the sewers, wander through dirty corridors, cramped rooms with an oppressive atmosphere, dirty old walls covered with graffiti. Something new is constantly appearing, we learn another piece of history. In fact, we are led in circles for half the game, lengthening the journey to Simon's house. However, we are unexpectedly brought out of the darkness into the light, all events seem to fit into the time from evening to dawn. And here all the monster activity disappears for a few minutes, we find ourselves in the forest, where this time there is no one, the birds sing peacefully. We go to the lake and slowly, slowly cross the water in a boat, just enjoying the very pleasant view. Of course, it’s worth considering whether they are trying to lull our attention. And yes, there were some surprises soon.

We have a limited inventory, into which we need to stuff not only weapons, but also important items for passing, syringes. More than once you will have to think about what to throw away in order to take the key thing. There are also three quick access slots (you can't do without them), one of which is usually always occupied by some kind of light source, be it a mobile phone, a flashlight, an oil lamp or a signal torch. You can hold an item in both hands at the same time, but if you decide to use a shotgun, you will have to give up the light, and in some places this is a suicidal move, it is critical to see what exactly awaits you on the way and where the threat comes from. And if you have both a mobile phone and a pistol in your hands, you need to remember that reloading is impossible: one hand must be free for this. And one more interesting news: the clip is completely reloaded, and what was not shot from that clip disappears. Either reload in advance, having lost the cartridges, or already in battle, but then you might not have time.

Not to say that there are so few bullets here, if only at first, when you rely mainly on melee weapons. However, some story situations will easily deprive you of your entire arsenal. And then you have to walk through the forest with a knotty stick! Yes, the author has a rich imagination, there are so many diverse and unexpected game situations here that the modification resembles a full-fledged game. And, probably, only that one was so frightening.

As we play, we solve not too difficult puzzles to open combination locks, look for phone numbers, and interact with the environment. Here it is enough to be attentive and pay attention to the notes scattered everywhere, hints that are unobtrusively given to us. Much more unpleasant is the episode where we are walking through dark tunnels, and the battery in the phone is exhausted. The only thing that provides light is signal torches, and even then they don’t last long. We want to quickly get out of these uncomfortable places and get to the top, because danger lurks in the darkness and somewhere behind us someone is constantly following us, clearly not with good intentions.

There are a lot of notes like this in the game.

You will also have to swim a little, and get ready for the fact that you can easily suffocate from lack of air. And you have to swim in the dark, without a map, without understanding what you are looking for. Just dive into the well and swim forward in the hope of finding a passage. Yes, there is a certain convention and lack of motivation in this, but no other way is offered, the game is still linear. There is also a difficult task with a labyrinth, from which you need to get out as quickly as possible. There is a map on some walls, but it is completely non-interactive, and there is no time to study it, because deadly and absurd devices with human bodies on them are constantly moving behind you.

Sooner or later you begin to understand that what is happening simply cannot be reality. Something is wrong here, it’s all like a nightmare, the most terrible and unpleasant of all. From the very beginning, you can notice that most of the details are symbolic, contain some kind of subtext, a hint; there is a lot here that deserves the use of psychoanalytic methods. It will be possible to collect the whole picture and get an idea of ​​what really happened to Simon only in the finale, but fragmentary, vague and strange flashbacks will gradually raise certain guesses and suspicions.

It seems from the engine Half-Life 1 We squeezed out everything we could, and even more. Looking at the local neat design, at the completely natural and humane models of the characters, meaningful faces, you begin to doubt that this could have been done on the basis of a very old game. Especially when at one moment you find yourself in nature and it begins to dawn. Here you can simply admire the landscape, the surface of the water, and the neat houses. And the furnishings in the rooms do not seem at all sparse or formulaic. Everything looks naturalistic. Of course, if you listen to me, don’t expect level graphics from the game, or at least , but still, if for you a modern, smooth picture is not the most important thing in games, then this level will seem more than acceptable and very worthy to you. The design does not cause rejection, its roughness does not spoil the impression, as you can see for yourself by looking at the screenshots.

