Cold Fear is a Survival Horror game for the Playstation 2, Xbox, and PC.
***STORY***
I will say this :
Since Cold Fear tried to be better than Resident Evil 4, you will see alot of similarities to it. It wouldn't be bad if the story would have been more original. To not spoil anything, let's just say : If you played Resident Evil 4, you will pretty much figure out what's going on.
Here's why :
*In both RE4 and CF, the story involves parasites.
*In both RE4 and CF, both main characters (Male and Female) get infected and they have to find a cure.
Story is about Tom Hansen, comander of the USS Ravensvod sent in to a Russian ship called "Breath of the East". I'm not sure if i'm correct, my english is not that good. In Russian it's "Дух Востока".
When they arrive, they find that something has scared the heck out of the Russian's (and now they are shooting everything), and that somthing has KILLED HANSEN'S TEAM IN A SPAN OF A SECOND. Aren't they trained or something?
Anyway, Hansen needs to find survivors, find out the mystery and escape the ship.
Story is good on its own, since it's somewhat engaging. The ending is a REALLY cheesy 10 second ending, with the most easiest boss ever, ending with some questions left unawnsered. For instance, there is a character named Bennet, who Hansen contcts via Radio, and you never get to know him or his fate.
Another problem i have, is that CF is extremely short even for a Survial Horror game. It can be easily beaten in 6 hours, on Hard Mode, on your first playthrough. That's how i did it.
Suprisingly enough, CF has plenty of replay value due to a redicilous amount of Behind The Scenes and Bonus Features
***GRAPHICS***
The best part of the game.
The graphics really show what the Xbox could do back then. Hell, CF has Xbox360 graphics!
All of the textures, modules, effects, details, blood and water on screen, are STUNING to say the least.
This is EASILY the best part of the game.
Voice acting is very nice too. This game also offers a preety bad**s soundtrack and very well done effect sounds.
The game is not really scary as the premise promises, but nevertheless, CF will punch you with alot atmosphere RALLY HARD.
***GAMEPLAY***
The gameplay dosen't really change the tradition of Survival Horror games, and is HEAVILY inspired by RE4. It does alot of things better than RE4!
For instance, in the PC version (wich i'm playing and now reviewing), the controls are pretty solid, fluid, and smooth; unlike the PC version of RE4, wich requiered you to buy a controller, otherwise you had to play on the keyboard, guesing what keys are button "1,2,3,4,5,6,".
Another improvment is that you can walk and shoot, and in this game it really helps!
Aiming is also good! There are 2 ways to aim :
*Aim in third person, while Tom is still viewed in the Fixed Camera angles mod.
*When aiming, you switch from Fix Camera angles to the Over-The-Shoulder mod.
The aiming has some problems. The laser sight (on the Pistol, AK-47, Speargun and SMG) is a bit akward, and you will sometimes miss even though the laser sight is EXACTCLY on the enemy's head.
The game also has very little new than what RE4 offered to the genre. Improvment and New Feature are diffrent things.
Like i said, the game plays like most Survival Horror games : you explore the ship, fight monsters, solve puzzles, read documents to understand the story.
Each enemy in the game has a weakpoint. For instance, the second type of enemies in the game are infected zombies, who will regenerate when down if you won't DEhead them.
***ENJOYMENT***
Cold Fear is a very enjoyable Survival Horror game, even though it's extremely easy and extremely short. The game is worth a pick-up, even if you gotta rent it, try this game out.
If some of you think that Cold Fear will be overshadowed by Resident Evil 4, think again.
FINAL SCORES :
*STORY : 8 / 10 - Engaiging, but somewhat riped-off from RE4.
*GRAPHICS : 10 / 10 - Best part of the game. While it's not that scary, the graphics are still awsome.
*GAMEPLAY : 8 / 10 - Dosen't really change from the genre or RE4. Sometimes frustrating aiming.
*ENJOYMENT : 8 / 10 - Even though 6 hours is a bit short. Bonus Features make it up!
OVERALL : 8.5 / 10 - If you are into Survival Horror games or a fan of RE4, pick this up.