Spigot
04-05-2009, 09:33 PM
The weather outside has been somewhat frightful and the sickness inside hasn't been very delightful. After much reflection on the dreary atmosphere both inside and out, Turning The Spigot has decided to take a look at an overlooked and underappreciated survival horror game from a few years ago.
Cold Fear
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3414653060_d4a831aeaa.jpg?v=0
Year: 2005
Platform: PS2, Xbox, PC
Rating: Green Around The Gills
# of Players: 1
Cold Fear is a survival horror game that is alternately incredibly innovative and disappointingly derivative.
Cold Fear puts you in the galoshes of US Coast Guard member Tom Hansen, who is sent in to investigate a mysterious Russian tanker in the middle of the Bering Strait. It seems that an entire CIA squad had recently been sent to that same vessel and didn't fare too well. That's where you step in.
Taking many thematic cues from RE4 and The Thing, Cold Fear plays out with a mainly over-the-shoulder viewpoint, with the option to use a fixed camera at times. You must make your way around the ship and find out what happened to the CIA squad and the ship's crew. Soon after you arrive, you encounter the cause of all the problems, slimy creatures called Exocels, which can infect almost any living creature, including humans, and turn them into mindless slaves to their primal wills. They also have a nasty habit of glorping around the bowels of the ship or popping out of a victim and striking at you when you least expect it, which makes them particularly annoying.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3580/3413847407_f12d5e78d7.jpg?v=0
While most of these elements are fairly run-of-the-mill when it comes to survival horror games, where Cold Fear breaks from the pack is with its setting. This is no sterile military base or abandoned village. You are stuck in the middle of a very nasty storm in the middle of the sea.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3413847681_162bfd65e5.jpg?v=0
This is where Cold Fear shines. Just making your way through across the deck can be as deadly as an encounter with a monster as the ship will pitch up and down and side to side with the motion of the waves. This can result in cargo shifting around the deck or a freezing wave washing over you and possibly knocking you down or worse, overboard. Even in the cabins and below decks, you will often be pitched against a wall or have to dodge cargo that has come loose. The areas of the ship that have water can be particularly hazardous as dry areas can quickly turn to death traps depending on how the ship moves.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3413847517_af12768299.jpg?v=0
Unfortunately, the game moves on to much more pedestrian locales during the latter half of the game, which robs the game of a lot of what makes it special. The game also has some strange looking facial animations and the voicework isn't quite up to the standards of today's games. It is still a competent survival horror game though. It's just a shame that it couldn't have borne out the promise that the first half of the game had.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3413847575_7ffbd8481f.jpg?v=0
Cold Fear can be found in better discount bins and used shelves everywhere and on Steam for $19.99.
uUTO4pNwjYY
Cold Fear
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3414653060_d4a831aeaa.jpg?v=0
Year: 2005
Platform: PS2, Xbox, PC
Rating: Green Around The Gills
# of Players: 1
Cold Fear is a survival horror game that is alternately incredibly innovative and disappointingly derivative.
Cold Fear puts you in the galoshes of US Coast Guard member Tom Hansen, who is sent in to investigate a mysterious Russian tanker in the middle of the Bering Strait. It seems that an entire CIA squad had recently been sent to that same vessel and didn't fare too well. That's where you step in.
Taking many thematic cues from RE4 and The Thing, Cold Fear plays out with a mainly over-the-shoulder viewpoint, with the option to use a fixed camera at times. You must make your way around the ship and find out what happened to the CIA squad and the ship's crew. Soon after you arrive, you encounter the cause of all the problems, slimy creatures called Exocels, which can infect almost any living creature, including humans, and turn them into mindless slaves to their primal wills. They also have a nasty habit of glorping around the bowels of the ship or popping out of a victim and striking at you when you least expect it, which makes them particularly annoying.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3580/3413847407_f12d5e78d7.jpg?v=0
While most of these elements are fairly run-of-the-mill when it comes to survival horror games, where Cold Fear breaks from the pack is with its setting. This is no sterile military base or abandoned village. You are stuck in the middle of a very nasty storm in the middle of the sea.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3413847681_162bfd65e5.jpg?v=0
This is where Cold Fear shines. Just making your way through across the deck can be as deadly as an encounter with a monster as the ship will pitch up and down and side to side with the motion of the waves. This can result in cargo shifting around the deck or a freezing wave washing over you and possibly knocking you down or worse, overboard. Even in the cabins and below decks, you will often be pitched against a wall or have to dodge cargo that has come loose. The areas of the ship that have water can be particularly hazardous as dry areas can quickly turn to death traps depending on how the ship moves.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3559/3413847517_af12768299.jpg?v=0
Unfortunately, the game moves on to much more pedestrian locales during the latter half of the game, which robs the game of a lot of what makes it special. The game also has some strange looking facial animations and the voicework isn't quite up to the standards of today's games. It is still a competent survival horror game though. It's just a shame that it couldn't have borne out the promise that the first half of the game had.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3413847575_7ffbd8481f.jpg?v=0
Cold Fear can be found in better discount bins and used shelves everywhere and on Steam for $19.99.
uUTO4pNwjYY