A special advantage of the game is its beautiful, emotional music, which is often alarming, makes you look around nervously, warns of danger and creates a nervous atmosphere. However, sometimes dynamic compositions change into soothing, sad, slow-pulling ones, as if they are allowing us to take a deep breath, relax and calm our nerves. Each melody always suits the events very well and enhances the impression.

I personally was a little disappointed by the ending. I foresaw that the game would end exactly like this (I won’t tell you how exactly, and spoil the pleasure of passing for those who haven’t played). The outcome was not unexpected for me. At first, you might think that all these creatures are the fruit of some kind of crazy experiment, that they were created artificially.

The denouement nevertheless blurred the impression of such a dynamic, intense game with lively characters and a strong, solid story. But that doesn't matter at all. - one of the best, brightest, most memorable, most developed modifications that were created on the engine Half-Life. Both in the horror genre and among mods in general. By the way, there are very rarely bugs in the game, which is also very pleasing, because all saves are made only at checkpoints in the form of tape recorders, and they are sometimes located far away. Repeating scary and difficult moments would be very annoying.

Interestingly, the game also has a co-op mode, which can fill in some of the story details. And also, according to rumors, there is not one, but several possible endings, but whether you want to go through this whole nightmare a second and third time is a big question.

Plot

19-year-old Simon Henrikson wanted to help an injured man and was deliberately hit by a car. After this incident, he began to suffer from paralysis and now has to use a wheelchair. In addition, the hero suffers from depression, panic disorders and drug addiction. His psychologist, Dr. Purnell, comes up with a new method of treatment: Simon must write down his emotions and his current mood in a book in order to overcome psychological trauma.

In this book, Simon is not dependent on his wheelchair. He wakes up one night in the center of Stockholm, not knowing what happened earlier. He wanders aimlessly through the city streets, trying to get his bearings. Over time, the character encounters monsters who seek to kill him, including a doctor with a gas mask (a distorted version of Dr. Purnell), a man with a saw, and other villains.

At some point in his journey, he meets Sophie, his former classmate, on the roof of a building. After a long conversation with her, Simon confesses his love for her, but Sophie rejects him, after which she admits that she feels misunderstood by everyone and commits suicide. The main character receives a message on his phone from his mother, who calls him home, citing the fact that it is already late. He decides to take the subway to the suburb of Kirkville, where his mother lives, but the train derails. Simon manages to avoid falling on a collapsing bridge, but loses his bag. Without a weapon or a flashlight, he must enter Kirkville at night through the forest.

In an abandoned mental hospital, Simon meets a doctor in a gas mask, who is behind the locked gates and seems to be waiting for him. He promises that if Simon brings him a loaded gun, which is hidden in the building, the doctor will give him the key to exit the hospital. Simon may agree to give the gun to the doctor, citing the fact that it is not loaded, or he may not give the gun because he does not trust him. If the player gave the gun to the doctor, he will be grateful that Simon can trust him, or vice versa: the doctor will be disappointed in Simon because he does not trust him. In both cases, the doctor throws the key to Simon through the bars, and while he is picking up the key, he shoots him in the right shoulder and escapes. Simon later finds the doctor in the attic and a shootout ensues, during which Simon is victorious and tramples the doctor's head with his boot. After that, he leaves the hospital through the back door.

Having made his way through the sewers and after another (this time the last) meeting with a man with a chainsaw, he finds himself in Kirkville, his home suburb. Having reached the house, Simon finds no one there. Having gone up to the second floor, Simon enters his room and sees an open book on a chair. Having started reading it, the player will be transported to the last nightmare, where he will confront the true Simon, or his “book double”.

Endings

Depending on the development of the plot, the player can receive one of four different endings. In three of them, the main character commits suicide: these are the so-called “bad” endings that the player can get if he does not kill Karkas and does not give the book Doctor Purnell the gun he needs. The endings have no names.

