Reviews  •  Latest Reviews  •  Top Games  •  Forums  •  Screenshots  •  Hot Deals! PS3  •  Wii  •  PC  •  PS2  •  PSP  •  Xbox  •  Xbox 360  •  GameCube
The Thing for Windows Videos >>
The Thing for Windows
View Screen Shots >>
Upload Screen Shots >>

The Thing for Windows
20 reviews   3.45 of 5

Product Description

Featured Merchants
$14.49
More Prices >>

Summary

I have to start this review by mentioning that I am a huge fan of the movie. I love the idea of a bunch of people, cut off from any chance of help and wondering who each of them can trust...and who they can't.

This concept is integrated into The Thing, a third-person survival horror adventure game. The story picks up one week after the movie leaves off. You play the game as Blake, leader of a squadron sent into investigate the ruins of an Antarctic research base and find out what happened there. Those of you who have seen the movie already know what happened...they came into contact with The Thing, a shape-shifting horror, able to assume the form of creatures it absorbs. This causes much paranoia in the movie as the humans start looking at each other with suspicion in their eyes.

I mention all of this since the game definitely assumes you've seen the movie.

In the game, there are three overly simplified specialized soldier types. There's the medics, who can heal anyone but themselves as often as you need, the engineers who can repair damaged electrical junction boxes, and combat specialists, who are made worthless by the other two classes combat effectiveness. I think the programmers realized this since you will encounter way more medics and engineers than soldiers.

There is a trust/fear meter each individual has. Their trust is the degree that they will follow your orders. If they trust you, they will do as you command, following you and guarding you. If they are a little suspicious, they will not follow your orders at all. If they are very suspicious, they will attack you. The soldiers effectiveness is also affected by their amount of fear. Surrounded by disgusting creatures that spew goo and human bodies ripped into bloody chunks, they tend to get a little nervous. I had one individual crack up completely and refuse to move. I gave him an adrenaline shot and he was himself again. On several occasions, my men vomited at their feet. Supposedly, they will also wet themselves and even commit suicide. I never saw either of these extremes although, I must admit, I nearly wet myself a couple of times.

The trust/fear element is refreshing. It certainly lives up to the flavor of the movie and adds psychological considerations into the game. Unfortunately, the game repeatedly forcefully separates you from teammates. When you advance to a new level, very seldom will your friends come along. They're just gone. So is any emotional investment you may have made in the individual. Also at least twice, I came across a bug where a team member just stopped following me. This is very frustrating. The first time it happened I suspected the individual was about to spring a nasty surprise on me so I executed them. I was wrong. It was just a bug.

It also would have made things more interesting if you weren't the only one that your soldiers suspected. Only one time do they suspect each other and that's a scripted event.

There's a blood test to tell if someone is human or not, but this is very poorly implemented. There are certain Things masquerading as humans which are scripted. Others become Things seemingly at random. Worst of all, you can test someone as human, and moments later they will begin to shake and bleed and become Things. This makes the blood test completely worthless. It also invalidates the Thing process from the movie.

At times, this game was fantastic. There were plenty of genuinely terrifying moments. The developers did an excellent job of creating atmosphere and recreating "The Thing". You also have to give them credit for adding a couple fresh twists to a genre that hasn't seen too many in a while. Unfortunately, two huge flaws and bugs of every kind seriously damaged this game's final rating with me.

Sound

Easily, the strongest feature.

Long periods of silence, filled only with ambient noise create a tense atmosphere. Occasional snippets of fantastic music to warn you something may be lurking just ahead. The creatures themselves, hissing, screaming and clicking. The pitter patter of little spider appendages or huge heavy footsteps each desperate to find you and subject you to a fate worse than death. The whoosh of your trusty flamethrower as you flambee some otherworldly freak. Cinema quality voice acting and good dialogue to boot.

There maybe should have been more music and definitely more music from the film.

OVERALL:

This is a decent game that easily could have been great. It's sad to see the wasted potential here. Still, I'd recommend it to hardcore fans of the film like myself. The ending is a treat for us. It's also slightly ambiguous, possibly opening the door to a sequel.

Gameplay

The version of the game I played was v1.2. This patches a bug where the sound cuts out during cutscenes. It also adds a mouselook. Until you add this, the game is played in true third person with NO ability to look up and down. You target enemies with an autoaim that is too sensitive and too inaccurate. In this mode, you can go to a freelook but you have to hold a button down to do it and you can't move in the meantime. This was horrible. Unfortunately, the mouselook they added is nearly as bad.

With it, there is no autotarget and no damage meter. Having no damage meter is fine until you fight the first two bosses. Then it really helps to switch it back on. The first two bosses take so much punishment, I had to switch the mouselook off just so I could tell if I was hurting them. The worst thing about the mouselook though is that you can't look straight up or straight down. When you have to constantly fight these little spider-Things, whose mission in life is to attack you at your feet, the inability to aim weapons straight down is immensely frustrating. On one occasion about three of them cornered me. I couldn't move and I couldn't shoot them. all I could do was wait to be killed.

Being killed brings us to our second killer flaw. This game has a Resident Evil save system. In other words, you save when the game tells you to save. You have to find these tape recorders. I guess typewriters would have been too obvious. There are looooong stretches where you will die over and over again and have to keep starting all over.

