Cold Fear - PS2

Prolific French publishers Ubisoft are back with another offering, the survival horror title Cold Fear on Xbox, PS2 and PC, developed by Darkworks. In Cold Fear, players take control of Tom Hansen, a veteran coastguard with a heroic past tainted with disgrace, who boards a seemingly abandoned ship during an Arctic Storm. But this is no Marie Celeste. The blood on the ship’s decks signals the occurrence of something very unpleasant indeed. As Tom makes his way around the decidedly not deserted boat, he will encounter evil, intelligent enemies far more terrifying than anything from his darkest dreams.

Cold Fear sets out to be as atmospheric and jump-inducing as the latest Hollywood horror thriller. Set on a ship buffeted in stormy arctic waters, it looks to be in the vein of a Resident Evil, or a Silent Hill, brought to a new and innovative setting. The game promises that the strange, dynamic environment allows for a number of new gameplay features; for example it is promised that you will be able to lure your adversaries to where you want them, by exploiting the unpredictable and constantly moving deck of the ship.

The background is the story of the dark and mysterious experiments that have been taking place on board an isolated oil rig. The shadowy Yusupov has hired mercenaries to defend whatever forbidden research is taking place there, research lead by Dr Kamsky, a good man who is forced to take part in the venture by the kidnapping if his beloved daughter Anna. The horrendous project has not escaped the notice of the CIA, but things begin to threaten mankind itself as the genetic mutants they have created begin to get the better of the measures used to control them.

Cold Fear amounts to a spine-chilling and inventive gaming experience, and it features the music of Marilyn Manson too. That's enough to scare us away in itself. more