• Good ending(condition: kill Karkas and give the gun to the Doctor). Simon fights the version of himself from the book and is ultimately victorious. However, it turns out that in fact the main character did not shoot at his copy from the book, which turned out to be a hallucination due to psychosis, but at two policemen who came into his room. As a result, thanks to the Doctor's testimony in court, Simon is sent to a mental hospital. Dr. Purnell continues to treat the protagonist, for which he is extremely grateful. Sophie regularly visits Simon in the hospital when doctors allow her to. Although he knows the fact that she has found a new boyfriend, the main character wishes her all the best.
• Bad ending(condition: do not kill Karkas and do not give the gun to the Doctor). The therapy fails and Simon develops a deep hatred of the world around him, the book having a negative impact on his psyche and leading him down the path to "self-destruction". Out of anger, the protagonist kills Doctor Purnell and Sophie, placing the latter's body in the bathtub. He then finishes the book and commits suicide, shortly after which their bodies are discovered by the police.
• The Murder of Doctor Purnell(condition: kill Karkas and not give the gun to the Doctor). Simon kills Dr. Purnell but spares Sophie. After a conversation in which Simon tells her that she was the only person in his life who could help him, he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.
• Murder of Sophie(condition: do not kill Karkas and give the gun to the Doctor). Simon shows respect for Purnell and his efforts to help him, but comes to the conclusion that his life no longer has meaning. He kills Sophie in his house and commits suicide, after which the police arrive.
• Bonus. Additional ending available after 1st playthrough. To get it, pick up an ominous package in the secret room and deliver it to the mailbox on Saxon Avenue near the School. And if you meet the conditions for the “good” ending, Simon will have a package at home containing a container of pills. If they are swallowed, the player will be transported to another world from the game. Afraid of Monsters(previous project from Team Psykskallar). After completing this chapter, at the end you will see a scene where Simon is hit by David Leatherhoff (the main character) in a car Afraid of Monsters), and judging by Simon's reaction, they know each other and their relationship is not very good.

There are also two more endings that can be obtained by playing multiplayer mode:

• Good ending. The police manage to arrest the driver of the car who was supposed to hit the main character, which prevented the accident and events Cry of Fear. Simon himself began dating Sophie after the disaster.
• Bad ending. The police were unable to apprehend the driver, and he hit Simon.

Game process

Since the game is a modification Half-Life, the gameplay is mainly borrowed from it. Cry of Fear is also a first-person shooter where the player sees the world around him through the eyes of the main character.

Basically, like in any other shooter, the player will have to fight with various enemies. After winning, a rank is given at the end. The game has five difficulty levels. There is only one difference in them: the strength of the opponents becomes greater and greater with each level, and it is more difficult to defeat them.

Lighting occupies a special place in the game - Simon will almost always be in places where there is poor lighting (and in some, no lighting at all). For most of the game, your lighting device will be your cell phone, namely its flashlight. But there is one “but” - in this state Simon cannot use weapons (more precisely, he can, but not all of them, and with restrictions - see below). Therefore, most of the game you have to choose - either to light the way, or to go armed. There is a similar trope in the game Doom 3.

Since in the story Simon is a drug addict, the items that restore hit points are syringes. In addition to syringes, the game has jars of painkiller tablets (found during the secret ending): they restore much less than morphine, since they are a non-narcotic analgesic, but due to this they do not cause side (and dangerous) effects with frequent use. One syringe restores approximately 80% of hit points. Should be used with caution.

After completing the mod, the difficulty “Doctor Mode” opens, where the player is given the opportunity to play as Doctor Purnell. According to the plot, the character must prevent the writing of a book by Simon, who began to create it on his recommendations. The gameplay remained identical, but the difficulty of the passage increased: there are no syringes in the levels with the doctor.

