Review Fix Exclusive: Philip Wiley Talks ‘Depths of Fear :: Knossos’

Review Fix chats with ‘Depths of Fear :: Knossos’ Developer Philip Wiley, who discusses the recently released action/RPG.

“Depths of Fear: Knossos” places you in the role of the hero Theseus while he hunts the infamous Minotaur downward through the dark crypts, temples, palaces and caves of Crete, fighting mythical creatures along the way the likes of Saytr, Cerberus, Centaur, Manticore, Griffin, Medusa and Hydra.

Review Fix: What’s the inspiration for the game?

Philip Wiley: The initial inspiration was my fondness of Roguelikes like Nethack and Moria; Depths of Fear is built around progressing downward through randomly generated levels. When doing the visuals, I thought a lot about Ray Harryhausen movies. The setting comes from my interest in history and Greek Mythology specifically.

Review Fix: What do you think is the game’s biggest redeemable quality?

Wiley: The game is at it’s best when you are creeping through a randomized tunnel avoiding a monster you haven’t seen yet. I still jump myself testing every once in a while when I turn a corner and something screams at me.

Review Fix: Can you discuss the visual look of the game? How would you describe it?

Wiley: 99% of the game is underground so it is very dark. There’s a lot of reference to the real life ruined palace at Knossos in architecture and frescoes.

Review Fix: You mentioned in a press release you took a risk making this game, can you discuss that a bit?

Wiley: I was freelancing and doing well for myself, but my heart was never in the projects. The specific risk I mentioned in that quote was Ramen poisoning

Review Fix: What are your hopes for this game?

Wiley: I’d love happy players and enough sales to fund the next game.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Wiley: A constellation in the shape of a bull. Also, I’d like it to be remembered as a unique experience that scared people.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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