Roped Off Apartment

Roped Off Apartment
Type	Nightmare Sequence
Map Name	c_down, c_apartment3sick
Inhabitants	Faceless, The Face, Sawrunner, Croucher

The Roped Off Apartment (called Down in the game files) represents a level visited by Simon in Cry of Fear. On his return to The Apartments to retrieve one of the fuses needed to open a door locked by Doctor Purnell, Simon enters an apartment that was previously roped off with chains and a "Do not enter" sign, and enters another nightmare sequence.

Background

The bloody apartment

Upon entering the roped off apartment, which is now accessible (the chains appear broken), Simon enters an apartment in which the walls, floor, ceiling, roof, and all items are covered in a layer of blood.

The never ending corridor

After using a ladder in the middle of the room, Simon descends into a long and seemingly endless corridor, and a voice (seemingly that of Doctor Purnell) narrates what seems like a psychiatric evaluation of Simon and gives a little more background on his treatment prior to the events of the game. The Black Day is referenced here by Doctor Purnell.

Attacked by the crawling faceless

The player will continue to be warped to the beginning of the corridor until the doctor is finished speaking. After the doctor is finished speaking, the player continues along the corridor until going through the door at the end. After going through the door the player faces another encounter with The Face, which flails around wildly, and unlike the encounter in the opening nightmare sequence can now deal damage if you get too close. Four Faceless appear from behind bars, once they are killed the bars to the exit are released, and a unique variant of the faceless appears, which plays dead until the player comes close. When awakened, however, they both move and attack with great speed. After this encounter, an attempt to use the exit door will cause Sawrunner to appear (he doesn't attack), and the floor falls away. Simon falls into a void and is attacked by another unique variant of the faceless... the "faced" faceless.

The "faced" faceless

Simon heads for a door at the end of the void, this takes him to the end of the nightmare sequence, and back into the apartment, where the fuse can now be retrieved, and there is no ladder in the middle of the room.

Simon's Psychiatric Evaluation

On this level, when the player descends the ladder and enters the endless corridor, The doctor can be heard reading out a psyche evaluation. This is what the doctor says about Simon's condition:

“	I've always felt alone. My whole life. For as long as I can remember. I don't know if I like it or if I'm used to it, but I know this; being lonely does things to you. Feeling shit and bitter and angry all the time just... eats away at you...	”
	— Simon in the intro of Cry of Fear

Relevance to Simon

Cry Of Fear - Simon's Psychiatric Evaluation

Doctor Purnell reads Simon's psychiatric evaluation

The name of the level being "down", and the symbolic descent down the ladder into a dark, endless corridor would suggest that this nightmare sequence and level is intended to represent Simon's dark descent into psychosis, depression, and suicidal thought. The fact that the face appears in this level and flails around wildly, harming the player if they get too close may also represent Simon's growing psychosis, as well as the fact that he has begun lashing out at his family and doctor and the world at large.

The purpose of the unique faceless variants found during this nightmare sequence is never fully explained, however the crawling faceless that attack the player could further represent Simon's fury, lashing out at the world because being crippled makes him feel weak and useless (the way the faceless crawl could represent his own Mobility issues). The "faced" faceless could represent the fact that the mask Simon presents to the world is slipping, it could also represent Simon's internal conflict over the doctor's desire to get him to open up and reveal the depth of his psychological issues, essentially exposing his real personality. The fact that the faceless have female bodies could also signify Simon's growing conflict over his feelings for Sophie (the face representing the fact that he chose to reveal his true feelings for her, which led to him being hurt by her rejection).

Trivia

• This particular level contains a number of unique events and monsters that will never appear again in the game later.
  • The face will deal damage when you gets near it. Though it doesn't intend to attack you, however, it is hostile towards you.
  • Two unique faceless varieties (Faced, Crawling) made their only appearance in this level.
  • A non-hostile Sawrunner also can be encountered after the door opens. The model is motionless, and only appears as a jump scare.
• As the layout of the main room is similar to the layout of the kitchen in Simon's home, it is heavily implied that the roped off apartment represents Simon's home.