Game modes

• Easy- easy mode, syringes restore full health, and enemies are weak.
• Average- balanced, syringes restore 80% of health.
• Difficult- hard mode, enemies are strong, and syringes restore 60% of health.
• Nightmarish- will open after hard mode. The enemies are very strong, syringes restore 40% of health. At the same time, at the beginning of the game you will be able to find an audio cassette in which you can save the game 5 times (there are no more cassettes in the game).
• Doctor- Unlocks after completing the story campaign. In this mode, you cannot save and heal, since there are no audio recorders or syringes in the levels. Dr. Purnell also wears a gas mask with a built-in night vision device, eliminating the need to carry a flashlight or other light sources. A revolver is used as a weapon.
• Cooperative- an online game where four people can complete the game. Game for the police.
  • Standard- the plot of the game is that you have fallen under the influence of the book, and you need to go from the end of the game to the Saxon Avenue subway station to the place where the car should hit Simon. She needs to be arrested and prevent Simon's accident and the writing of the book, respectively, and rid the world of Simon's nightmare.
  • Manhunt- the second story mission, where you also need to play as police officers. Here you need to find Doctor Purnell and prevent him from prescribing treatment for Simon using the book, which will also prevent Simon from having a nightmare.
• Scenarios- amateur maps for this mod. Available in version 1.4.

Characters

• Simon Henriksson(eng. Simon Henriksson) - main character Cry of Fear. He is 19 years old and lives with his mother in a suburb of Stockholm. He sits in a wheelchair because his legs were paralyzed after he was hit by a car. Because of this, he suffers from various mental disorders (depression, panic attacks, psychosis) and is a drug addict. His doctor, Dr. Purnell, suggests that Simon write down his feelings in a book to help him overcome his trauma. Simon is also in love with a former classmate, who, however, rejected him.
• Dr. Purnell(eng. Doctor Purnell) - Simon's attending physician. He advises Simon to write down his feelings in a book to help him overcome the trauma. In the story, Simon appears in the form of a monster who (like a real doctor) wears a gas mask on his head. The game character after completing the story with his patient.
• Sophie(eng. Sophie) - good friend of Simon. How the two met is unknown, but during the course of the story she says that she was bullied and Simon was the only person at school who treated her well. She called Simon just before the accident. After all, Sophie visited him regularly in the hospital.
• Policemen(eng. Die Cops) - members of the Swedish police who are the main characters of the cooperative mode, and also appear in the endings of the main game. During the co-op, the police arrest the driver of the same car that hit Simon at the beginning of the game. As a result, the tragedy did not happen, and Simon continued to live a normal life.

Weapon

If Simon wants to get home alive, he needs to use a weapon for this purpose. But it is worth considering the fact that the protagonist of the game is an ordinary 19-year-old guy, not a military man, and therefore he cannot use it perfectly. For example, Simon shoots rather inaccurately; Moreover, due to lack of habit, he cannot cope with the recoil - he has to aim again (especially for the M16 rifle). From which it follows that you need to shoot while aiming, and not from the “hip” position. This way you can shoot more or less accurately and be sure that you hit the enemy.

A peculiarity when reloading a firearm is that Simon throws out the entire clip, that is, the remaining cartridges, if there were any in the magazine, are simply thrown away. This forces you to save every ammo and think through your actions, such as when to reload even if you lose the clip, and when to save the remaining ammo (this is especially critical in relation to bosses). The exception to this rule is the shotgun - it reloads without wasting ammo, making it a good weapon if you're ambushed.

Simon cannot parry or block enemy attacks, but is able to dodge them by pressing Alt and the direction button in which you want to dodge, or simply by pressing the direction key twice. This movement wastes stamina, so don't overdo it.

The game as a whole has 16 types of weapons (some of them appear only after completing the game or when special conditions are met), the only one of which - the camera - is non-lethal. Conventionally, weapons can be divided into one-handed and two-handed.

• One-handed weapon- These are mostly pistols (except for the VP90 due to the non-removable holster-butt) and edged weapons. One-handed weapons are good because they can be “combined” with other objects, for example - a pistol in the left hand and a flashlight in the right. Pros - you are combat-ready and illuminate your path. The disadvantages of at least such a “combination” are that shooting accuracy decreases (firstly, due to the fact that the main character is holding a weapon in one hand, and the second consequence that follows from this is that due to the “busy” second hand it is impossible conduct targeted shooting). It will also be impossible to reload - again the same “busy” hands. You always have a choice about what to do.
sledgehammer Stockholm, with a city park, metro and vacant apartments. Since the game was created in Sweden, control over the character Cry of Fear varies due to different keyboard layouts.

On April 23, 2013, it was released on the Steam service as a separate game. It does not require an original copy of the game Half-Life.