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.

Development
Cry of Fear began development in 2008. The mod was delayed several times due to time limitations before being released in 2012. During the 4 years of development of Cry of Fear, many ideas were scrapped, while others were improved. For example, the phone's flashlight was initially made to illuminate an area around the player. This was later changed to illuminate the area in front of the player. The inventory system was also reduced from 12 slots to 6. At its beginning, Cry of Fear used the standard Half-Life renderer which was later replaced by one from Paranoia, another popular Half-Life modification. Changing the renderer allowed the developers to bypass some older limits and add new engine effects such as texture bump mapping, specular reflection and 3D skyboxes.

Gameplay
The player controls Simon Henriksson, a 19‑year‑old who wakes up in an alley shortly after being hit by a car. The player must navigate the city solving puzzles and fighting monsters to progress. The game switches between normal gameplay levels representing the city and surrounding areas, and "nightmare" levels, similar to those found in the Silent Hill series of games.

Cry of Fear features many unique mechanics, such as the limited inventory system, which allows the player to carry only 6 items at a time and does not pause the game while the inventory screen is open. Another unique mechanic is the ability to dual-wield inventory items, allowing the use of two weapons at a time, or one weapon and a light source. Item combination is also possible from the inventory screen. Health is recovered by the use of morphine syringes, which can blur the player's vision if overused. Stamina is consumed through strenuous actions such as running and jumping, and can be recovered by resting or the use of morphine syringes. Some days before Cry of Fear's anniversary, Valve released a Half-Life update for Linux compatibility, making changes in the folders and engine. This update made several Half-Life mods, including Cry of Fear, incompatible with the base game. Team Psykskallar decided that, since no more could be done for the mod itself, they would finish a standalone version. Confusion due to Valve regarding Cry of Fear's status as freeware caused the game to be delayed until April 25, 2013.

Plot
The story begins in a dark and gloomy city in Sweden, with Simon waking up in an alley after being struck by a car while trying to help an injured man. Waking up in an alley, he tries to make his way home, but deformed monsters attack him. After failing to call the police, he receives a text from a man pleading for help. When he enters and searches an apartment block, he finds the man dead in his bathtub and passes out. He wakes up near a cryptic and violent doctor, who says that he cannot trust Simon. After exploring the city and facing threats along the way, he finds Sophie, his childhood friend and love interest, on a rooftop. Simon attempts to confess his love to her, but she rejects his advances and commits suicide by jumping off the roof. A horrifying creature called Carcass takes Sophie's place and fights Simon. Believing that the creature was responsible for Sophie's death, Simon can either flee or kill the enemy.

Simon proceeds to travel home, and fails to enter a subway station because he lacks a fuse. He goes to a college to collect a fuse, but is ambushed by monsters. He escapes to the station and enters it successfully. In the station, he gathers two more fuses to repair a malfunctioning train, so he can go home. However, during the middle of the train journey, Simon finds the train infested by monsters. The train crashes and derails. As it is about to fall off a cliff, Simon escapes narrowly. He finds himself in a dark forest, and discovers an Asylum. He regains contact with the doctor in the asylum, but is stuck behind a door. The doctor orders Simon to give him a gun in exchange for letting him pass. Simon can either oblige or refuse, but either way the doctor betrays Simon and shoots him, but Simon eventually kills the doctor after a gunfight.

Simon leaves the forest and rows through a lake. He finally reaches his house, and expects his mother to be waiting for him. However, the house is empty. He enters his bedroom and finds a book. Through a flashback, the player finds out that the entire story is a figment of Simon's imagination. After the car crash, Simon became bound to a wheelchair. Depressed, his therapist (who was the doctor in the game) advised him to document his feelings in a book. The character controlled throughout the game was a fictional version of Simon, and all the monsters represented the trauma in his mind. Cry of fear has four different endings, depending on the player's choices.


 * If Carcass wasn't killed and Simon didn't give the gun to the doctor, he kills Sophie, his therapist, and then himself. He leaves a suicide note, stating that if it weren't for his disability, he would have killed more people, and wishing anyone who reads his suicide note to die.


 * If Carcass wasn't killed and Simon gave the gun to the doctor, He kills Sophie, then himself. In his suicide note, he apologizes to his doctor and thanks him for his help, and explains that he killed Sophie so that he could have her all to himself, since Simon never got over her rejection.


 * If Carcass was killed and Simon didn't give the gun to the doctor, he kills his doctor, then himself. In his suicide note, he states that the doctor's therapy only made things worse, and begs for Sophie not to shown what he's done.


 * If Carcass was killed and Simon gave the gun to the doctor, Simon, right before he kills himself, is confronted by Book Simon. The player taking control of the real Simon, he chases down and kills Book Simon in a shootout. Coming to his senses, Simon realizes he had a mental episode, and instead of taking his own life, he killed two police officers who were presumably checking in on Simon. He is admitted into a mental hospital for the rest of his life, where his therapist continues to look after him, and Sophie, despite how much Simon hurt her, visits him. Hopeful about the future, Simon finishes his book.

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