Cold Fear

Cold Fear is a game that was first released back in 2005 so please keep that in mind. This is a survival horror game and it was a fairly decent hit when Ubisoft first put it out. When the game was first released, I played through the original Xbox version of the game, but recently I sat down and played through the PC version of the game and wanted to share my thoughts on how this game from 2005 holds up.

All Aboard

The story of the game is pretty great and while I enjoyed it I do think that the fact it came out within a year of Resident Evil Deal Aim. The story never got the attention it deserved. Basically, you are playing as Tom Hanson, a fine gent who is part of the coast guard and he heads out to sea to help a Russian whaler that is in trouble.

Once aboard he is part of a nightmare! There is a parasite on the ship, turning people into monsters! What is even worse is that the Russian mafia and the CIA are involved with this and the ship is heading to the mainland! You need to stop this from happening and get to the bottom of what is really going on. It is a pretty solid story and the voice acting is a bit cheesy, but I feel for the most part they really nail the story.

First & Third Person

The gameplay of Cold Fear like the story is kind of similar to what Capcom did with Resident Evil Dead Aim. You move around this ship in the third person, but you can then go in the first person when you are using your weapons. The game is very action-based, but there are some puzzles and mysteries for you to figure out too. The gameplay is nothing spectacular in all honesty with you, especially or a game that came out in the shadow of not just Resident Evil Dead Aim, but Resident Evil 4 too.

The Ship Creaks!

Setting the game on an old boat is really cool. The boat rocks back and forward and it is something I really liked. Back in the day when I played this, it could make things in the area you are in kind of glitchy, but on the PC this was not as bad, even though it did still happen.

The presentation of the game is pretty solid and I love this ship! It is a messed-up place to be and you do have a sense of horror the whole time you are playing the game. Seriously for a game released nearly 15 years ago, it holds up surprisingly well in the presentation department.

I think that Cold Fear is a decent enough survival horror game. It has a nice mix of action, puzzles, exploration and so on. Plus the story is something that I really did enjoy. I was surprised at how well the game held up in the visual department. The gameplay may be a tad rough as it is a game that came out in 2005. However, if you like horror games I do feel that this one here is worth checking out.

7.5/10

Pros:

• The presentation is pretty good still
• I loved the story
• The setting of the boat is really cool
• Some great looking monsters to freak you out!
• I like the mix of first- and third-person gameplay

Cons:

• A few graphical glitches here and there when the boat moves
• Controls may feel a bit clunky to some

Coming From Darkworks, who, with Alone in the Dark spawned the whole survival horror genre, Cold Fear is an atmospheric action-adventure set on a ghoulish Russian whaling ship caught in a bitter storm. The constantly-swaying ship and environmental effects are excellent, and the mutated creatures are suitably rotted and lurching, allowing you to execute some satisfyingly gory headshots and blood-spattering.

However, Cold Fear is severely hampered by a terrifically awkward control system, random save points, poor object interaction and rather generic puzzle-solving gameplay. Keycards from dead sailors? Come on - this is 2006, not 1996. Not terrible, but you'd be better off saving your cash and ammo for the forthcoming PC release of the infinitely superior Resident Evil 4.