Cold War Review

Cold War is a stealth/espionage game that adds in new elements such as a gadget creation system in addition to the typical sneaking around and shooting enemies in the back of the head you usually find in stealth games. There are a lot of good ideas here but the execution leaves quite a bit to be desired, particularly when you compare it to other entries in the genre such as Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. For just $20, though, Cold War might still be worth checking out.

Gameplay

You play as a journalist named Matthew Carter who heads to Russia with information that the US President and head of the KGB are having a secret meeting. As you can probably guess, Matt falls into a spiraling pattern of double crosses and backstabbing and quickly finds himself framed for an assassination attempt on the president. The story is decent, if not a little predictable, and it is told through animated stills that are pretty slick looking.

Since Matt is a mere journalist and not a super spy, he can’t pull off all of the acrobatics and special moves of some other characters in stealth games do. Other than that, though, the game plays very similarly to Splinter Cell. When you are around an object that you can interact with, a menu pops up on the right side of the screen which allows you to manipulate objects, open doors, or hide. When you take out a ranged weapon, the game shifts to an over the shoulder camera to allow you to shoot more accurately. You also have access to a number of nifty gadgets such as an x-ray camera which helps keep the game interesting.

The major area of innovation in Cold War is that by collecting various items you can create new gadgets. From simple everyday objects you can make rubber bullets or slingshots and much more. You can also find blueprints scattered around the game that allow you to make new stuff.

There are some interesting ideas here, no doubt, but the execution is lacking. The gadget creation, for example, is as simple as collecting the right items off of dead enemies and then entering the menu and picking the gadget you want to create. Making custom items and really being able to mix and match stuff would have been really cool, but we get a really simple and shallow experience instead. Another issue with Cold War is the stealth aspects of the game. Just like Splinter Cell, you have a shadow meter and the object is to sneak past enemies by keeping quiet and slinking along the shadows. But the AI in Cold War is so ridiculously aggressive and over sensitive that you never really have a chance to do any actual sneaking. These problems don’t make the game bad, in fact the basic shooting and item interaction is actually quite good, but Cold War falls well behind the best the genre has to offer.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, Cold War fails to impress. The character models are actually pretty good looking, but the environments are rather drab looking. Also, for a game that wants to emphasize stealth and using the shadows, the lighting effects here are pretty bad. The game is very dark for the most part and is definitely not a feast for the eyes.

The sound is a little better than the visuals, but not by much. The voice actors do a good job and deliver fairly believable performances that help move the story along. The music is made up of predictable marches and similarly overdramatic scores, but it fits the theme pretty well.

Bottom Line

Cold War isn’t a bad game, but it certainly doesn’t stand out in the stealth genre either. Die hard stealth fans might get a kick out of it, but there are too many other good games hitting stores this holiday season to make it worth much more than a rental. One thing that Cold War does have going for it is that it launched at a bargain price tag, but the flip side of that is that you can pick up any one of the Splinter Cell games for the same price or less and get a much better experience. If you are desperate for some new stealth action, give Cold War a rent.