Cold Fear

 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: Ubisoft
  • Release Date: Mar 15, 2005
  • Also On: PC
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 47 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 47
  3. Negative: 3 out of 47
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  1. MikailaK.
    Apr 17, 2005
    5
    I'm a big survival horror fan, so I had to rent this. And I'm glad I did, because my game lasted about seven hours (which was kind of weird, since it seemed so much longer what with all the minutes I wasted running to the wrong corners of the ships/s). The gameplay is a kind of jarring mix between old-school and new-school Resident Evil, and I really wished they had stuck with I'm a big survival horror fan, so I had to rent this. And I'm glad I did, because my game lasted about seven hours (which was kind of weird, since it seemed so much longer what with all the minutes I wasted running to the wrong corners of the ships/s). The gameplay is a kind of jarring mix between old-school and new-school Resident Evil, and I really wished they had stuck with the latter. The graphics are great, but overall the game is painfully average; almost half the game consists of blindly fumbling around because there is _no map_ (and my rental box did not contain the manual). I liked that the zombies not the shuffling kind from the old REs, but there seems to be some odd disparity with the targeting system where I shot an Exocel's head only for it to connect several inches down (and this wasn't just because of the ship's rocking). Also, Tom talks too much--okay, the damn door's locked, but do you have to swear incessantly about it? I felt like pressing the "mute" button at times, even though I eventually grew to find Tom's whining funny. Although the combat is definitely more fun than the old Resident Evils, it becomes kind of repetitive, and the joy of squishing your foes' heads underfoot wears off after the first half-hour or so. So if you enjoy cheap scares followed by thirty minutes of lethargy-inducing key-searching (roughly on par with the old REs), then this game is worth a rental. It's so darned short that you can finish it in one night, and there's barely any replay value. Like I said, painfully average.… Expand
  2. aspentitan
    Jun 25, 2019
    7
    This is another game I'd say is love hate. It is seemingly inspired by resident evil and has tremendous atmosphere and does a great job immersing you into the mood of the surroundings. You play on a ship and it is very interesting playing within the recreation of the ship. You do actually feel like you are on your own, lost and are in charge of taking detours and exploration as you seeThis is another game I'd say is love hate. It is seemingly inspired by resident evil and has tremendous atmosphere and does a great job immersing you into the mood of the surroundings. You play on a ship and it is very interesting playing within the recreation of the ship. You do actually feel like you are on your own, lost and are in charge of taking detours and exploration as you see fit. This is the part of the game I love but it does come with a downside and that is it has no real objective map so at times you can wander around for a long time not knowing where to advance the game. In addition to this problem you cannot save anywhere you like you have to play the whole mission until you find the area that asks if you would like to save. This however is a smaller game so with a little help from online FAQs or walkthroughs you can easily manage if necessary. One feature I thought was also subpar was the interaction hitboxes and the necessity to stomp the heads of the enemies to permanently kill them. Although it adds to the scare of the game by having limited time to dispose of a fallen enemy before it reanimated I found it problematic that as I was trying to stomp a head instead I activated a door instead. Similarly I found headshots were not exactly where the laser pointer was indicating it was.....I didn't find these annoyances gamebreaking but my s ore reflects at least a full 2 pt rating reduction for these features. It's a nice game worth playing with a few minor gripes.… Expand
  3. SalarymanDaishi
    Dec 21, 2010
    7
    Pretty entertaining third person survival horror in the style of Resident Evil. A bit short, sluggish, and it's easy to get lost but investigating the narrow corridors and steep staircases of a foreboding whaling ship in the middle of a fierce winter storm packs plenty of atmosphere. Besides, headshotting zombies with a pump-action shotgun never gets old :)
  4. DrZombie
    Jul 11, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Cold Fear can be classified as a survival horror/adventure game, it takes place in an abandoned ship, right in the middle of a violent storm. As a member of the coast guard, you've just answered a distress call, lost contact with your teammates, and you find yourself at the mercy of the weather, it's up to you alone to discover what happened to the ship's crew, find survivors, if any, and make it out of there alive.

    STORY: 6
    The story is very generic stuff, Russian scientists, secret experiments, underground labs, mutated creatures, you know the drill, most of it you learn as you find memos, diary pages and documents left behind, you only come in contact with a couple of characters so don't expect much from the cut scenes, there's very few of them, and they're kinda short.

    GRAPHICS: 7
    The graphics in this game are good, weather, fire and other effects are cool to look at. It does get kinda creepy at times because most of the game takes place in the dark, you have to use your weapon mounted flashlight to see what's ahead of you, steam pipes, electric panels and flashing lights give the game a cool Alien/Aliens vibe, the character/creature designs are ok, but I've seen better on the PS2.

    SOUND: 7
    The sound effects are just ok, everything you'd expect is here, from gunfights in the distance, people yelling and screaming, to adequate zombie moans and satisfying brain splattering shotgun blasts, the voice acting is terrible, it reminds me of the first Resident Evil game. The music is very fitting, my only complaint is that there isn't enough of it. The game can be played in French or Spanish too, which I think is a neat added feature.

    GAMEPLAY: 7
    There are some control issues, but being able to move and shoot at the same time is cool, head shots are vital in order to conserve ammo for the boss fights, so I suggest looking everywhere and searching every body, as for health packs, there seems to be just enough of them, but not being able to store them once you life bar is full, is really a bad idea in my book, also, there's plenty of cheap deaths, but at least most of them occur after a saving spot. A couple of awful sub-boss fights turn out to be masterpieces compared to the final boss, and at under 10 hours, experienced players will finish this game in just a couple of days.

    REPLAY: 6
    Beating the game once is enough to unlock the artwork, stills and advertising materials, the game's only extra features, the only reason you might want to play this again is if you want to endure the challenge of the highest difficulty setting.

    OVERALL: 7
    If you like the genre, you'll have a good time with this game, and then you'll move on the bigger and better things, a solid rental for a weekend of good, forgettable fun, a purchase only if you collect games or if you like taking your time playing.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

97
#97 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2005

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 39
  3. Negative: 1 out of 39
  1. Edge Magazine
    60
    Taken in isolation, there’s no denying Cold Fear’s panache - RenderWare has rarely been used to such strong visual effect - and there is a fair helping of survival horror entertainment to be had here, it’s just that you have to dig through several layers of frustration to get at it. [Apr 2005, p.96]
  2. Gamers' Temple
    67
    There are some good ideas here, but the game is more frustrating than frightening.
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  3. GamingTrend
    85
    I enjoyed Cold Fear for what it was – an average thriller with some above average story-telling and terrific use of atmosphere.
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