Wes Craven's Principles of Fear
Preview by Al Giovetti
Release: October 1997
Genre: animated graphic adventure
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Developer: Asylum Entertainment, http://www.asyluminc.com/
Publisher: Cyberdreams
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Web site: www.cyberdreams.com
Requirements: Windows 95

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Company line: The director who brought your nightmares to life now brings them to your PC. Cyberdreams Inc., the creators of such acclaimed titles as DARK SEED(tm) and I HAVE NO MOUTH, AND I MUST SCREAM(tm), are proud to announce plans to release their next title WES CRAVEN'S PRINCIPLES OF FEAR. This first ever CD-ROM game from the science-fiction and horror film master whose films include "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "The People Under the Stairs," and "The Serpent and the Rainbow".

Prominent game developer Asylum Entertainment (whose recent credits include the military strategy adventure ALLIED GENERAL(tm) for SSI and SIMFARM(tm) for Maxis), has signed on with Cyberdreams, Inc. to develop the CD-ROM action-adventure. Asylum, who established themselves for developing a revolutionary sound driver for Apple Computers, will work closely with Cyberdreams to turn the popular writer and director's insights on the essence of fear into a compelling three-dimensional game.

"The goal is to create an action-adventure which encompasses all levels of human fear and conflict within a challenging game scenario," said David Mullich, creative director for Cyberdreams. "Many games today do justice in rendering ferocious combat, while others take great care in presenting a psychological challenge, but few successfully combine both elements. 'Wes Craven's Principles of Fear' does just that."

Dream Fabrication and Design, WES CRAVEN'S PRINCIPLES OF FEAR, designed by Dream Fabrication and Design, will incorporate Asylum's Insane 3-D(TM) texture mapping engine with polygon characters to create an environment rich with paranoia, depravity and numerous portals into nightmare worlds hidden within a seemingly serene house. Run on Windows '95, PRINCIPLES OF FEAR will provide a mix of first and third-person points of view to heighten the sense of drama and suspense.

PRINCIPLES OF FEAR will be the ultimate test of nerves as players trapped in a house of darkness are forced to confront and conquer their Seven Mortal Fears: Fear of the Bad Parent, Fear of the Predator, Fear of Immobility, Fear of Falling, Fear of Drowning, Fear of Loss of Self, and Fear of Chaos.

Fears progress from the most primal, as in the case of players as children being abandoned by their parents, to the most adult, which include the social, emotional and intellectual disasters that haunt players as teens and adults. Each anxiety is tested through distinct, deadly challenges--both real and imaginary. Spider webs paralyze a character's mobility; nightmares and hallucinations feed his phobias of chaos, and supernatural stalkers will force a physical and emotional death match with the predator.

A players' ability to reason and come to grips with his or her character's inner demons are crucial to escape the prison they call home.

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References:
Cindy Yans, Computer Games, issue 74, March, 1997, pg. 28.