In Cold Fear players assume the role of US coast guard Tom Hansen as he and a few team members infiltrate a Russian ship which seems to be at the mercy of the elements. With no crew in sight and an unnerving feeling that the ship is about to keel over at any time, it’s up to Tom and co to search for any survivors. However literally a few moments into the game, it transpires that things aren’t what they seem as Tom’s team gets picked off until its just Tom, the elements and the dark, smelly Russian fishing vessel left to fend for themselves. This is Cold Fear and if you set up a desk top fan on full power at your face and perhaps throw some water around (mind you don’t splash the electrics) then you might just get that Cold Fear atmosphere in your living room or gaming quarters. Now switch off the lights and make sure you have a sick bag close to hand as you might need it and get ready to play this survival horror type adventure.

Gamplay:

As mentioned earlier Cold Fear is a survival horror type game that is perhaps more akin to the recent Resident Evil 4 more than anything as there seems to be a healthy supply of ammo and health packs scattered about, or scavenged from the many corpses that are lying around. The first thing that grabs you when you first start playing is the accurate recreation of the fishing vessel going up against the storm. If you thought the ship in Metal Gear Solid 2 was good then you haven’t seen a ship, as this one realistically lists from side to side. Waves crash over the starboard and port sides (I think if I have the terminology correct) to such dramatic effect; even sending our Tom overboard if you are unlucky. The wind howls through wires and metallic stairways and objects sway from side to side causing injuring if you so happen to get hit by these; and this is just the exterior of the ship. Indoors paints a slightly less hectic picture but one that still points to the fact that you are most definitely on a ship in a raging storm. What is quite neat is when you start encountering what is left of the ships crew either dead or alive. Whilst the ones that are alive don’t hesitate to shoot you on sight the ones that are dead realistically sway in rhythm to the movement of the ship, which I thought was a nice touch.

In fact Cold fear is full of neat little ideas which amount to quite a visceral experience. Things like mutilated bodies laying around which need their head shot off just to be on the safe side to prevent them from reanimating and going for you whilst your back is turned. Maybe even the splattering of blood on the screen when you successfully perform a headshot at close range to the camera. However none of this can mask the fact that at heart the game is rather a simplistic go to point A perform task go to point B perform task; as there does seem to be a lot of backtracking. There also seems to be a mystery person on board the ship who manages to lock previously unlocked doors making your job harder and with no in game map available will really test the patience of some players. Yes, there is a map in the game manual but come on developers, who sits there with a flimsy game manual pausing the game to have a look just so they can navigate? Personally I feel that this is in fact a deliberate ploy to make the game seem larger or longer than it really is and in my book is shame.
If I were to continue to complain then it would also have to be on the horrid camera work at times which has opted for that Resident Evil style dramatic angle. However at times this actually doesn’t work at all and makes for a horrid game play experience. To its credit Cold fear does have a behind the shoulder view which can easily be accessed by holding the left trigger. In this view players are still able to move and despite limiting visibility is still a rather cool perspective to use. At times I felt like grabbing some duck tape and sticking the left trigger down permanently.

Cold Fear features some limited weapons but each is rather effective, I actually found the standard pistol to be my favourite as the laser sight helped greatly in getting those much needed headshots. The AK-47, shotgun, grenade launcher, spear gun all had their uses further into play especially once you leave the ship and head for the oil rig for the remainder of the game. The enemies themselves were pretty predictable and ranged from gun toting humans to horrid spider like creatures that would reanimate the dead if left alone. I found these critters highly annoying especially as they would send out long arms to drain your life.

Graphics:

I found the graphics in Cold Fear to be of a pretty high standard and full of details despite the lack of general colour. I think the developers have done a great job in creating the atmosphere in the game, especially for the ship/oil rig exteriors. The gruesome nature of the enemies are well presented, especially when you see the mutilated bodies that are lying around with parts of their heads missing or their bodies cut in half entirely. Overall the graphics are of a high standard and do a grand job of creating the necessary atmosphere for a game of this type.

Sound:

Sound in Cold Fear also remains pretty high as the team have done a great job of providing an aural palette of sounds throughout the game. Some reasonable voice acting is used although some stereotypical Russian accents are used throughout. The music is suitably up tempo when the game requires and sullen during the more eerie moments and does a reasonable job of keeping things intense from start to finish.

Longevity:

Cold Fear is not the longest of games and can be completed quite quickly on your first play through. The game uses a checkpoint save system which means that some players might have long sections of play where they are desperate for a save point but cant find it. This is apparent more so when you are on the ship and might get lost due to all the backtracking and sudden locked doors. The game does have several levels of difficulty to mess around with, including an extreme mode for the more die hard players. There are some un-lockable concepts available which are a welcome addition to game but sadly there really isn’t much more to the game once it’s been completed.

Overall:

Cold Fear is an atmospheric and entertaining title which makes a welcome addition to the Xbox library of games especially for survival horror fans. With its cool combat and of course the awesome headshots, makes Cold Fear a game not to be missed, especially if you wish for a Resident Evil type game to appear on the system. That said, Cold Fear is a short game and might make some players feel sea sick. The lack of a map does prolong the experience for perhaps the wrong reasons and the camera angles take a little getting used to. If you can overlook these faults then I’m sure Cold Fear will entertain you. If anything rent the game just so you can experience the beauty that is the ship during the game’s opening. Not a must have but still a good game albeit lacking in substance.