This game has such a good atmosphere, especially at the beginning of the game. I also liked the base situation, the design of the enemies and most of the gameplay elements. I loved the soundtrack and even the graphics were alright for me, but there are just more issues under the surface, which makes the whole experience mixed.

The mouse sensitivity was really low for me, even on the highest setting and I always had to reset it whenever I started the game. There is no map to follow, and I can guarantee that you will get lost at least a few times. You have to get used to the controls, playing with this game is like driving a tank. Sometimes the enemy AI is pretty stupid and gets stuck into walls and other props. Story and characters are worthless basically, especially at the end, where the game just rushed the ending and doesn’t answer any questions. The checkpoint system makes certain parts of the game really difficult, there is no way for manual saving. And if I mentioned the difficulty, the final boss is tricky. Truth to be told, if I wouldn’t read a guide, I would have no idea how to do this part.

Maybe I expect too much from a game which was made in 2005, or maybe I just can’t appreciate the genre, but in my opinion Cold Fear is a mid game. Sure, you can have some fun with its action and atmosphere, but it’s still a budget Resident Evil game with some annoying elements and short gameplay. If you are really interested, then buy it on sale. Might be worth one play through, but you won’t miss much.

PS: It's possible to play this game in higher resolutions. Take a look at this Steam guide or try the widescreen fix from ThirteenAG[thirteenag.github.io]. Also, it's best to use a 60 FPS limiter for the game to not have any additional issues.

Probably a cool game. I'll never know though because of numerous technical issues just getting it to run.

Buy at your own risk, and if you do make sure you test it out before the refund window expires.

Not a great PC port, no native controller support or for modern resolutions and very unlikely to get an official fix as the game has never had an update.

Overshadowed by the near release of resident evil 4 and for good reason - this game is markedly multiple steps below in quality, content and game time.

It's alright. The atmosphere of the ship is decent, RE revelations fans should feel at home, though even that 3DS game had more meat on its bones than this map-less red dot sight horror romp. There's just not that much here, quite short. Movement and gun play take some time to acclimate but becomes more than serviceable with use. Story is what can be expected from this type of "cult classic".

I would have enjoyed this more on release surely, but it has aged tremendously under the cloud of superior games in the genre, then and now. The kind of person that is aware of this game's existence is the kind of person that this game is still for.

Mildly entertaining.

Classic 6th gen Ubisoft jank. Cold Fear is a Resident Evil clone, for the most part, where Coast Guard Snake infiltrates a russian tanker and then an oil rig to stop the finale weapon, Mutant Gear. The game has a lot of good ideas, though it's clearly half-baked; someone ran out of time making this.

Still, it's good fun, especially on PC. It's more combat oriented than classic RE and though I wouldn't say the scares work (they're mostly jump-scares, though not many), the atmosphere is pretty alright. It's a very short game, but there's a good pace to it, so it feels meatier than it is.

There are shortcomings and they're not insignificant, though. The game doesn't have a map, for one thing (that I've been able to find, at least), which makes navigation a game of guessing. The level design is pretty good and all the areas are interconnected in some way, so you don't get lost, but the backtracking can get annoying when you're not entirely sure where you're going.

The biggest problem is the asinine save system. The game prompts you to manually save only a handful of times, usually before (or right after) important moments. There's no other way to save the game; no traditional auto-saving, no "typewriter" type of save. It's not a hard game, so anyone not entirely new to gaming shouldn't run into too much trouble, but these stretches without saving can get long and if you need to leave, you're guaranteed to lose a good chunk of game.

This also becomes a problem toward the end, when the game has an odd difficulty spike. Particularly in the room with the C4 explosives; a room you have to navigate by avoiding wall-mounted laser explosives and explosive barrels, all stacked together; which is fine, until monsters show up in that room and a single stray bullet throws you back to the last checkpoint, which is a significant distance behind.

