Deep Fear is a game that few have played. It is a Resident Evil style game that has the distinction of being the final game to officially release on the Sega Saturn…in Europe at least. Japan got more games, and it also wasn’t the final Saturn game to come out in the US. In fact, Deep Fear didn’t release in the United States at all which adds to the rarity of the game.
Deep Fear has always had a special place in my heart as although it was the last new Saturn game available in the UK, it’s also the game which convinced me to get a Saturn.
As a huge fan of the Resident Evil series, I was desperate for more survival horror games having played Resident Evil 1, Director’s Cut and Resident Evil 2. Sure, there were also the Alone in the Dark games that preceded Resi, but at a time before even Silent Hill was out, Deep Fear was the best bet for some survival horror action.
Deep Fear is basically Resident Evil on a submarine. Featuring tank controls and pre-rendered locations where the camera angles flip about as you move to the edge of the screen, it is pretty much following the Resident Evil playbook to the letter. Taking place on an underwater military base, the idea of being trapped way below the surface of the ocean with terrifying monsters and potential low oxygen sounds the perfect recipe for a survival horror game. Add to the fact that the Resident Evil series has set its horror at sea multiple times and Dead Space goes the similar low oxygen route, but in space tells you that Sega we’re onto something with this setting.
In practice the game doesn’t quite make the best use of its setting and scenario, but it’s more a case of some missed opportunities than a complete botch.
In the game you play as John Mayor, a generic army dude who has a sad back story that his loved one has died and he’s still coming to terms with it. On the military base the government is aware of something having crashed into the ocean from outer space and they’re investigating it.
There are a cast of other characters including Mookie, DuBious and Gena. They all feature throughout the game, but without spoiling the full story for those of you who haven’t played it yet, some of them are there to pull on the heart strings with love and tragedy. Or at least that’s the idea. The voice acting and script in the game are just as bad if not worse than the original Resident Evil game. Still, if you’re looking to dive into a 1998 survival horror game you should expect shoddy voice acting. It’s part of the charm.
The monsters are scary in appearance and whilst there may be some tense moments of battles, the game doesn’t really deliver tons of jump scares. There isn’t much in way of music as the game goes more with the ambient sounds of being on the submarine. This does mean that when you first enter a room and you hear a creepy mutant hissing you do get a chill down your spine for the fight you’re about to encounter.
The game does have a great mechanic in that for many areas you will have to contend with an ever-decreasing air supply. This means that there feels like a constant timer to get through areas before you literally suffocate. Fortunately, you have a respirator which can be refilled with air and you can pick up air filled grenades which can buy you extra oxygen time. If anything, it feels that Sega should have used the diminishing air mechanic to greater effect than they did as you will rarely find yourself unable to solve the oxygen problem.
And this is something that is another issue in the game. A little bit like some later survival horror games, this game allows you to refill your ammo and supplies without major limitations. This means that unless faced with a boss to fight you can easily take out each enemy one at a time and then go and refill supplies to mean you have near unlimited ammo.
The controls are good and unlike Resident Evil they made it so you can move and shoot at the same time which works great. This means you kinda have an auto aim to shoot enemies on the ground or above on the ceiling but being able to move and shoot at the same time does feel like something people wanted in early survival horror games but seldom got.
One thing the game was criticised for when it first released was that there are sections where your character is under water and the only way this changes gameplay is that your character runs slower and doesn’t have any kind of swimming mechanic. Ultimately other survival horror games have gone the same route and just have you walk slow through water. Whilst it would have been cool for you to be able to swim in theory, thinking of other swimming sections in games from the era like Tomb Raider, Zelda or Mario 64 I’m kinda glad you don’t have to swim. Those were always some of my least favourite sections of those games.
Once you’ve played through the game there really isn’t anything to go back for other than to play through the story again. Unfortunately, there’s no hidden weapons to unlock or a battle mode or multiplayer. It’s a game I think old school survival horror fans will want to play through more than once, but for many they’ll be ready to move onto something else after the credits roll.
Conclusion
Deep Fear is a great hidden gem for old school Resident Evil fans to pick up if you can get a copy. As Saturn emulation has always been a tricky system to get working it may be difficult to play if you don’t have an original copy as the game has never been rereleased, but it’s definitely worth getting your hands on if you can.
Retro Review Rating
For fans of old school survival horror games this will be right up your street. It’s not as good as the likes of Resident Evil 1-3 or Silent Hill, but certainly is a great bite of this genre from back in the day.
Modern Rating
To hold this game up to modern standards, it’s still very playable, and whilst the backgrounds look good even now, the models and gameplay is dated. The story and acting is cheesy and with it’s one and done story mode it’s not something most people should rush to play unless they have their rose tinted glasses ready.
You can get loads more Gaming articles in the Gaming section of the site, and don’t forget to check out all our gaming videos on the Geek Battle Gaming YouTube Channel and the Geek Battle comedy panel show on the Extreme Improv XStreamed YouTube Channel
