Cold Fear

"Cold feet"

Once again a horde of evil zombie creatures who eat human flesh for breakfast have been released into the open world to bring terror and fear into the hearts of men who confront them...but this time, the umbrella corporation isn't responsible for it. UBISOFT is with a game called Cold Fear. And to tell the unfortunate truth, this game has nothing on the Resident Evil series and doesn't even come close to challenging Survival horror games in any way.

GRAPHICS:
Fortunately, the graphics look great in this title. the indoor environments are dark and creepy and the lighting is done with lots and lots of effort. most of the areas are claustrophobic and keep you on your toes to look out for any enemy you may suddenly encounter. you'll explore the insides of a sailing ship in a really bad weather storm and later in the game, a semi-derelict oil rig-like structure. the outdoor graphics are what really make this game nice to look at though. the weather effects have been done pretty nicely and since there's always a storm outside, and a strong wind blowing the rain drops in the screen, and the character swaying from side to side because of the powerful waves that keep juggling the ship you are in, you exactly get the feeling of being inside a brutally cold storm in the middle of nowhere.

"...you exactly get the feeling of being inside a brutally cold storm in the middle of nowhere...."

SOUND:
Your main character, Tom Hansen, sounds mediocre at best but seems to go along with the whole b-movie style of the game nicely. the other human characters you encounter almost do a better job than the main character but still leave a lot more to be desired. other than voice acting, the music is done nicely and has its own rise and falls whenever something important happens. the sound effects are also executed on an average level. the sound of the storm is very realistic though. the voice acting for the enemies is pretty scarce. a moan here and a squeak there is pretty much what sums up the enemies and monsters.

"...still leave a lot more to be desired..."

STORY:
the only thing horrifying about this game is its super cliche'd story. You are a coastguard who stumbles across an abandoned Russian ship which is infested with alien-like mutant beings who have taken control of the humans of he ship and have turned them into zombies. now you have to go destroy the source of corruption and escape with your life....zZzZzZzZzZzZ...

"...you have to go destroy the source of corruption and escape with your life....zZzZzZzZzZzZ..."

CONTROLS:
The game controls like Resident Evil 4. This is the only thing these two games have in common and thank god for that. When you aim your gun, the view of the camera goes to the RE4 style "over the shoulder" view which helps a lot for the aiming and the feel of the game. unfortunately, the rest of the game is displayed from fixed camera positions like the older RE series which makes the controlling of your character pretty confusing especially in the later levels which you have to run for your life. Don't get too angry if you suddenly end up pressing the wrong direction and run into a wall because that happens a lot thanks to the camera problems. the aiming is also strangely problematic. even when you're sure that you are going for a head shot, you suddenly end up hitting the enemy's chest. This is a big problem because 90% of the enemies you encounter are zombies which have to be decapitated in order to completely die. (what a big surprise!)

"...Don't get too angry if you suddenly end up pressing the wrong direction and run into a wall because that happens a lot thanks to the camera problems...

GAMEPLAY:
If this game was in any way trying to imitate Resident Evil 4, it should have at least taken something from its fun gameplay. In Cold Fear, all you do is consisted of going from point A to point B while blasting all the enemies in sight and find Object X. that's all. no exceptions. and this formula gets boring in the first 2 hours of the game where the novelty of the cool looking outdoor environments wears off and all you are doing is keycard or computer panel hunting. to make things worse, if you don't learn to conserve your ammo, which is most likely to happen because you wouldn't know the resulting consequences, the get ready to venture the levels with no ammo at all until you finally come across a corpse which has a clip or two for your weak pistol. this could have been a fun element to increase tension but with all these cheap enemies which kill you with 2 blows, it's a royal pain in the butt. the enemies in cold fear consist of what you've seen in every zombie game and movie. zombies...zombie dogs...bigger zombies and one bad-ass big boss zombie. What a surprise huh? another problem is that you never acquire a map of some kind to guide you through the multi complex levels. so when Tom says he has to get to...lets say: "Scientists quarters" you're in for a painful "where the hell is that place" quest.

"...this formula gets boring in the first 2 hours of the game where the novelty of the cool looking outdoor environments wears off and all you are doing is keycard or computer panel hunting..."

LONGEVITY/REPLAYABILITY:
The disappointing lifespan for this game is a maximum of 5-6 hours first time through. I can't imagine anyone going through it more than once. because there's nothing to unlock and nothing to gain by going through the game again since you get all the unlockables by finishing levels in the game the first time you play through. the unlockables are boring pictures of the game's artwork and character designs. pathetic price for someone who's gone through the effort to finish the game. and the ending... let's not spoil it (if there IS anything to spoil anyway) but don't expect anything longer than 6 seconds for the ending FMV. I know. all that for nothing.

"...don't expect anything longer than 6 seconds for the ending FMV. I know. all that for nothing..."

SUMMING UP:
Cold Fear may appeal to hardcore fans of Survival Horror games. it has all the cliche's of a B-rated zombie killing game. there's nothing new about the game except for its outdoor environments and the nicely done storm and weather effects. if you want a scary game, don't even bother. gore effects are not entirely what make a game scary. it's the story and the looks and the enemies which make it scary. and unfortunately, Cold Fear does nothing interesting to appeal to a gamer or even a brain-dead zombie.

"...Cold Fear does nothing interesting to appeal to a gamer or even a brain-dead zombie...

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/06/06