Enemy Zero (1996)

***Enemy Zero*** is a 1996 horror-themed adventure video game for the Sega Saturn, developed by Warp and directed by Kenji Eno. Players assume the role of an astronaut who awakens from cryogenic sleep to find her spaceship overrun by invisible creatures who are hunting and killing the ship's crew. They must navigate through the ship in a combination of puzzle-driven exploration rendered in full motion video and first-person shooter sections rendered in real time, during which they must rely on sound to either avoid or kill the invisible enemies.

*Enemy Zero* was initially designed for Sony's PlayStation, but due to grievances with Sony, Eno announced the game would be Saturn exclusive in a dramatic press conference stunt. As support for the Saturn outside of Japan was waning at the time, finding overseas publishers for the game became an uncertain struggle, with Sega itself ultimately taking on publication of the game in both North America and Europe. Upon release the game met with a wide spectrum of responses from critics, with some finding the game slow-paced and frustratingly difficult, while others praised its innovative emphasis on sound and the unique tension resulting from the gameplay design and setting.

Despite the divisive critical response and the exclusivity to a declining platform, *Enemy Zero* was a modest commercial success. After its Saturn release, it was ported to Microsoft Windows. It was the second game to star the "digital actress" Laura, the first being *D*. Laura is voiced by Jill Cunniff of the band Luscious Jackson in the English versions and Yui Komazuka in the Japanese version.

## Gameplay

In *Enemy Zero*, gameplay sequences alternate between interactive full motion video (FMV) and real time exploration, both from a first person perspective. The interactive FMV component uses gameplay identical to an earlier Warp game, *D*. The player explores node-based environments, acquiring items for their inventory and solving puzzles.

The real time component of *Enemy Zero* is unique. Enemies are invisible, and location is only possible through the use of sound, with notes of different pitch helping the player find the distance and direction of enemies. Additionally, every gun in the game must be charged up immediately before each shot, and charging a shot for too long will cause the charge to dissipate, after which the charging must start over. Since all available guns have very limited range, this makes timing crucial; beginning to charge the gun too late or too soon will allow the enemy to reach Laura, resulting in an immediate game over. Reloading the gun and moving the character around are mechanics that have been made intentionally slow, which incentives players to avoid combat and direct contact with the alien enemies as much as possible. In the early segments of the game, avoiding detection is not only recommended; it is required, since the player has no means to defend themselves without a gun.

## Plot

Aboard the AKI space craft, a space station dedicated to biological research, Laura Lewis is in a deep cryogenic slumber. The jets of the chamber dissipate as the craft's emergency systems are activated. Laura is awakened by a large detonation on her deck. Outside a door marked with the letters E0, something of great strength is trying to break free. The door is thrown down, and the hallway is filled with a bright, incandescent light, followed by a horrific growl. Pipes and the remains of the steel door shift around, as if being stepped on. Laura, unaware of what is happening, uses the video phone above her sleep chamber to contact one of her crewmates, Parker. Laura watches in confusion as Parker looks away from the monitor, to his room's entryway doors. A screech sends him backing up to reach for his gun. Laura watches as Parker is mutilated by an unseen enemy.

Getting dressed and grabbing her gun, Laura heads out to learn what attacked Parker. As she ventures through the ship, Laura's earring-shaped "guidance system" gives her aural warnings of invisible enemies (seen escaping in the intro sequence) roaming the ship's corridors. She discovers that even the ship's captain Ronny has also been killed by the creatures as well. Laura eventually meets up with Kimberley, another crewmate, and they make a plan to rendezvous with the other survivors. On their way Kimberley is attacked by an enemy and disappears, forcing Laura to make the journey on her own. She meets up with George, the ship's resident computer scientist; as well as David, her lover, and together they plan to head for the escape shuttles. Exploring the deceased captain's study, Laura discovers a log file that reveals that goal of the mission is to capture the enemies and bring them back to Earth for use as biological weapons on behalf of Vexx Industries, and that the crew is expendable in case of an accident.

David is attacked by one of the enemies, and when Laura discovers his corpse, she learns that David was actually an android. She performs a body-scan on herself and finds that not only is she also an android herself, but that one of the enemy larvae is developing in her neck. George confronts her and tries to wipe her memories, but is attacked and killed by an enemy. When Laura heads for the escape pods, she finds Kimberley again, who kills the larva nesting inside of Laura, and reveals that she and Parker were assigned by Vexx Industries to supervise the mission. Kimberley then triggers the ship's self-destruct mechanism, and leaves Laura to join Parker, killing herself while cradled up next to his corpse. As Laura heads for the escape shuttle, her guidance system runs out of battery, but instead she receives guidance from David, whose consciousness has been uploaded to the ship's computer systems. Laura reaches the escape shuttle just in time as the AKI blows up behind her, and she enters cryogenic sleep one more time as she makes the return voyage to Earth.

## Development

Commenting on the impetus for *Enemy Zero*, designer Kenji Eno said, "I wanted to ask the question, 'Why do human beings exist?' That's why the game evolved into something with an enclosed space and invisible enemy - so that you would be forced to think about your own existence."

*Enemy Zero* began life on Sony's PlayStation. Its unveiling at the 1996 PlayStation Expo in Tokyo was described by journalists as the highlight of the show. Irritated by Sony's failure to meet even a third of preorders for the PlayStation version of *D* (and to a lesser extent, their policy that all marketing for third party games had to be approved by them), at a press conference during the expo Kenji Eno made a shocking move. Eno showed a preview of *Enemy Zero*. At the end of the clip the PlayStation logo appeared, but slowly transitioned into the Sega Saturn logo, indicating that the game would now be a Saturn exclusive. Despite popular opinion that the Saturn cannot handle 3D games as well as the PlayStation, Eno commented "...the PlayStation and the Saturn aren't that different, so moving [*Enemy Zero*] to Saturn wasn't too difficult." Acclaim Entertainment, which had published the Saturn and PlayStation versions of *D* in North America and Europe, withdrew their interest in publishing *Enemy Zero* in those regions due to the change in platform.

The game was written by Yūji Sakamoto [ja], who went on to write the film *Crying Out Love in the Center of the World* and the TV series *Quartet*. Fumito Ueda, director of the video games *Ico* and *Shadow of the Colossus*, worked as an animator on *Enemy Zero* before becoming a video game director. *Enemy Zero* was in development for nine months.

The full motion video sequences were all rendered on Silicon Graphics workstations using PowerAnimator.