Cold War (video game)

Cold War is a video game developed by Czech developer Mindware Studios and published by DreamCatcher Games (Linux Game Publishing for Linux). The game is similar to the Splinter Cell series of games in that it uses a stealth-action system of gameplay. The game distinguishes itself by adding an invention system where the player can use seemingly useless objects to create tools and weapons. Also, the story of the game centers around a civilian reporter, so no extremely acrobatic moves are available to the player. Another aspect of the game is that the player can take many different approaches to winning the game. The game was released in North America for Microsoft Windows and Xbox on September 27, 2005. The Linux version was released on August 4, 2006.

Story

Cold War takes place in 1986 and follows the story of a freelance journalist Matthew Carter who finds himself in the midst of an international conspiracy that aims to control the U.S.S.R.

Twelve hours after arriving in Moscow in hopes of gathering material for a Pulitzer Prize winning story he finds himself thrown into KGB's political prison and framed for an attempted murder of the president.

Using only recovered weapons and improvised gadgets, he must now evade or overcome elite Soviet forces and defeat the conspiracy before he is sent to a Siberian prison camp or killed.

Critical response

Cold War received mixed reviews on the Windows platform, mostly due to the fact that it was regarded as a Splinter Cell clone, with many reviewers overlooking substantial differences in the two games' overall design and gameplay. Another frequent reason for complaints was the inclusion (on Windows) of the StarForce copy prevention software. StarForce is subject of ongoing controversy, reputedly causing major technical problems, which led some computer game users to regard it as malware; some of them even went so far as to boycott all games using it. Ubisoft Entertainment ended up dropping StarForce from all future titles.

The console response has ranged from being somewhat mediocre to abysmal in criticizing elements such as the storyline, AI, and its somewhat light approach to stealth in comparison to the Splinter Cell or Metal Gear series. Its crafting system, however, has met with general praise for its innovative use within the game.

Notes

• Although the game refers to the U.S.S.R. leader as "president", there was no such office in the Soviet Union in 1986. The actual country leader was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

External links

• Official Cold War page