Cold Fear [Xbox]

Sea voyages can be scary -- just ask the survivors of Gilligan's Island. So it makes perfect sense to plop a lone hero amid a bunch of mindless zombies at sea. That describes Cold Fear in a nutshell. Having redefined its own name through the exploits of Sam Fisher, Ubisoft now turns to horror. But even with a novel approach and impressive visuals, the company will need to do more than wrap old ideas in a new package if they want to replicate their success with stealth.

When a strike team is dispatched to investigate a violently disabled Russian whaling trawler, the trained commandos are quickly decimated by whatever lurks within. The C.I.A. calls for backup from the surrounding area; naturally a Coast Guard cutter comes sailing out of the stormy night. Heading up the boarding party is male-model turned sailor Tom Hansen, who is quickly left alone as his co-workers are torn into pieces by whatever has occupied the ship. With little but a flashlight and pistol, Tom must explore the confines of each deck and get the situation under control.

The best thing Cold Fear has going for it is a unique setting. Movie producers have always known that old content can be recycled in a new environment, and that trick has been put to good use by developer Darkworks. The derelict whaler provides fantastic atmosphere, since the echoing metal corridors and wind-lashed decks contrast each other and taunt unique dangers. Tom will be menaced by swinging pieces of tackle, as well as by waves which threaten to wash him overboard. As for the more sentient danger, Tom is first forced to contend with the human (and not-so-human) remnants of the ship's crew, before tackling... zombies at sea!

Right off the bat, however, inconsistencies plague the adventure. Tom evidently speaks fluent Russian, a nonsensical bit of background which merely allows the player to read the ship's signage, and therefore not become totally lost. But we don't understand the Russian shouted by the whaler's surviving crew, and Tom makes no attempt to communicate with them. Instead, players are merely invited to gun down the sailors. Evidently, lapses in storytelling logic aren't confined to Asian horror.

And soon enough, the game turns into a key hunt, as players must hunt high and low for methods to open the various locked doors which bar the path. Aren't there some portholes to shimmy through? With only a couple of people and beasts per room to provide visceral thrills, backtracking from end to end of the ship quickly wears thin. Once the action moves to an offshore oil-drilling rig, it becomes even more predictable and mechanical.

And rather than breaking any new ground when it comes to monsters and combat, Cold Fear sticks to a tried and true palette. We see fast monsters and slow ones, as well as zombies that scuttle along the ceiling and walls. But with the exception of a few bosses, every beast can be put down with a head shot, and nothing else. Learning to squeeze off a perfect headshot can be tricky, especially on the rocking ocean, but it's not much fun. There's a reason we're not rabidly crying for another House of the Dead sequel.

One saving grace is the aiming mode, in which Cold Fear feels a lot like a first person shooter. Tom can move around while aiming (relatively unheard of in horror games), which certainly makes it easier to blow off the heads of zombie after zombie. The arsenal isn't huge, but the specialized zombie-killing gun that falls you're your hands is decent fun. And in close combat, a couple of button-mashing moves allow Tom to jam a gun right into zombie mouths to generate a guaranteed 'M' rating.

Players can distract themselves for a while by enjoying the sights and sounds. The simple storm sounds and echoing ambiance of the ship and oil rig work quite well, setting a downbeat tone. And the graphics are really quite nice, if not up to the new standard set by Resident Evil 4. Even on the PlayStation 2, Tom moves with a realistically pitched gait as he navigates the tossing decks, and the wind and rain effects impart a palatable feeling of menace.

With about eight hours of play for the first time through (less for experienced or perseverant gamers), Cold Fear is in the same league as the disposable horror flicks that fill video shelves and late-night cable. It's not particularly frightening, but good atmosphere and short-lived twitch satisfaction is enough to sustain interest for a while. Anyone in search of more lasting distraction should stick to Capcom's new classic.