Cold Fear

"Surprisingly good - with storm effects that will knock you out of your chair!"

Cold Fear had the dubious distinction of being the first game labeled as a Resident Evil 4 clone. For that reason alone, I was at first skeptical of the title. However, when it came down to a mere $7 at my local Half-Price Books, and seeing as how it was Halloween weekend, I figured why not and bought it. What a delightful surprise it turned out to be!

Ok, so let's get the negative out of the way first. 1) Yes, it borrows heavily from RE4, most notably in the control scheme and the ability to switch to a "first-person" view with a gun laser site to target the baddies. The zombies are also RE4 inspired with their agility and attacks. All the same, what's wrong with borrowing what worked so well in another game? Here, it is integrated just as nicely, and the result is another very exciting survival-horror/action game. 2) The game is short - on Easy you can finish it in a long Saturday, or over two nights. I wrapped it in just under 7 hours of game time. Yet somehow, the length seems about right for the game. With not much variety in setting, the length serves to keep the game from feeling boring or repetitive. 3) The story is very "been there, done that." As with all the RE clones (and RE itself), the story of military experiments using viruses or alien DNA injected into humans is just about as old hat as it gets. Even so, the story doesn't interfere with the game-play, it just merely doesn't ADD anything to it.

But these quibbles aside, we still have a great game. And it puts its best foot forward from the get-go. You arrive aboard this derelict freighter in the middle of a massive storm. And when I first turned and saw a giant wave rolling toward me from the Starboard side, I nearly jumped to the floor. Rain pounds the scene and actually drips from the camera lens! The ship rocks back and forth, and your character responds realistically, sometimes slipping, and a few times nearly going overboard! Waves wash over the deck, knocking you off your feet. And this is all in the first scene! Yes, whenever the game has you on deck, this title beats all others in terms of atmosphere and production value.

Going indoors doesn't disappoint either. The ship still rocks side to side, and everything inside moves realistically. You have your objectives to meet, and they are never too hard as to bring the game to a stop. It took me awhile to fully understand where I was and where I was going - but once I did, I never got derailed trying to figure out what to do next.

Ammo and health are portioned out generously (on Easy mode, anyway) so that you never feel like the task is impossible. Even so, the action is exciting and keeps you on your toes. There are jumps aplenty, and a couple of really creepy baddies (particularly the little "face-huggers" that try to crawl in your mouth)!

My one other gripe is the lack of a consistent "save" feature. There is no "save-anywhere" ability, nor is there a "save location." Instead, you will be prompted at certain moments after achieving certain objectives to save your progress. This can make some stretches seem very burdensome when you die and have to repeat - but the saves were frequent enough that any repeated sequences went by fairly quickly.

The game has two main settings - first aboard the derelict whaling ship - and later aboard an oil rig at sea. Again, both are very atmospheric. The music and sound is top notch. And in the end, I was able to complete the game with little-to-no impossible segments or boss battles (again, on Easy).

All told, I very much enjoyed this game, particularly for the low I price I found it at. I would say it is worth paying as high as $20. Re-playability really depends on how much you enjoy it the first time - though there is no real reason to play twice unless you want to tackle a higher difficulty or just want to enjoy the game again.

If every RE4 clone is this good, I say bring them on!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/06