Cold War Hands-On

The title says it all: Cold War is an action stealth Splinter Cell-like game by the Czech developer Mindware Studios, which puts you in the role of an American journalist Matthew Carter on his trip to Moscow during the Cold War. OK, the title doesn't say it all. Regardless, Dreamcatcher was kind enough to send us a preview build for us to play with, so let's take a look at how this puppy is coming along.

Steady, old chap... steady...

I smell pork meat. Mmm, fried bacon.

At the beginning of the game, we are introduced to Carter (the aforementioned Capitalist Pig-Dog journalist) and his plan to get into Lenin's mausoleum in the Kremlin to take some photographs of the place. Without giving away too much, let's just say that a simple assignment ends up with our journalist embroiled in political intrigue and an assassination plot.

Cold War is divided into chapters which, in turn, are split into several sub-levels. The game takes place at various locations, most of which are indoor, although there are outdoor scenes which should do well to counter the possible claustrophobic effect of sneaking around the well-secured prison full of KGB agents and guards. The player is eased into the game via the gameplay-integrated tutorial, so that they may learn how to play on the fly.

Although we are talking about the preview build, the game basically seems rather well-balanced between action and stealth game play. Being a journalist, Carter is not well-prepared for dealing with armed guards, so the players will (mostly) have to stick to a non-killing policy and satisfy themselves with knocking guards unconscious. Missions will become more challenging with time, and Carter will slowly be transformed into an amateur agent, forced to follow or capture agents in order to retrieve valuable information, navigate allies through the prison using a data terminal, locate specific rooms, objects, and people, and even kill the enemies that cannot be dealt with otherwise. (Yup. The non-killing policy doesn't play all the time.)

Carter's missions progress from fairly simple and basic to challenging and sometimes very demanding. His enemies don't follow the same pattern, meaning that things you managed to get away with on the first levels can easily get you killed on the latter ones. The opponents' AI seems to be lower on the initial levels, thus preparing you slowly for the real thing. Although we're talking about the preview build, the AI seems to do a pretty good job, offering a rather realistic, believable impression. At this stage, I found the AI very convincing.

Beside the AI, there are some smaller bugs I was warned about before starting the game, such as occasional clipping issues, the inability to load a mini-map, as well as the occasional inaccuracy of the visibility meter. However, even in the preview build these things were none too frequent so I managed to get quite a good feel for the game.

As I've already mentioned, Carter is no soldier or a military expert. He is an ordinary journalist who embarks on a dangerous journey completely unarmed, thus being forced to make use of everything he stumbles upon (either by searching the guards' bodies or his environment). His ability to improvise sometimes has interesting results, as Carter can pick up various items such as plastic bottles, cans, even cigarettes, and combine them in order to obtain a potential weapon or a distraction for enemies. (While we're on the subject of cigarettes, it seems as though they were only smoking Marlboro during the Cold War. You'll find these all over the game. (Three cheers for product placement! -Mo)) This way, he creates most of the objects in the game himself, so the player needs to take care he's collected the needed ingredients in order to create a desired item. Collecting blueprints results in gaining technology points, which are needed for purchasing different weapon upgrades. The need to rely on your environment and make use of it creates a very good, tense feel in Cold War. Although I'm all for straightforward killing in a good old-fashioned manner, the game has a simple charm and a tightly charged, believable atmosphere and story that, while it may not be particularly original, keeps the game going with the help of neat, cartoon-like cut scenes.

Carter has more than one ace up his sleeve when it comes to dealing with enemies; he can simply sneak up behind them and knock them out, or take cover and wait until they arrive and then shoot them with knockout bullets or paralyzing darts, or set them up with an ether or explosive mine. Drugged guards sleep longer, which is exactly what you'll want them to do - you'll sometimes be tasked with carrying a body over a small section of a level, or simply forced to run quickly though an area. If you are unable to be stealthy, you'll want everyone else to be sound asleep. Of course, you won't be able to rely solely on your stealth abilities, and your improved camera will help you to become aware of the enemies in the next room, thanks to its X-ray ability that will allow you to see through walls. It's actually fun when you think of your opponents as skeletons that whistle merry tunes in order to pass away the time. (Of course, I had to scan the President as soon as I got the opportunity. Such a well-built skeleton he is.)

I can't see shit through this thing.

This one ain't hiding anything, that's for damn sure.

Trying to be silent and at the same time prepared to act fast if necessary is, of course, what this game is all about. The map is helpful, and the mission objectives info is always available, so it's never a problem to decide where to go and what to do next. The weapons allow for precise aiming, and even firing a dart off a sling doesn't feel awkward. As for the environments, they allow the player to pursue a specific strategy, offering a bunch of dark and secretive corners, nicely designed corridors, quite enough of places to hide, as well as a number of security doors and cameras and electric fences to reckon with.

The transformation of the main character is gradual and satisfying, and the assembly system allows for quite a lot of combinations to be achieved, so with time Carter will have many different possibilities for dealing with his enemies. It's only pity that he has such poor physical abilities (he even goes as far as to joke about it), so he'll be limited to staying with both feet firmly on the ground, trying not to engage in open fights if possible.

At this stage of development, Cold War definitely looks very promising, being able to create a tense atmosphere, rich with suspense. Carter is not much of a hero, but that only makes him more believable and the stealth pretext more realistic, which is why I'm looking forward to playing the final version of the game.