Cold Fear is the type of game I feel guilty not recommending. I enjoyed it, really, but the reality of the matter is that it doesn't have much to offer. Unless you're feeling nostalgic, there are much better alternatives out there. If you do decide to buy it, certainly do it on a sale, when the game costs something like a buck. Otherwise, you might want to look elsewhere.

Addendum: if you do buy it, do yourselves a favor:
1) Install the widescreen fix.
2) Edit the config files to change the FOV, particularly the over-the-shoulder FOV.
3) Play with kb+m. It feels clunky at first, but it makes combat infinitely less frustrating.

I came into this game with pretty low expectations but also a decent measure of curiosity and the subtle thrill of approaching an obscure horror game I'd never heard of until recently. And by obscure, I mean obscure, because it seems like this game was left by Ubisoft to die. Kind of a struggle getting widescreen to work on Windows 10, but a third party patch got the job done. In terms of the game itself, there were a lot of comparisons to Resident Evil 4 when it first came out because of the camera system, but that's basically where similarities end aside from some very broad comparisons like the linear structure and a plot about a creepy host infecting people and turning them into monsters. The actual plot itself is a cliche-soup, the protagonist is bland, and the whole thing just kinda stops in the end, similarly to this studio's previous work on Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. This is kind of a tentative thumbs down, however, because I did enjoy the first half or so of this game. It had some good horror vibes, the exploration was as tight as a game like this can probably get when you're trying to emulate Resident Evil-style map layouts without giving players an actual map, and to top it all off, the voice acting and the hammy script added some b-movie charm that actually got me thinking this whole thing might end up being an enjoyable romp. About halfway through, however, you switch locations, horror is replaced by straight-up action, the layout gets much more convoluted and the navigation obtuse, and I slowly started to realize that the thrills in the first half were really where the game peaked. The combat starts getting repetitive, the plot's early charm wears off, and there's no real wrap-up or climax or big reveal for the story, unless you count the dumb and out-of-place Marilyn Manson song that plays over the credits. It's a bit of a shame, because I was genuinely on board for the first half, but I can't really recommend this unless you're really curious and have played any of the other, more interesting horror games that deserve your attention, and even then only if you find it on sale for 2 dollars like I did. Although truth be told, for 2 dollars, you're only getting a half-good game.

Cold Fear is a nearly 20 year old game, so some imperfections like the camera are to be expected. But other mechanics like not having a manual save menu option/save room or not having an accessible map are just a little frustrating. The game’s story is most like the first Resident Evil movie in that it makes sense the more you willfully turn your brain off. Unless Cold Fear is something you are nostalgic for, I can’t imagine this being something anyone needs to play in 2024.

Cold Fear is an unashamedly old school survival horror game, so you should pretty much know whether you're interested in playing it or not. But I must say it's a pity that a game with such a realistic feel and a believable atmosphere suffers from several annoying problems, such as the lack of an in game mini-map or an inventory system, iffy controls and the inability to save your progress or use the health packs at will. Although it's almost copy-paste Resident Evil (which is good in my books) I can't really recommend it to anyone except to the genre fans and to those who can approach it with nostalgia. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=833537371 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=831657331 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1410632568

I was recommended this game by a friend who told me that if i like Resident Evil 4 then i would probably like this game since its fan base tends to refer to it as Resident Evil 4: Boat Edition. After playing the game all the way through in about 2 sittings or so I managed to get to around 7 hours of gameplay and, honestly, had no desire to give it a second playthrough, and after thinking about it for a while, I personally did not like the game.

TL;DR: I can understand how some people would like the game, but I personally do not recommed this game. The cons that this game has outweigh the pros a lot imo, and there are so many better games on both Steam and GOG, that i would just recommend finding and playing one of those (REmake, System Shock 2, CB Undying, RE4, Outlast, ...). 6/10.

The Good
--The atmosphere is great. The entire time spent on the boat is actually really good and i really did enjoy a lot of the things that it had to offer, such as the constant moving if you are on the outside of the boat, strong waves can and will hurt you or even kill you, and the whole feeling of you being literally suck in the middle of nowhere.
--The combat i feel is solid even if it does have some techincal issues on the controls side, but it does very much feel like the RE4 combat.

