Enemy Zero

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.

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.

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.

Prior to Enemy Zero's U.S. release, John Ricciardi of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) made it his pick for "Sleeper Hit of the Holidays" for 1997, having enjoyed what he played of the Japanese version. American magazine GameFan called it their "Best Import Game of the Year" of 1996. British magazine Mean Machines ran a full review of the Japanese version of the game, nearly a year before its release in Europe. They opined that the state-of-the-art full-motion video rendering was itself enough to give the game a high review score.

Upon release, Enemy Zero received a wide spectrum of reviews, and critics sharply disagreed on a number of points. g. finding a keycard tells the player that they will eventually find a locked door to open) or so illogical that even after completing the puzzle it is not apparent what triggered the solution. In contrast, Next Generation insisted that "puzzles are logically designed, not contrived."