Cry of Fear

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WARNING! THIS PAGE CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Cry of Fear Cover art Release Date: 2012 Developer: Team Psykskallar Publisher: Team Psykskallar Platforms: PC Genre: Survival horror, First-person shooter

Cry of Fear is a stand-alone mod developed by the independent game studio Team Psykskallar (Psykskallar is swedish and can be roughly translated as "psychoheads"), the same studio behind the game "Afraid of Monsters". Cry of Fear runs on the GoldSrc (or GoldSource) engine, the same engine that powers the first Half-Life. Unlike their previous game, Afraid of Monsters, Cry of Fear was built completely from scratch and doesn't share any assets with Half-Life. Development for the game started in 2008 and after four troubled years of development, it had its first release in 2012 on the popular modding site Moddb. After being put up on and successfully being voted for releases through Steam Greenlight, it hit Steam in 2013.

The game has three modes, the main story line following Simon Henriksson as he makes his way through an unnamed city (that bears a very strong resemblance to Sweden's capital, Stockholm) trying to figure out what is going on with his life.

Completing the main story unlocks the "Doctor Mode" where one gets to play as the Doctor character from the main story. The Doctor story is much shorter than the main story, but is also significantly harder.

There is also a co-op mode where up to four players can team up as Police Officers trying to find Simon. The co-op has a much bigger focus on action than the other modes.

While the extra modes has their own stories that tie into the main narrative, they are seen as non-canon.

Cry of Fear is significantly more complex than Team Psykskallars previous game. It has cutscenes, voice acting, a more complex inventory system, more advanced graphics and different gameplay modes. While Afraid of Monsters was more of a straight up shooter, Cry of Fear plays more like a Survival horror, similar Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Cry of Fear also features a deeper plot than Afraid of Monsters, having a story that follows themes similar to the aforementioned Silent Hill and movies such as Jacob's Ladder, relying heavily on symbolism.

The game is available for free on Moddb and Steam and doesn't require any other to run it.

The following weapons appear in the video game Cry of Fear:

Overview

Cry of Fear is a survival horror game and not a straight up shooter. The player has limited inventory space, must use morphine to regenerate health, can only save via the use of a tape recorder (on Nightmare difficulty one must have a tape that can only be used five times in order to save, somewhat similar to the use of typewriters and ink ribbons in the earlier Resident Evil games). Ammo and firearms are also fairly rare, and the player will probably end up using more melee weapons than firearms throughout the story, similar to the Silent Hill games.

The game features an enemy players should be weary of using firearms around called "Drowners". If one has a firearm equipped close to them, they will force the gun to Simon's head, with the player having to click the mouse button to resist the urge to pull the trigger.

A small but interesting detail is how the game handles ammo. When reloading a firearm with a removable magazine that still has ammo in it, those rounds will be lost instead of magically added to the players reserve ammo pool as in most video games. Weapons with internal magazines that are reloaded one round at a time, however, will also usually lose all the ammo currently loaded. This means that one must consider potentially wasting ammo in favor of a faster reload and ensuring one won't run out early into a fight.

Handguns

All handguns except for the Taurus Model 605 and, after a patch, the Heckler & Koch VP70, can dual-wielded with another item such as melee weapon or some type of light source. However, it is not possible to reload or aim a handgun when it's dual wielded. It is also no possible to dual-wield two firearms.

While Simon will hold any weapon in his right hand when using it alone, he will hold weapons in his left hand when dual-wielding any other item, indicating that he might be ambidextrous.

Glock 17

The Glock 17 is the most common firearm in the game, being the very first gun Simon gets his hands on. It's incorrectly labeled as a Glock 19 in-game (it even has Glock 19 markings). It can however be identified as a Glock 17 due to its size. It holds 15 rounds, which would be correct for a Glock 19 magazine, but is 2 rounds less than a Glock 17 mag.

The Glock 17 is used by the "Suicider" enemy, making it the only enemy to use firearms sans bosses.

Glock 17 (3rd Generation) - 9x19mm

Glock 19 (3rd Generation) - 9x19mm. For comparison.

Simon's first encounter with the Glock 17 is all but usual.

Not phased by corpses hanging from the ceiling, he grabs the Glock pistol and begins racking the slide. Here the length of the slide is obviously the same as a Glock 17.

Simon with his Glock 17 as he prepares himself to leave the apartment.

Iron sights

Once out of ammo, the slide properly locks back and it's possible to see details inside the gun.

Reloading. Simon drops the dry mag...

