In the clutch of a cold snap, NowGamer runs down its top ten sub-zero videogame experiences...

10. Halo: Combat Evolved
Format: Xbox, PC
Level or area: Assault on the control room
Year: 2002
Spindly towers of ice only reachable via use of Covenant Ghost made up the meat and potatoes of this level. Snow all around made pinpointing of the enemy relatively easy as their primary colours stood out all the more in the white blanket of snow.

Death from below. Well, if you will stand on thin ice.

Standout moments include many a Wraith takedown, pitched aerial battles’ and a gripping end-of-level firefight through the whispy snowfall.

9. Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Format: Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, Wii, GameCube
Year: 2006/2007
Level or area: The beginning bit
What a way to start a game. Same Fisher, dry-suited and armed to the teeth swims secretly beneath a patchy ice layer on which a wealth of enemies patrol regular routes. Patchy because despite the ice being several feet thick in most places, there remains comb-over zones. Bald patches where the ice may be cut through using his trusty Rambo™ knife to silently pull an unsuspecting drone beneath the water where you’ll then be able - in canned animation form - to stab his lungs out.

Not only is that game’s use of ice very original, it is also beautifully – on the current gen versions of the game, at least – presented. The tension is palpable. Accidentally raise another guard’s suspicion and they’ll begin shooting holes in your cover in an effort to achieve a lucky shot. Remember to keep a cool head. Which is perhaps the worst pun we’ve ever written. No, no, that really is sh*t. We're sorry.

8. Metal Gear Solid 4
Format: PS3
Year: 2008
Level or area: Twin Suns
This game makes the list for two reasons. Firstly, the most obvious; the snow looks great. The near white-out which eddies around the Shadow Moses complex reacts to Old Snake’s every step. But more than that, fans have a special soft spot for the memories this evokes in Snake’s mind, each played out through original audio snippets from Snake’s last visit to Shadow Moses; that seen in Metal Gear Solid on PS1.

Curse you Bond! The old blowing up the barrels trick gets 'em every time.

It’s a trip down memory lane more than anything else. An indulgence for those who remember with great fondness what was probably their first Metal Gear experience; one which was in itself a classic piece of snowbound gaming, but also one which is all the more resonant in the HD glory offered up by PS3.

7. GoldenEye
Format: N64
Year: 1997
Level or area: Surface
Surface was somewhat of a rarity (do you see what we did there? RAREity? Yes, we know, we’re pathetic) even within the game it appeared. Goldeneye's status as practically the inventor of the modern 3D FPS, perhaps along with Quake is oft-noted. As far as we know, it was the first game of its kind to use sniper rifles; now a staple commodity in all FPS and one that we’re eternally grateful for every time our head is dashed across the nearest wall by an amateurish adolescent from a camping hole forty-six miles away.

… continued