Cold Winter

"One of the greatest FPS's ever made"

First Person Shooter. One of the most popular types of games in the world, one that puts the player into the action headfirst. The best games in this game type are well known ones, such as Halo, Half-Life, or the all time classic-Goldeneye. But many of the greatest First Person Shooters go unnoticed, although they can rival those well known games any day of the week. Cold Winter may not be a Halo Killer, but that definitely doesn't stop it from being one of the best first person shooters I've ever played.

Story: 9/10
A great story. Well thought out, full of plot twists, action, thrills, and comedy even. The story centers around Andrew Sterling, an MI6 agent caught spying in Beijing, China. After an old friend rescues him from the political prison he's in, he agrees to work for his security agency. The catch is, Andrew doesn't know he's being snared into a plan greater then he ever imagined.

Graphics: 8/10
Incredible graphics & detail. In game models run very smoothly, cut scenes are Half-Life 2 quality, and they're accompanied by the finest rag doll and limb destruction systems. There's barely any slowdown, and the explosions are some of the finest I've ever seen in a video game.

Controls: 6/10
The controls are o.k. Andrew moves kind of slow, but you get used to it after the first 10 minutes. Red Faction controls pretty much take over the other button maps. Full 360 analog, a button mapped for every function you can think of, and rumble support. It's not bad, but it's not great either.

Sound: 10/10
Great sounds! Voice acting is INCREDIBLE, the weapon sounds are ripped straight from their real life counterparts, and the enemies have a wide assortment of phrases and responses for every action taken around them. The sounds in Cold Winter really give it a sense of realism.

Gameplay: 8/10
Cold Winter's gameplay is incredible. It's frantic FPS action, with enough difficulty to keep you on the edge of your seat, but not so much that you fall off. Fights require strategy AND brute force, so you have to keep your eyes open for opportunity at all times. Aside from Andrew's slowness, the controls do very well with the combat system, as do the physics engines. And particle effects complete the batch, making every fight more realistic then the last.

Overall: 9/10
Wow. I have to admit, when I first picked up Cold Winter, I wasn't expecting anything good. But from the incredible sound, extraordinary realism, great graphics, INCREDIBLY smart A.I, and awe-inspiring story, my views are changed forever. Cold Winter is one of the year's best FPS's, and is a definite pick for any hardcore FPS fan.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/05