...inserts a new one. Here it's possible to see the size of the grip is more inline with a Glock 17 than a 19. It's is also possible to make out the incorrect Glock 19 markings.

Simon then racks the slide to chamber a round, which oddly has a black tip.

Simon making his way through a vent as he encounters something really creepy. Note that the Glock 17 is dual-wielded with a flare which mirrors the pistol model, this will happen to all dual-wielded weapons.

A Suicider with a Glock 17 next to him after the committing the act. These enemies, once they spot Simon, will run towards him firing wildly. They can be easily taken care of with one headshot as their heads are rather large. However, if they get close enough to Simon, they will raise the gun to their head and kill themselves.

The Glock 17 can be fitted with a Streamlight TLR 1 weaponlight, making it even more effective as one doesn't have to switch back and forth between their weapons in order to reload. The game states that the "extra weight added to the end of the barrel will affect accuracy" albeit it's hard to notice any discernible difference.

The Streamlight TLR 1 weaponlight fitted onto the Glock 17 in a blood-stained apartment.

Heckler & Koch VP70M

The Heckler & Koch VP70M with its distinctive stock is a fairly rare weapon in-game. Due to the fact that it can't be dual-wielded with a light source, is locked to fire in three-round bursts (leading to strong recoil) and its ammo being somewhat rare, makes it a rather impractical weapon.

The VP70 could initially be dual-wielded with other items like the Glock 17, this feature was however removed in a patch.

Heckler & Koch VP70M with stock - 9x19mm

Simon first finds a VP70M lying about in an alley.

Not knowing what he's getting himself into, he picks it up.

Taking a peek at the right side of the pistol.

Realizing that the pistol is crap, Simon makes his way to Akademibokhandeln, hoping he could trade it with a Carl Jung book. Akademibokhandeln an actual chain of bookstores in Sweden.

Finding the store closed, Simon sights up a Polis car (Swedish for police)

After an annoyed mag dump, Simon reloads his VP70M, first pulling out the mag...

...inserting a new one...

...then racking the slide. This is correct, as real VP70's do no have a slide hold open mechanism.

Ruger P345

The Ruger P345 is first seen in a bowling alley in the mental hospital. When first picking it up, it's empty and there's no ammo around for it. Simon must bring it to the Doctor were he's given the choice of either keeping it for himself or giving it to the Doctor. If one chooses to keep it, it's not possible to acquire Taurus Model 605 later on.

While it has more stopping power than the Glock 17, it's overall a worse weapon, having a slower reload, smaller magazine capacity, rarer ammo, and more recoil.

Ruger P345 with stainless steel slide - .45 ACP

Simon tries bowling with an P345, which works better than expected.

The sights on the P345 glow in the dark, which might seem like a nice feature, but is largely useless as it wouldn't be possible to see whatever you're shooting at anyway.

Simon considering handing over the empty P345 to the Doctor or keeping it for himself.

After deciding to keep it for himself (leading to some nasty consequences) he reloads the pistol.

Inserting a new magazine

Just about to hit the slide release.

Simon with his new-found P345 pistol, about to cross a lake at dawn. This is the first time a level takes place at day.

Taurus Model 605

The Taurus Model 605 fitted with rubber grips is carried by the Doctor in the story mode and the unlockable "Doctor's Story" mode. He will use it against Simon if he doesn't give the Doctor the P345 in the mental hospital. Simon can however procure it himself if he does give the Doctor the P345. Doctor's Story has him start with one in his inventory, with 25 rounds in reserve.

It is very powerful, being able to take down most smaller enemies with just one shot. It can't however be dual-wielded with any other item, limiting its use. It also only holds five rounds, has very strong recoil and a long reload time. Additionally, reloading will cause Simon to drop every round loaded into the weapon, without attempting to retain any unfired rounds, then reload them one at a time - although the second half can be interrupted after any number of bullets have been loaded if the situation requires it.

Taurus Model 605 - .357 Magnum

The markings on the right side of the 605. These can't be seen during normal gameplay. The serial number is one from the similar Taurus Model 85, a similar revolver chambered for the weaker .38 Special.

Browning Hi-Power Mark III

A Browning Hi-Power Mark III makes a brief appearance in the endings of the game. It is however only briefly usable in a some of the endings.

Commercial Browning Hi-Power Mark III - 9x19mm

A good shot of the Browning Hi-Power. Here it's easy to I.D the Hi-Power as a Mark III due to its ambi safety and plastic grips.

Simon inspecting the weapon.