The Bad
--Obviously i feel as if the game is too short. I have around 7-8 hours on record but some of that does come from me being idle and having to reload a previous save due to techincal issues (not the games fault). I would say that you can beat this game in 1 sitting and in about 5 hours or so with no problem, which for a survival horror game is pretty short imo.
--The controls do have their share of problems but nothing too serious as some people might of had. I played this with a controller so maybe that had something to do with it because i think this game was made more for the PS2 than the PC so if you want to play it i HIGHLY recommend a controller.
--A serious pet peeve of mine when it comes to survival horror is when a game tries to make a game "harder" by introducing random variables (or ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ as i like to call it) or by removing things that at this point in time should be a standard. For example, you do not have a map in this game, and while i do praise the boat for its originality, some of the rooms do feel the same and the areas after following the boat are far too similar and you can get lost very easily. Also, and this really annoyed me, it violated the sanctity of the safe room with no warning. Granted it only happens once, but after playing many survival horror games the safe room is the one place you can fall back to. Even games like Silent Hill The Room that do turn the safe room into a dangerous place to be in, it does it over time as if it is warning you that the place you feel safe in will sooner than later become hostile. Finally, there are moments where the only time that an enemy is approtching or around a corner, is by trial and error. Sometimes you have to die to know what is behind a wall you cant see behind from your angle and if i dont forgive better games like Resident Evil 3 for doing this, i wont forgive this game for it.
--The enemies I feel are bullet sponges, and can be too easy or too hard. Too easy in the way that they stay still and take the punishment, either by your positioning or by the game having issues, and too hard in the way that they charge you and they can take about 2 clips of ammo before falling. Also the final boss is a total pushover, super easy and the ending leaves you with that "that was it?" feeling.

Overall i would give this game a 6/10. There are so many better games out there that the only way i would really recommend this game is if it were on sale for pretty cheap. Im glad that some can find joy in a game i didnt, and maybe i am alone on this opinion, but this game is not worth the "cult classic" hype people give it.

Ah, well, this is a game where I'd like a "meh" option for recommendations.

Cold Fear is a budget-y old skool survival horror game. Of which the early 00's had plenty. It does nothing new and leaves much to be desired. It's not outright bad, mind you. It's totally playable, but unfortunately falls face down in its own bland soup.

Let's get the good thing out of the way first; the atmosphere. It's kind of there, and it's almost good. The splashing of the waves, the rocking of the boat, the rusty metal, the isolation. The pacing is as always important here. This is par for the course for the genre, sure, but there's something here that could've been expanded upon.

The gameplay is fine. You shoot, you read notes, you solve puzzles and you run around like a headless chicken scouting for the next path. Par for the course as well. Other things that are fine? Visual design. Sound.

What's bad then? Well, the writing and screenplay are lousy as heck. It makes no sense at times and the dialogue is so damn sparse and so damn bad it made me chuckle several times. This together with blank characters that barely make sense either make the story completely uninteresting. The fact that this game lacks a map is also annoying beyond belief. Considering the game is a traditional survival horror game with backtracking, puzzle solving, locked doors and shortcuts; this makes no sense. Navigation is a hassle at times. The save system is unforgiving and inconsistent as well. You never save manually. It's more checkpoint-based, which is mind-boggling in a game where you easily can spend half an hour scouring for things in rooms, die, and have to do all the scouring again just because you didn't hit a major story point on the way. Most areas are easy enough to overcome and survive, but some are shoddily made and may kill you several times in annoying ways - which makes this system even more frustrating. And the final boss is dog poop in design.

So, I guess I'm not recommending this game to most people. Overall. There are better games in the genre, and many of them. If you're a druggie of survival horror, then by all means; give this game a shot. It's absolutely playable and might have something for you. I had some fun here and there.