PlayStation 2

Cold Winter

In Cold Winter, players take on the role of Andrew Sterling, a rogue British secret agent. The storyline is a mish-mash of kooky conspiracy theories and secret agent shenanigans, but you won't play Cold Winter to marvel at its intricate plot; you'll play it because it's the best PS2 first-person shooter ever made.

Cold Winter is the latest game to get tossed on the growing FPS heap for the PS2. With the competition growing in numbers and quality it really takes a special game to stand out, and Sierra has crafted just the right mix of spy-thrilling action and bloody combat to keep you glued to your Dual Shock for the 8-10 story mode and perhaps a few more hours of multiplayer after that.

What would have been simply an amusing romp becomes a seriously engrossing play because of an excellent script and some compelling voice acting, lending a truly cinematic flair to the whole game. Don't miss out just because this is an unfamiliar character and series. You might be surprised with this one.

The gameplay that Swordfish Studios has crafted takes the Playstation 2 hardware for a serious spin. Squeezing the trigger and firing off rounds is a satisfying endeavor, but the one area where Cold Winter stands out from the rest of the FPS pack is the high level of interaction that it places into the hands of the player. The fact that these actions cane be used to expand upon the gritty gameplay makes it all the more impressive.

So, to conclude, this is a brilliant effort from a small development team, which succeeds not in flair or in originality, but by doing the things it does very well and having an extremely solid structure. If you want a quality FPS on the PS2 and haven't given Cold Winter a try yet, I fully recommend it.

Cold Winter hits the scene when most players are itching for something new. While almost everything here has been done before, in Cold Winter, you'll definitely find an exciting and fast-paced game. The single player portion doesn't cover any new ground, runs a bit short, and leaves you wanting more. Thankfully, there's a solid multiplayer mode, and although it has a few problems and doesn't offer up anything new, you'll have a lot of fun if you find yourself getting into it. It may not be the prettiest or the most innovative FPS out there, but Cold Winter is worth a look.

You are former MI6 agent Andrew Sterling. You have been captured by Communist China and are being tortured at one of their prisons for political prisoners. You have been beaten. You have been starved. Your fingers have been broken in an attempt to extract information. Your country has disavowed all knowledge of your existence.

Krawall ohne Kompromisse: Swordfishs Ego-Shooter macht vieles richtig - von der actiongeladenen Inszenierung über die tadellose Spielbarkeit bis zur gelungenen Synchronisation. Selbst Shooter-Neulingen gelingt dank moderatem Schwierigkeitsgrad und fairen Checkpoints der Einstieg, während sich Ballerprofis an der unkomplizierten Thematik erfreuen. Einige Ärgernisse verwehren "Cold Winter" jedoch höhere Wertungsweihen: Sauer stößt vor allem der abwechslungsarme Spielverlauf auf. In 16 Missionen trabt Ihr durch mal mehr, mal weniger hübsche 08/15-Levels und knallt bis auf wenige Ausnahmen Fußvolk über den Haufen. Letzteres nervt mit durchschnittlicher KI: Zwar agieren einige Gesellen durchaus intelligent und suchen Deckung, der Großteil biedert sich aber als Kanonenfutter an. Erfrischend dagegen der Einsatz der Objekt-Physik: Leider nehmen gegen Ende der etwa zehnstündigen Ego-Knallerei die Interaktions-Möglichkeiten zusehends ab.

A first-person shooter involving terrorists, nuclear weapons, spies, and secret government organizations sounds about as redundant as the title of Sierra's latest title, Cold Winter. However, despite the cliché plot, the presentation and simple but satisfying gameplay of Cold Winter makes it stand out among the multitude of shooters already available for the PlayStation 2. Cold Winter isn't the best in its class, but it's definitely worth playing if you're looking for a solid single-player shooter with a decent online component to back it up.

"Boy, Cold Winter is terribly brown and boxy. We think we'll just pass on this one and pick up a copy of Rogue Agent, which seems far more color-- Hey now! There's a known murderer in a pink bikini! Let's see if we can't get us a date for tonight."

Cold Winter is a good shooter, with a decent feel and solid action. It is, however, a little linear and that may affect replay value.

If shooting people in Killzone, Halo, SOCOM, or XIII isn't enough, Vivendi Universal's Cold Winter will likely satisfy the shooting fans that play it. Swordfish, the developers, did a noble job with the storyline and cut-scenes, but the muffled voices through poor sound quality are a let-down. Overall though, my game experience was mostly positive. Cold Winter deserves at least a weekend rental, if not a cautious buy, when it drops in price.

Cold Winter is zeker geen slecht spel, maar ook geen topspel. Ondanks dat het gewoon een standaard FPS-spel is, is het toch wel vermakelijk. Het speelt lekker weg en vooral de cut-scènes zijn erg mooi gemaakt. Het combineren van verschillende onderdelen is leuk gedaan, maar had iets beter uitgewerkt kunnen worden, je kunt dus helaas geen superbommen maken. Het spel is erg lineair, maar dit doet meestal niet af aan de game-ervaring. Het zorgt er juist voor dat er genoeg vaart blijft zitten in het spel, waardoor het niet snel gaat vervelen. Het is geen game voor kleine kinderen, aangezien er aardig wat geweld in de game zit. Grafisch gezien haalt dit spel niet alles uit de PS2 en alles lijkt op elkaar waardoor het soms erg onduidelijk is. Cold Winter is een standaard FPS, maar wel netjes uitgewerkt. Het spel krijgt van mij een 7.

Cold Winter doesn’t bring anything new to the FPS genre, and the so-so production values for the PS2 don’t help it rise above the pack in any way. However, if you’re looking for some run and gun action to while away the hours until something new comes out, Cold Winter does do FPS well, it just doesn’t give you anything new. Recommended as a rental or a discount purchase.

Unfortunately the game is too linear and the graphics and sound departments did as much wrong as they did right. The multiplayer isn’t much to speak of when compared to other games on the market, but the single player experience offers an intriguing story. If you’re waiting for the next Bond game or are looking for a fresh take on the FPS genre you should check out Cold Winter. Recommended.

If you have a decent PC or an Xbox, however, there are many, many better shooters out there. Cold Winter's got a lot of features that I'd like to see make their way into other games, like the improvised weapons and the interactive environments, but it's nothing I can recommend unless you've played every other FPS out there.

Despite the PlayStation 2's dominance in this generation's console war, the console hasn't been able to provide a great, exclusive first-person shooter. The Timesplitters series has been the leading franchise on the PlayStation 2, yet that has been available to Xbox and GameCube owners. Killzone had its moments, but ultimately fell somewhat short of its potential and little else has given PlayStation 2 owners anything like what Xbox owners now expect from an FPS.

The first-person shooter has never had much of a home on the PS2. Sure, fans of the console can defend the many ports and few console-specific titles out there, but once we start being honest the truth just isn't pretty. And neither is Cold Winter (especially for someone used to looking at games like Halo 2), but Vivendi's first original FPS is a solid game with enough personality to carry players over the roughest spots.

Si vous êtes noyé dans la masse tentaculaire de First Person Shooter sur PS2 et que vous recherchez un titre suffisamment réaliste et accessible pour vous donner envie d'aller jusqu'au bout sans vous faire bouillir la cervelle, Cold Winter vous tend les bras. Pas franchement joli ni très original, le titre de Swordfish a tout de même ce qu'il faut pour vous faire passer un bon moment.