Reader Reviews

Enemy Zero (Saturn/PC)

by Kami

If last week's review of The Phantom Slayer by 3William56 reminded me of anything, it was Enemy Zero. I've never played The Phantom Slayer, however I don't doubt that at its time, it was not dissimilar to Enemy Zero... brought to us by Warp, the guys behind "D".

You take the role of Laura, who is rudely awakened from cryogenic sleep when the ships security goes a bit berserk. A little confused and bewildered, no thanks to the fast-thaw process, Laura checks the security monitor to witness... something invisible... rip apart her friend, Parker.

The controls in Enemy Zero are a mix of third-person corridors and D-style room investigation. The rooms are safe, the corridors are not, for in the corridors, the vents and large rooms lurk your foes: invisible aliens.

What? Invisible? Yup. Your foes are invisible. So how do you know where they are? Why, your little VPS (Think of the marines' radar from Alien Vs. Predator.) It pings when an enemy is in your vicinity, and as it draws close, the pings get more and more frequent and closely packed. Usually in proportion to your own rapidly rising heart rate...

So, how do you defend yourself? Well, you pick up a Charge Pistol. This baby is your friend for the game, but it has its drawbacks. You can only charge up one shot, so you have to make it count, and with invisible enemies it can be frustrating but also pant-fillingly scary. You have to survive here, and charge your gun up at power points littered about the game.

One thing that can be said, is that graphically even today, it holds a good deal of weight. The atmosphere and art is spot-on, the characters well modelled and detailed. It looks pretty nice, considering it was released in 1997, which is a testament to Warp's unique take on an adventure game. The gore level is high, and there's even a part where you need to use a severed hand to open a door. (I'll leave it up to Tom to make a witty reply to that scenario.)

The game, however, is quiet. Eerily quiet, with only your VPS unit for company. When it beeps, you know an alien is on the prowl, and then the beeps get faster... faster.... charge... FIRE! Miss, you die, game over. You get killed instantly in this game.

The number of saves, however, are limited. You can only make 30 saves in total, and they need to be used wisely. It adds to the helpless feeling you get from the game; that you're not going to survive for much longer. You know that your odds are slim, but the game just pulls you back for some reason.

Yes, the game is frustrating, infuriating, and very difficult. But the magic is in the way it keeps you hooked. Enemy Zero has a strange quality that keeps you coming back for more. You get killed; you go off for a few hours or a day or two mumbling curses and foul language. But for some bizarre reason, it drags you back.

No amount of fresh underpants will prepare you for this game. It is true that it offers nothing in replay value. It is true that the difficulty is extreme at the best of times. But therein lies the beauty of this game: you are alone, save a few other characters who die very quickly. You are outnumbered, lost, and unprepared. The spaceship you are on is locked down and you have to make your way wherever possible. This game is just scary.

You will die in this game. Plenty of times. But somehow, it tugs you back to it's brutal grasp time and time again. It's abusive, but you get into it and know that deeper within, there's something more.