Cold Winter

It is the Chinese New Year, but for Andrew Sterling, the new year holds only the prospect of death. The disavowed MI6 agent has been left rotting in a Chinese prison, awaiting his execution.

But even on the brink of what should be the last chapter in Sterling’s life, there is hope. A friend from his past arrives and opens the door of his cell. What begins as a chance for freedom may well end with events that will shake the world

Swordfish Studios and Vivendi Universal are teaming up for Cold Winter, a title slated for a 2005 release on the PlayStation 2 console system. The first-person shooter title combines a deep, evolving storyline with seven exotic environments and diversity in gameplay that will allow players to use stealth to work through the levels or go in with guns blazing.

Game features include:

·          Unprecedented interaction with scenery and objects including the ability to pick up and throw objects, move objects to use as cover or find alternative routes

·          Advanced single character and team AI. (Bots cooperate, give orders, use cover, use covering fire for team attacks, dynamically create cover utilizing objects in the environment, etc.)

·          Over 30 real-world weapons and spy gadgets in excruciating detail

·          Zone specific rag-doll death and body-damage effects

·          Highly detailed hyper-realistic environments using extensive lighting, shadow, and particle effects—including effects new to PlayStation 2

Representatives from Swordfish Studios stated that the goal behind Cold Winter was “to take the best elements of all FPS games and combine them into one title.

“Even though hardcore action is a big component of the game, there will be a time when the player will have to rely on stealth.”

The game engine is new, and the mystery/conspiracy aspect wrap the game up with immersive and challenge gameplay. The environments are detailed and the game does an excellent job of conveying the despair and starkness of a desperate prison break. This title takes place in real-world settings with real-world physics.

Fans of first-person shooters will have a lot to look forward to early in 2005. Cold Winter promises to heat up those chilly early days of the new year.

This game will be rated for mature audiences.

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