Review #595: Cold Fear

 As opposed to hot fear, which is sweaty and sticky.

 The sixth generation of videogame consoles had their very own before-and-after in the form of a tiny little game you might have heard about, Resident Evil 4. It changed third-person shooters forever, and Ubisoft was first in line to take a slice out of that pie.

 Cold Fear has you playing as discount Leon Kennedy, a guy so forgettable I don't even remember his name. As a matter of fact, there's very little in the way of set-up in the game, all you need to know is that your main character finds himself in a Russian Ship infested by zombie like creatures named Exocells. As with any other Survival Horror game worth its salt, a ton of the story is told via boring documents you can find laying around. That said, you won't be playing the game for it's story, and this is a very clear case of: It's the journey, not the destination, as the ending is about 15 seconds long and leaves more than a few plot threads hanging.

 Cold Fear is divided into two parts: The ship and the rig. The ship is the first part, it's a medium-sized zone filled with interconnected rooms, most which are locked in one way or another and as you advance through the game you'll be unlocking them, and, sometimes, losing access to others. Y'know, pretty much like any other Survival Horror game. The rig is pretty much the same thing, albeit on a slightly larger area, with even more rooms and threats to your life. Hopefully you've got a good memory, since there isn't a single in-game map to aid you, it's up to you to remember which door leads where... which is kinda nasty when rooms have multiple doors. What's worse, a lot of times you won't know where you have to go. You'll have a simple directive, like 'Get into the Radio Room', but no hint as to where it is... the most you'll get is your character saying out loud that 'This seems to be the wrong way' at times. Also, keep in mind that you're only allowed to save after completing objectives or before a new event, most of the time, you're allowed to save pretty frequently, but there's the occasional save-starved long stretch here and there.

 How you explore about is kinda weird, as the game has fixed camera angles... that mean nothing since holding L1 puts the camera over your shoulder so that you can aim in almost any direction. That said, a few angle-changes can be jarring, I feel they could've been better planned. As for the aiming, it works really well, aiming is easy and simple, just the way it's supposed to be. As a bonus, the game wants you to take your time and score headhshots: Not only do they bring down common enemies instantly(Otherwise you have walk up to them and smash their heads, lest they get up again) but it also gives you this delicious 'Pop' as the head goes boom. Over-the-shoulder aiming let's you move as you aim, Evil Within and Resident Evil 6 eat your hearts out. Basically, they nailed the shooting, it feels great and works great.

 As opposed to other Survival Horror games, there's not much focus on resource management, but rather, the game is more of an arcadey-version of Resident Evil. For instance, Health packs are limited, but you don't store them, instead, if you interact with one you'll use it on the spot. So don't go too trigger happy on the inspect button and save some of those for later. Weapons, of which there're about 8, have ammo caps, so feel free to go postal on your enemies. As a matter of fact, after you finish the Ship part of the game, you lose all your weapons and your stocked ammo. Use it or lose it. But, even if you do a poor job of managing your ammo and health, enemies seem to drop whatever you're hurting for the most. Low on shotgun ammo? You'll discover that enemies will start dropping more of it Low on health? A healthpack will pop up sooner or later.

 Honestly, I had a blast with the game. While the emphasis is more on the action, the game manages to have its spooky moments without sacrificing its faster pace. It's a fun game for someone that wants a game that doesn't require much thinking, but keeps survival horror tropes close to heart.
7.5 out of 10