Fear Effect
Encyclopedia
Fear Effect is an action-adventure game
released for the PlayStation in 1999. It was developed
by Kronos Digital Entertainment
and published
by Eidos Interactive
. The story concerns three outlaws named Hana, Deke, and Glas who are trying to retrieve the missing daughter of a wealthy Chinese businessman. Essentially a cyberpunk
adventure set in futuristic China, Fear Effects storyline also incorporates elements of Chinese mythology
. It was followed by Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
, a prequel
which chronicles the events that lead directly into those in Fear Effect.
. Rather than using pre-rendered
2D
backgrounds, the environments are composed of streaming or looping full-motion video. As a consequence, the game is composed of four discs. There are also puzzles interspersed between action sequences, similar to other games of the survival horror genre.
The player controls one of three mercenaries (either Hana, Deke, or Glas) and pilots them through areas filled with human and non-human enemies. The game controls are similar to traditional survival horror tank controls, with an exception being that the characters can run and shoot simultaneously. When wielding two guns (one in each hand), they are also able to shoot multiple enemies at the same time. Another feature is the ability to duck and roll; while facing a number of the armed foes, the player can roll a short distance and avoid taking enemy fire.
The game's title refers to the player's life bar, a meter which resembles a pulsing EKG
. When the player is damaged, the green line of the EKG will pulse faster and turn red. It is possible to 'regain' health by performing acts that will calm that character's heart rate. These include solving a puzzle or sneaking behind a guard to perform a stealth kill. Both will be rewarded with a health boost that brings the meter back to green.
Triad boss disappears, a trio of mercenaries arrive in the city to look for her. The fact that they have not been hired to do so does not dissuade any of them; their intentions are to find and kidnap the girl before her father's men locate her, then hold her for ransom
. The girl in question, Wee Ming, has vanished into the fictional Shan Xi protectorate
; Hana Tsu Vachel, the lead character and femme fatale
of the group, used to work in a brothel
somewhere in that region.
Hana arrives in Hong Kong accompanied by her male partners, Royce Glas and Deke DeCourt. What begins as a simple snatch and grab turns into a fiasco: The father of the runaway, Mr. Lam, attributes his fortune and power to a pact he made with demon
s long ago. Wee Ming, who is of demonic descent, has been scheduled to serve as a sacrifice to Yim Lau Wong
, the mythical "King of Hell
". When Glas is caught trying to rescue Wee Ming, Mr. Lam surprises Glas, cutting off his left arm. At the same time, Deke is murdered while trying to infiltrate the brothel.
The one-armed Glas reawakens in a meat locker, surprised to find he is still alive; he surmises that Mr. Lam must be planning a slow death for him. Wee Ming arrives and tries her best to free him. When Hana storms in to confront her former boss, Madam Chen, she learns that Chen is actually a demon in disguise. In the ensuing fight, Chen and her minions are killed, but Mr. Lam disappears with his daughter into a portal to Hell
. Determined to save Wee Ming from whatever fate Mr. Lam has in store for her, Hana follows them into the portal, with Glas reawaking, and frees himself to give chase.
The last chapter of the game is a surreal journey through Hell where the Hana meets the Black Guard of Impermanence and White Guard of Impermanence (黑白无常) who gives her cryptic messages about her fate. Glas encounters the reanimated corpse of Deke, who is being tortured for the many murders he has committed. Deke takes on a grotesque demonic form and attacks Glas. After he is victorious, Glas promises to avenge Deke. Meanwhile, Hana finally confronts Yim Lau Wong, who explains that Hell has become overburdened with the soul
s of the guilty. Once Wee Ming is returned to the netherworld, Yim Lau Wong will be able to expand the reaches of Hell and consume Earth. Hana was chosen to look after Wee Ming because Yim Lau Wong desired someone "ruthless" to be her guardian.