Ditto.

Simon making his way out of his apartment, armed with a Hi-Power.

What he finds out there is hardly pleasant.

Reloading the Hi-Power simply shows it being pulled off-screen along with a bunch of noises telling us that it's being reloaded. The slide doesn't lock back once the magazine is dry.

Submachine Guns

Brügger & Thomet MP9

The B&T MP9, incorrectly called a TMP in-game, is only available to people who donated money to the game's development. It is not a particularly useful weapon as the recoil of firing in full-auto leads to very poor accuracy.

Brügger & Thomet MP9 with stock extended - 9x19mm

A texture-less render of the MP9. What confirms it as an MP9 and not a TMP is the different front barrel design, integrated rails and the new style folding stock.

Simon making his way towards an escalator, MP9 in hand for whatever might be waiting at the top.

Shotguns

Remington Model 870

The Remington Model 870 is the only shotgun in the game. While its ammo is fairly rare, its power more than makes up for it. Its ability to reload at any time without having to lose ammo (thanks to its tubular magazine) is also very helpful. As with all long guns however, it's limited by the fact that it can't be wielded along with a light source.

Remington 870 Wingmaster with 20" Home Defense barrel - 12 gauge

Simon meeting the 870's former owner.

Simon, seeing as he is running into monsters around every corner, decides to "borrow" the shotgun.

Iron sights

Loading up...

Chambering a shell.

The world model for the 870 shows it with an extended magazine tube, despite having a standard length one on the first-person model.

Different models of the shotgun before its final form. The earlier models have more in common with the Mossberg 500

Rifles

Stag Arms AR-15

The Stag Arms AR-15 (going by that name in-game) is a powerful weapon, being able to switch between semi-auto and 3-round burst fire. This feature is only present on M16A2s, the real Stag Arms AR is a civilian rifle only capable of semi auto fire. Either way, one should stick to semi-auto unless they got a damn good reason. It is loaded with 20-round magazines that correctly hold 20 rounds.

Real Stag Arms AR has removable carry handles. The AR in-game mixes part of the M16A2 and the Stag AR to put it simply.

Colt M16A2 - 5.56x45mm. Select Fire rifle (Safe/Semi/3 round Burst Only).

Simon finds an M16A2 on the ground after running away from a pesky chainsaw wielding freak. Here it's possible to note the lack of a bayonet lug on the gas block, indicating it as a civilian rifle.

Simon overlooking a park with his M16A2. This park bears strong resemblance to an actual park in Stockholm, Sweden, albeit the in-game rendition is much smaller. The orange building to the far left would be Stockholms stadsbiblotek while a building to the right (out of frame) would be Handelshögskolan.

Iron sights

Loading up the M16A2 with a new 20-round mag.

Pulling the charging handle to chamber a new round. The bolt doesn't lock back on the last round.

While hard to notice, a nice detail with the M16A2 is that the fire selector actually moves when Simon flicks between the fire modes. Here's he's putting it on burst-fire...

...and here on semi. It should be noted that the markings on the rifle calls semi-auto "fire", meaning that the texture was obviously based on the civilian rifle, with the burst markings added to the blank space after fire.

Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk.III* (HT)

The Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk.III* (HT), the sniper variant of the No. 1 Mk.III*, is the only firearm in the game with some sort of optic/scope. While it's powerful, it has limited use as most of the combat in the game takes place at close ranges. Its 10-round magazine is always loaded with only 5 rounds, and for some reason triggering a reload will make any rounds left in the magazine disappear as if Simon is detaching and replacing the magazine like the other weapons.

Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk.III* (HT) - .303 British

Simon is definitely okay now that he has found a scoped SMLE.

Simon releasing his long wait for the bus has been a waste of time as the road is blocked.

Were gonna need a bigger gun to take care of this obstruction.

Regardless, Simon takes a shot at the van and cycles the bolt.

Five shots later and the van still hasn't blown up, Simon reloads his rifle. Pulling back the bolt...

...and loading up.

Render of the Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk.III* (HT).

FAMAS G2

The FAMAS G2 is only available to players who have completed the game on Nightmare difficulty, which is no easy feet. The effort is however worth it as the weapon has infinite ammo.

FAMAS G2 with proprietary bipod deployed - 5.56x45mm. Note 30-round STANAG magazine.

Gewehr 43

The Gewehr 43 is only available in the co-op mode.

Gewehr 43 - 7.92x57mm Mauser

A player controlled Polis character with a G43 in co-op observing a real ruckus.