Genre: Stealth Action
Publisher: Dreamcatcher
Developer: Mindware Studios
Release Date: September 27, 2005

Back in the good old '80s, we had this little thing going with Russia. Some of you might remember that we were slightly at odds with the Soviet forces, not so much in any kind of shooting match but more of a war of words and gestures. It was a time when implied threats could do as much as outright declarations, and a time when no one really had any idea what the enemy was capable of, so intelligence and spies were at a premium. The term I'm hinting around here is Cold War, and that's the basis of Mindware's new third-person stealth action game. It's more about information gathering than fighting, and if you can subdue and hide from threats, you'll go much further than if you'd gotten into an all-out shooting match.

Your alter-ego in the foggy land behind the Iron Curtain is one disheveled fellow by the name of Matt Carter, and he's not exactly going to be anyone's first choice for anything. Carter is a journalist in fine scruffy bearded and ski-capped style, and a little while after he actually turns up in Russia (as the game's intro movie shows, using fascinatingly art-deco styled graphics), he's arrested on a vague pretense and stripped of most of his gear. Using his mad journalism skills, Carter escapes (Am I the only one who didn't get a class on escape artistry in my college journalism courses?) and takes back a few of his things from lockup before bailing for good. Now he's on the run from the Russian armed forces, chasing vague mysterious clues and trying to find out what he isn't supposed to know about a massive conspiracy deep in the ranks of the Russian government. You know, all that great spy novel stuff. It works to a point, I would say.

The major thing about Cold War is that it very much wants you to believe that it's a sly, smart, fairly realistic stealth game with a great big whack of MacGyver right in the middle of it. I can't really refute that. The big "hook" to Cold War is that Carter doesn't want to go around shooting people in the head with hollow-point bullets left, right and center. It attracts notice and bad publicity when you do that.

No, instead you shoot people in the head with plastic bullets. Even better, you shoot people with plastic bullets which you handcraft out of plastic bottles and a clip of normal ammo, presumably using Carter's incredible heat vision or something. That's only the tip of the iceberg, too. Carter can whip up improvised silencers, gas bombs, rig up a slingshot to fling tranquilizing darts from afar, or – if stealth has failed and you're in deep trouble – take a handful of screws, some ammo and a tin can and build a fairly reliable shrapnel-flinging bomb out of them. Carter is the only main character from a game of this type I can think of for whom bullets are better used to not shoot people. You need to collect blueprints from various levels to be able to do all of this, mind you; Carter can't just make up stuff like "screws + can = bomb." That'd be silly.

Of course, there's nothing stopping you from creeping up behind some Russian militiaman, punching him in the back of the head until he drops and wandering off with your brand new AK-47 either. Sometimes the old ways are still the best. Just make sure to dose him with some sleeping medication so he stays down, or you'll find yourself running from alarm bells in a blind panic later in the level.

Cold War's other unique gimmick is the camera Carter steals back from the guards as he leaves the prison at the start of the game. They did weird things to it while it wasn't in his possession, and the practical upshot of the gizmo is that it now can let you look at people through walls and doors. It's an x-ray camera. Again, this is goofy but surprisingly fun to use, more so when you realize that it can deliver bursts of concentrated radiation with the flash, suitable for blinding guards. (Yeah, I know they don't work like that. Roll with it.) The camera adds a certain something to Cold War that just isn't there in other games, acting as a night-vision lamp and a quick-hint device all in one. Also, you can use it to pretend you're in a low-grade B-horror picture, as glowing skeletons rush at you with guns blazing.

Well, that's what I was doing.

Cold War, visually speaking, is all about misty Russian streets; interestingly techno-fascist uniforms; and tight, gloomy concrete and steel facilities tucked away with giant ominous Cyrillic warning signs all over the place, complete with forgotten propaganda posters hanging with a sideways droop. You get a lot of time hiking through famous Russian tourist spots, like Chernobyl. Unfortunately, I'm making it sound cooler than it actually comes across. As I was trekking through a tight basement stockpiled with forgotten documents somewhere near Lenin's tomb, my thoughts on the fog and texturing were really angled more towards the N64 GoldenEye than anything current-generation.

Additionally, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of dirt, dust or grime in the areas I explored. That was an early level, however, and later levels pick up the visual interest bar a good bit, but it still feels a little too clean and sterile to be the authentic Cold War of the '80s. I will say that there are a number of fun visual tricks hidden about, such as being able to look up from underground with the x-ray camera and see (through) the cars above at street level. Character model detail is far superior; guards, and even your main character, are fun to look at, which is good, this being a third-person game and all.

The voiceovers and the like were still in an unfinished state, so it'd be poor form to discuss them. However, the soundtrack, as it stands during cut scenes and dramatic moments is very pleasing to me, bombastic and ringing with thumping drums and horns. It's hard to describe why it's such a hoot, maybe because of all the spy movies I've seen. This is going to make people who enjoy that kind of thing very happy indeed.

In its current state, Cold War is surprisingly fun to play with, but it's hard to tell if that's going to translate into being a really good game once it's done. The gimmicky x-ray camera and the various constructible gadgets seem to be the only thing separating this game from being on the same level as one of the recent Mission: Impossible titles. Our preview build was unfinished, with a number of very rough spots, especially in the translation department. Once that gets cleaned up and the game itself gets a good once-over to remove flaws in the enemy AI and player hiding routines, we'll have to take another look at it, but so far, Cold War is looking only "pretty good" instead of "really good."