- Games
- Cry of Fear
Cry of Fear
A free first-person horror game where up to four players fight through a dark, monster-filled town as a team.
Online co-op for up to 4 players.
- 4 online
Where to buy
Playing together
- Online co-op4 players
- Local co-opNot confirmed
- Not confirmedFriends on different platforms, such as PC and PlayStation, can play together.
- Not confirmedA friend can join or leave while you are already playing, without starting over.
- Not confirmedFriends play free with a Friend's Pass or similar.
- Steam DeckUnsupportedValve's own rating
About the game
Cry of Fear began as a Half-Life mod and is now a free game on Steam. The solo story follows a young man alone in a deserted town at night, where strange creatures and bad dreams close in. Co-op is its own full-length campaign for up to four players.
In co-op you play police officers tracking down the hero of the solo story, and the levels run through the town in reverse. It leans on guns more than slow dread, with many weapons to pick from and the odd puzzle to solve. You have to stick together to survive. A second co-op campaign called Manhunt is also official, and its difficulty can put some players off.
Getting connected takes effort. There is no simple host button, so you will most likely need a VPN program such as Hamachi. It suits a group that likes a hard shooter with scares and does not mind some setup.
How it feels
Kind of game
A team takes on missions or runs full of enemies. You pick gear, cover each other and pick each other up.
- At its heart
- Now and then
- Story
- Puzzles and figuring out
- Unlocks and progress
- Sessions
- Campaign to finish
- About
- Monsters
Rated on our own feel scale. 2 sources back these ratings.
Screenshots
From the Steam store page. Open one to see it full size.
If you liked Cry of Fear
You will probably enjoy these too. Each one says why.
Zombie Army Trilogy
Why it scores 76%
What they share
- Kind of game
- Squad shooter
- Notable in both
- Fear, Working in sync, Tension and danger, Getting better
- Core to both
- Fighting
- Sessions
- Campaign to finish
- Co-op
- Online co-op for up to 4 players
How Zombie Army Trilogy differs
- More time to just hang out than Cry of Fear
- 4 online
Both send your squad into fights where you watch each other's backs. Both are often scary. Both have a lot of fighting side by side.
But more time to just hang out than Cry of Fear.
Strange Brigade
Why it scores 75%
What they share
- Kind of game
- Squad shooter
- About
- Monsters
- Core to both
- Fighting
- Notable in both
- Working in sync
- Sessions
- Campaign to finish
- Co-op
- Online co-op for up to 4 players
How Strange Brigade differs
- More chaotic than Cry of Fear
- 4 online
Both send your squad into fights where you watch each other's backs. Both are about monsters that hunt you. Both are campaigns you play to the end together.
But more chaotic than Cry of Fear.
Gears 5
Why it scores 74%
What they share
- Kind of game
- Squad shooter
- About
- Monsters
- Core to both
- Fighting
- Notable in both
- Working in sync, Tension and danger, Getting better
- Sessions
- Campaign to finish
- Co-op
- Online co-op
How Gears 5 differs
- More planning than Cry of Fear
- 5 online
- 3 split-screen
- Crossplay
Both send your squad into fights where you watch each other's backs. Both are about monsters that hunt you. Both have a lot of fighting side by side.
But more planning than Cry of Fear.
All co-op facts
Last checked 28 October 2026. The small numbers link to the page that states each fact.
Co-op
- Fewest players online
- Not confirmed
- Local co-op
- Not confirmed
- Most players on one screen
- Not confirmed
- Split or shared screen
- Not confirmed
- Separate-device co-op
- Not confirmed
- Most players on separate devices
- Not confirmed
- Free base co-op
- Yes
The text says it is now a free standalone game. User tags include Free to Play.
- 127
- Crossplay
- Not confirmed
- Crossplay between
- Not confirmed
- Friends can join mid-game
- Not confirmed
- Only one of you needs to buy it
- Not confirmed
- Voice chat by distance
- Not confirmed
Sources
7 pages
store.steampowered.comStore page, read 28 October 2026
Backs Online co-op, Most players online, Free base co-op, Confirmed free setups, Sessions, Kind of game, About, Fear, Story, Fighting, Unlocks and progress.
- Online co-op: The text calls it a single-player and co-op horror game with a full-length co-op campaign. It does not say online. User tags include Online Co-Op, and the maker's tutorial and Game Rant describe co-op between separate PCs over a network.
- Most players online: Key features list a full-length co-op campaign with up to 4 players.
- Free base co-op: The text says it is now a free standalone game. User tags include Free to Play.
- Confirmed free setups: The co-op campaign is part of the same free download, with no purchase or paid content needed. The page lists no group sizes, so none are given.
- Sessions: Key features list a full-length co-op campaign and an extra campaign that unlocks after the single-player one.
- Kind of game: Key features pair a co-op campaign for up to 4 players with a large set of weapons. Game Rant describes the co-op as a team shooter.
- About: The text describes a deserted town filled with horrific creatures.
- Fear: User tags include Horror, Psychological Horror, Survival Horror and Atmospheric. Game Rant says the co-op moves away from psychological horror, so co-op is rated 2 and not 3.
- Story: User tags include Story Rich, but the story is mainly the solo campaign. The co-op follows a different team, so it is rated 1.
- Fighting: User tags include Action, FPS and Shooter, and the page lists 24 weapons.
- Unlocks and progress: Key features list over 20 unlockables and an extra campaign after beating single-player.
store.steampowered.comStore data, read 28 October 2026
Backs Steam app ID, Release status, Release date, Platforms, Free base co-op.
- Release status: coming_soon is false.
- Release date: Steam shows Apr 25, 2013, the day this standalone version came out. The game began earlier as a Half-Life mod.
- Platforms: Steam lists Windows only. It does not list macOS or Linux builds.
- Free base co-op: is_free is true, with no price and no DLC listed.
store.steampowered.comStore data, read 28 October 2026
Backs Steam Deck.
- Steam Deck: Valve's report says SteamOS does not support the game, so it is rated Unsupported.
wikidata.orgWikidata, read 28 October 2026
Backs Wikidata item, Genres, Release date.
- Genres: P136 lists survival horror game and first-person shooter.
- Release date: P577 is 2013-04-25.
gamerant.comPress, read 28 October 2026
Backs Online co-op, Kind of game, Sessions, Fear, Tension and danger, Story, Fighting, Working in sync, Puzzles and figuring out, Getting better.
- Online co-op: List entry, updated 2026-10-11, says you cannot just click host and will almost certainly need a LAN emulator such as Hamachi, so separate PCs play over a network.
- Kind of game: Says the co-op moves toward a hard shooter with puzzles, where the team must work together to survive.
- Sessions: Says the standard co-op runs through the single-player levels in reverse, and Manhunt is a second official co-op campaign.
- Fear: Says the multiplayer shifts away from psychological horror.
- Tension and danger: Describes the co-op as a very hard shooter.
- Story: Says you play police officers tracking down Simon, the hero of the single-player story.
- Fighting: Describes the co-op as a shooter.
- Working in sync: Says the team needs to work together to survive in one piece.
- Puzzles and figuring out: Says the co-op shooter comes with puzzles.
- Getting better: Says the difficulty can be a sticking point, especially in Manhunt.
youtube.comOfficial support page, read 28 October 2026
Backs Online co-op.
- Online co-op: The maker's own channel posted a Hamachi tutorial for playing co-op. Only the video title and channel were read, since a video page does not show its content as text.
pcgamer.comPress, read 28 October 2026
Backs Free base co-op.
- Free base co-op: April 2013 article calls it a free mod that is released as a standalone download on Steam.