- Cold Fear
-
Cold Fear 
Developer(s) Darkworks Publisher(s) Ubisoft Engine RenderWare Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox Release date(s) Windows
EU April 29, 2005
NA May 17, 2005
Console
EU March 4, 2005
NA March 15, 2005Genre(s) Third-person shooter, Survival horror Mode(s) Single-player Rating(s) Media/distribution DVD System requirements See Development section for details
Cold Fear is a third-person survival horror video game designed by Darkworks and published by Ubisoft[1][2]. It was released for Windows on April 29, 2005, in Europe and on May 17, 2005 for North America[3]. It was also released for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles on March 4, 2005 in Europe and March 15, 2005 in North America[4][5]
Contents
Plot
In Cold Fear the player takes on the role of Tom Hansen, a former soldier now in the employ of the United States Coast Guard who has been sent in to investigate a mysterious Russian whaler Eastern Spirit in the middle of the Bering strait. The beginning cut-scenes show a SEAL team under the orders of a CIA agent, identifying the ship and trying to discover its cargo. Unfortunately, the SEAL squad is slaughtered mercilessly by an unknown threat. CIA agent Bennett then orders any government vessel in the vicinity of the Russian boat to investigate, and it is Hansen's ship which responds. As Hansen, the player finds out that the boat is occupied by hostile Russian soldiers and by strange creatures, known as "exocells", that use humans and other life forms as hosts to feed on and to use as protection from the environment. These parasites are a threat to Hansen from inside and outside their host bodies. His investigation leads to the mystery of the ship and its lethal cargo as well as the unethical experiments which were being carried out aboard the ship.
Throughout the series of logs found throughout the game, the reason for the cargo of Exocells was revealed. Dmitri Yusupov, a member of the Russian Mafia, was originally using the Star of Sakhalin as an oil drilling platform as well as a base of operations for smuggling after purchasing it for a low price. When the drilling revealed the exocells, he then had Doctor Kamsky work with him to produce biological weapons using the exocells. The exocells proved to be a profitable pursuit as the prototypes alone was worth 150,000 USD while Pavel Bakharev developed countermeasures to ensure the exocells did not gain the upperhand. As time went on, the patience of the Cartel grew thin. Yusupov relied by strongarming Viktor to work for him. This drove Viktor insane, and he unleashed the exocells on the plattform as well as infecting himself. The Eastern Spirit whaling ship was soon found along with its cargo of exocells, and Barnett, taking the opportunity to seize the cargo in hopes of profiting from the research, ordered the investigation of the vessel.
Gameplay
In Cold Fear, players can choose between a behind-the-shoulder camera angle or a fixed camera angle. The game employs many scare tactics. For example, when opening a door, a creature may jump out at the player, or while talking to an NPC, a creature may just burst out of his chest. Cold Fear employs a stamina bar, which decreases as the player performs certain actions, like running.
The conditions on the deck of the ship can change the degree of control the player has of Hansen. Since the game takes place in the middle of the ocean during a storm, there is a lot of movement of the vessel as it bobs up and down through the rough seas. The cargo ship continuously banks left and right while Hansen is walking on deck, making it more difficult to aim and to walk in a straight line. In some instances, the ship rocks so much, and to such a great degree, that Hansen can get knocked down and potentially sent overboard. There are also many environmental hazards, like swinging electrical wires and crates hooked up to ropes, which are also affected by the swaying of the ship, and can easily crash into the player or enemies if they aren't careful. Waves crashing on to the ship's deck may also inflict damage on a player's health. The environmental hazards also affect enemies.
' Minimum Recommended Microsoft Windows Operating system Windows 2000/XP Windows 2000/XP CPU 1 GHz 1 GHz Memory 256 MB 256 MB Hard drive space 2.2 GB 2.2 GB Graphics hardware 64 MB DirectX 9 compatible graphics card (ATI Radeon 800\900 series or better or NVIDIA GeForce 3\4\FX series) 64 MB DirectX 9 compatible graphics card (ATI Radeon 800\900 series or better or NVIDIA GeForce 3\4\FX series) Sound hardware 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card Sound Blaster Reception
Reception Aggregate scores Aggregator Score Metacritic 71/100 (Xbox)[6]
68/100 (PS2)[7]
66/100 (PC)[8]Review scores Publication Score IGN 7.2 (PS2)[9]
7.6 (Xbox)[10]The game received mixed or average reviews. Review aggregator Metacritic indicates that the Xbox version of the game received a score of 71 out of 100[6], a 68 out of 100 for the Playstation 2 version[7] and a 66 out of 100 for the Windows version[8].
IGN gave the game a positive review with a score of 7.2 for the Playstation 2 version [9] and a 7.6 for the Xbox[10].
References
- ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/cold-fear/credits
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462670/companycredits
- ^ http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/coldfear/similar.html?mode=versions
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462670/releaseinfo
- ^ http://www.mobygames.com/game/cold-fear/release-info
- ^ a b http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox/cold-fear
- ^ a b http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-2/cold-fear
- ^ a b http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/cold-fear
- ^ a b http://ps2.ign.com/articles/596/596775p2.html
- ^ a b http://xbox.ign.com/articles/597/597068p1.html
External links
Categories:- 2005 video games
- PlayStation 2 games
- Xbox games
- Windows games
- Video games developed in France
- Zombie video games
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