At a critical moment, Glas reappears and tries to kill Wee Ming, believing her to be the root of the chaos. During the tense standoff between Hana and Glas, the player is given a choice over which of them should die. This decision will determine the final boss
as well as the subsequent ending. On the "Hard" difficulty setting
, a third option will become available: spare the lives of both Glas and Hana. In this ending, the pair emerge from the smoldering wreckage of the brothel, where they find a befuddled Deke sitting on a toilet. Deke has no memory of being killed, believing he has taken a bump to the head, and asks how they made out on the "deal". As he hoists himself out of the pit, Glas is stunned to realize that his left arm has been completely restored. The three partners walk off into the sunrise to continue their exploits.
and not, as it is sometimes believed, as a result of the NBC
reality TV game show Fear Factor
, which wouldn't debut until a year after the release of Fear Effect.
bought the film rights to the game as a deal with Eidos, who promised him the rights to Hitman
if he also bought the rights to Fear Effect. Eidos did not hold up their end of the deal, and as a result, Boll dropped the film. The rights were later picked up by Mindfire Entertainment, with Stanley Tong
in negotiation to direct and frequent Uwe Boll collaborator Mark A. Altman
handling the script. Although for a time it was listed as "in production" and having a 2008 release date on movie sites such as IMDb, there was almost no other concrete information regarding the film. Subsequently, the IMDb page has been taken down, and no further mention of a Fear Effect movie has been officially made anywhere since.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
released for the PlayStation in 1999. It was developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Kronos Digital Entertainment
Kronos Digital Entertainment
Kronos Digital Entertainment was a U.S.–based video game developer founded by Stan Liu in 1992. They first garnered attention for their contract work for Sierra On-Line, most notably the groundbreaking intro sequence they created for King's Quest 6...
and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
. The story concerns three outlaws named Hana, Deke, and Glas who are trying to retrieve the missing daughter of a wealthy Chinese businessman. Essentially a cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
adventure set in futuristic China, Fear Effects storyline also incorporates elements of Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...
. It was followed by Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix is an action-adventure game for the PlayStation in 2001. It was developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive. Fear Effect 2 is a prequel chronicling the events that lead up to the original Fear Effect...
, a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
which chronicles the events that lead directly into those in Fear Effect.
Gameplay
Fear Effect features gameplay with unshaded characters textured to resemble cel-shadingCel-shaded animation
Cel-shaded animation is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Cel-shading is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a somewhat recent addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in video games...
. Rather than using pre-rendered
Pre-rendered
Pre-rendering is the process in which video footage is not rendered in real-time by the hardware that is outputing or playing back the video. Instead, the video is a recording of a footage that was previously rendered on a different equipment...
2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
backgrounds, the environments are composed of streaming or looping full-motion video. As a consequence, the game is composed of four discs. There are also puzzles interspersed between action sequences, similar to other games of the survival horror genre.
The player controls one of three mercenaries (either Hana, Deke, or Glas) and pilots them through areas filled with human and non-human enemies. The game controls are similar to traditional survival horror tank controls, with an exception being that the characters can run and shoot simultaneously. When wielding two guns (one in each hand), they are also able to shoot multiple enemies at the same time. Another feature is the ability to duck and roll; while facing a number of the armed foes, the player can roll a short distance and avoid taking enemy fire.
The game's title refers to the player's life bar, a meter which resembles a pulsing EKG
Electrocardiogram
Electrocardiography is a transthoracic interpretation of the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time, as detected by electrodes attached to the outer surface of the skin and recorded by a device external to the body...
. When the player is damaged, the green line of the EKG will pulse faster and turn red. It is possible to 'regain' health by performing acts that will calm that character's heart rate. These include solving a puzzle or sneaking behind a guard to perform a stealth kill. Both will be rewarded with a health boost that brings the meter back to green.
Plot
When the daughter of a powerful Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
Triad boss disappears, a trio of mercenaries arrive in the city to look for her. The fact that they have not been hired to do so does not dissuade any of them; their intentions are to find and kidnap the girl before her father's men locate her, then hold her for ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
. The girl in question, Wee Ming, has vanished into the fictional Shan Xi protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
; Hana Tsu Vachel, the lead character and femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
of the group, used to work in a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
somewhere in that region.
Hana arrives in Hong Kong accompanied by her male partners, Royce Glas and Deke DeCourt. What begins as a simple snatch and grab turns into a fiasco: The father of the runaway, Mr. Lam, attributes his fortune and power to a pact he made with demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
s long ago. Wee Ming, who is of demonic descent, has been scheduled to serve as a sacrifice to Yim Lau Wong
Yama (Buddhism and Chinese mythology)
Yama the name of the Buddhist dharmapala and judge of the dead, who presides over the Buddhist Narakas , "Hells" or "Purgatories". Although ultimately based on the god Yama of the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Yama has developed different myths and different functions from the Hindu deity...
