Loneliness kills. For some unfortunate souls, the feeling is an integral part of one's life - something to just get used to. Nothing really seems to be worth it when there's no one left to trust.
Cry of Fear used to be a game I only heard of in passing, never knowing what it was actually like. It didn't grab my full attention until after I had completed Afraid of Monsters as a way to kick off the Halloween spirit for last October. Both games were created using the Gold Source engine that the original Half-Life was built on, and Cry of Fear pushed that engine to a very impressive level.
The atmosphere is the strongest aspect of this game. It's not often I stop myself from continuing my progress just to take in the scenery. A barren city in the late of hours of the night may not be most unique setting for a horror game, but it is familiar enough for anyone to relate to and find uncanny, yet oddly calming. Paired with the wonderfully somber soundtrack, one can't help but notice how strong the desire internalized peace is - for everything to just be okay for once.
Something about this view in particular almost made me shed a tear for reasons I have yet to understand.
Cry of Fear's dark tone compliments the main problem the protagonist, Simon, faces: severe depression and the pathological loneliness that comes along with it. Launching the game immediately opens with a disclaimer about the sensitive subjects that are directly referenced to, those being Simon's history with antidepressant medication, therapy, trauma, substance use, self-harm, and suicide. There may those won't find the blatant imagery to be appealing from a story-telling perspective, but I found it to be something I can respect. Depression manifests itself in varying intensities; those who experience it may not express it the same way as another. In Simon's case, it's nearly taken over his life.
The one aspect holding back Cry of Fear from being on my personal list of favorite horror media is its frustrating gameplay.