Cold Fear

It came out on the same year as Resident Evil 4, and the similarities between the two are uncanny when it comes to the gameplay. That said, Cold fear is much more survival horror than RE4, and despite the comparisons it can still hold its own. Its not a fantastic game, but its a solid action horror title.

You play as a lonely costal guard who gets on a ship after a rescue call. It soon becomes apparent that the crew has been turned into zombie like creatures. Obviously there is a umbrella like conspiration behind the events, and the game had to feature an escourt mission. Its very cliche but it works for all intents and purposes. Despite the corny voice acting which is outright silly at times.

Gameplaywise it controls as a third person shooter, and the camera moves in close whe you aim. It uses laser pointers to know where you are aiming, again very much like RE4 but it works. The shooting is very simple though, only offering a couple of modifiers for headshoots. There is no shoot the legs and melee combo sort of tactic going on here. At the same time you are never too outnumbered by enemies. Its not a hard game, definitly beatable by anyone who is into shooters.

The game does offer a good atmosphere, mainly in the first half of the game that is set on the ship. A lot of effort has been put into the physics of the boat rocking back and further and the waves and it shows, and the way that these affect the gameplay are also a nice touch. Despite the easy of the gameplay, the aim shaking and overal scarcity of resources do provide enough tension to the game. The level design is excellent, as it stes the boat out like a 3d castlevania, which means that there is a lot of backtracking but you also develop a sense of familiarity with the location.

Overal i enjoyed playing through this short game. Its level design really sets it above from the rest, but the combat gameplay is pretty solid as well. Recommend for fans of the genre.