, the mythical "King of Hell
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
". When Glas is caught trying to rescue Wee Ming, Mr. Lam surprises Glas, cutting off his left arm. At the same time, Deke is murdered while trying to infiltrate the brothel.
The one-armed Glas reawakens in a meat locker, surprised to find he is still alive; he surmises that Mr. Lam must be planning a slow death for him. Wee Ming arrives and tries her best to free him. When Hana storms in to confront her former boss, Madam Chen, she learns that Chen is actually a demon in disguise. In the ensuing fight, Chen and her minions are killed, but Mr. Lam disappears with his daughter into a portal to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. Determined to save Wee Ming from whatever fate Mr. Lam has in store for her, Hana follows them into the portal, with Glas reawaking, and frees himself to give chase.
The last chapter of the game is a surreal journey through Hell where the Hana meets the Black Guard of Impermanence and White Guard of Impermanence (黑白无常) who gives her cryptic messages about her fate. Glas encounters the reanimated corpse of Deke, who is being tortured for the many murders he has committed. Deke takes on a grotesque demonic form and attacks Glas. After he is victorious, Glas promises to avenge Deke. Meanwhile, Hana finally confronts Yim Lau Wong, who explains that Hell has become overburdened with the soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
s of the guilty. Once Wee Ming is returned to the netherworld, Yim Lau Wong will be able to expand the reaches of Hell and consume Earth. Hana was chosen to look after Wee Ming because Yim Lau Wong desired someone "ruthless" to be her guardian.
At a critical moment, Glas reappears and tries to kill Wee Ming, believing her to be the root of the chaos. During the tense standoff between Hana and Glas, the player is given a choice over which of them should die. This decision will determine the final boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
as well as the subsequent ending. On the "Hard" difficulty setting
Difficulty level
In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game. Arcade games as well as many early console...
, a third option will become available: spare the lives of both Glas and Hana. In this ending, the pair emerge from the smoldering wreckage of the brothel, where they find a befuddled Deke sitting on a toilet. Deke has no memory of being killed, believing he has taken a bump to the head, and asks how they made out on the "deal". As he hoists himself out of the pit, Glas is stunned to realize that his left arm has been completely restored. The three partners walk off into the sunrise to continue their exploits.
Title Change
The game was originally titled Fear Factor, and some pre-release advertising used this title. The title was changed because it was too similar to the popular heavy metal band Fear FactoryFear Factory
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
and not, as it is sometimes believed, as a result of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
reality TV game show Fear Factor
Fear Factor
Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...
, which wouldn't debut until a year after the release of Fear Effect.
Film adaptation
In 2004, Uwe BollUwe Boll
Uwe Boll is a German director, producer and screenwriter, whose work includes several films adapted from video games. He finances his own films through his Boll KG production company. He is often cited as the worst director of all time.-Early life:...
bought the film rights to the game as a deal with Eidos, who promised him the rights to Hitman
Hitman (series)
Hitman is a stealth game series developed by the Danish company IO Interactive. The series is available on PC as well as several video game consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. The game series has since expanded into a novel, Hitman: Enemy Within written by...
if he also bought the rights to Fear Effect. Eidos did not hold up their end of the deal, and as a result, Boll dropped the film. The rights were later picked up by Mindfire Entertainment, with Stanley Tong
Stanley Tong
Stanley Tong is a film director from Hong Kong.According to IMDb , he customarily attempts stunts himself before asking actors to risk themselves...
in negotiation to direct and frequent Uwe Boll collaborator Mark A. Altman
Mark A. Altman
Mark A. Altman is a film producer, screenwriter and actor. In 1998, he won Best New Writer at AFI Fest. His credits include:*DOA: Dead or Alive *The Specials *Free Enterprise...
handling the script. Although for a time it was listed as "in production" and having a 2008 release date on movie sites such as IMDb, there was almost no other concrete information regarding the film. Subsequently, the IMDb page has been taken down, and no further mention of a Fear Effect movie has been officially made anywhere since.