When you die, the game gives you the option to restart the level. There is no ability to load the last save game. You have to exit to the main menu to do that. Little things like that make me wonder exactly how much playtesting this game received.

Cutscenes are triggered without your control. If you want to peek in a room, but it's a trigger for a cutscene, the next thing you know, you're in the room, often without any team members who may have been accompanying you and often locked in as well. I know a lot of games do this but in a game where you are conscious of your every action, being forced to do something is frustrating.

Friendly AI is very good. If your teammates are able, they will defend themselves with admirable proficiency. Their pathfinding on the other hand is atrocious. You can't run very far without looking behind you to make sure your group isn't short a lost member or two.

Enemy AI is pretty bad. The Things only know one way to attack. There is no coordination of multiple Things. Basically, they advance to kill. The larger Things will retreat to heal themselves and then renew their assault. Smaller Things leap and scuttle to the death.

There is no jump button and early on there were several instances where I wanted to climb over or jump over some minor little obstacle and couldn't. Game programmers have to realize, little things like these may seem minor, but serve to remind us, the players, that we're not living this experience but playing a game, shattering the suspension of disbelief.

This game is also too linear. Repeatedly, you will find three or four doors next to one another...and only one will be unlocked.

There are objectives which you are supposed to achieve but the only two objectives you really need to remember are stay alive and keep moving forward.

The four bosses are not well balanced. The third boss is extremely hard...until you discover his Achille's Heel. The fourth and final boss is huge and extremely imposing...and very easy to kill.

Your arsenal consists of the usual throwaways but the sniper rifle is devastating, the shotgun and submachinegun effective and the flamethrower will feel like your best friend. It takes flame to kill the bigger Things and a quick squeeze of the trigger will cook the smaller ones.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Sound

The sound was good, when it worked. My machine had many errors when playing the movies. Most of the movie-segments had errors serious enough that it resulted in a total crash. At the very least, I would have no sound at all.

Gameplay

I had the game set on hard mode when I first gave it a try. The things, while frightening at first, quickly became jokingly easy to slaughter. The human-things (when your squad-members get infected) were an abysmal joke...they never did anything. While the game claims to be heavily dependant on 'trust' and 'fear', I found those factors had hardly any effect at all on what your squad did, or what you ordered them to do. It's easy--too easy--to earn the complete trust of everyone you come across. Worse yet, pretty much all of the final missions end up being pointless wastes of time. i.e.: you break into a place. Once you do, it seems the only point of you being there was so you can break out of there again. Give me a break! No plot at all. Saving is a pain in the arse too (no quicksave capability). Thus, if you died or failed, you would have to start all over, re doing the monotiny you just did.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Summary

The thing is a good title for those who want a little gamming innovation in their lives. I have been waiting for awhile now to see a game come out with a little more substance than a gibathon (though the thing does offer a very pleasing gore factor). The game offers a very good squad based system, excellent environments, and a descent story. The trust & fear part of the game are also a welcome addition to action gamming. You can either gain or lose trust from your fellow troops based on various factors. For example, if they have a gun in combat, and if they feel that you are one of “them”. This adds another element to the game to keep it going in situations that might seem otherwise boring.

The down side to the game is that it can be at time monotonous, and has a so combat system. If you are coming from a first person shooter game background you might find The Thing an extremely hard game to play. Both in controlling your character, and with the added inactions. If allow for a little learning time, and stick with it they game does progress nicely and overall these previously encumbering features become a more rewarding experience.

Sound

The sound is theatrical, well placed, and the voice acting is not top notch but does the job. If you have an EAX or some other form of surround use it, and your will really get sucked into the world. I can’t relay “tell” how good the game sounds, but if you want to just take my word on it: ITS FANTASTIC ;)

Gameplay

The game play in the game is bitter sweet. Though games radial menus and nice quad based ui works well it still fails to deliver while in combat. I found my self running franticly backwards enemy’s at my feat, and constantly trying to switch between first and third person camera views. With some getting use to you can get around this problem, but combat still seams like a chore just to progress through the game.

This probably should go under the graphics description but I feel that it impacts the game play dramatically. The Thing has INCREDIBLE lighting effects. I know that others haven’t really hit on this allot, but I think that this is probably the best lit game I have ever seen. This really contributes to the over feel of the game, and truly makes the game a joy to play.

All in all the game play is not the best, but the game offers enough in other departments to make up for any flaws that it may have, and the end of a fear filled night of playing you have ask yourself did you have fun? And the answer is a resounding YES.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Sound

sound. my god i never realised just how good sound could be in a game until i played this one. the sound was precise, loud and clear and matched the characters lips perfectly, almost felt like they were addressing me directly. my sqaud members were also very vocal about the weather and my leadership if i got bored and shot one for the hell of it, also they expressed their feelings about shooting some of the things well, made me almost drop my gun and start laughing instead of smearing 4 legged nasties from eating me, 'come out here so i can kill you' coming from a marine with a a high pitched voice, dripping with a southern accent nearly made me shoot myself in the foot and another beefy soldier calling someone a dickhead was just as funny. also don't try and take a gun from a soldier and expect a smart yes sir, please take my gun sir, expect a remark thats a little less friendly.

Gameplay

The game play in this game is a hell of a lot better than in most games that i've played before. playing the game is straight fowarth and simple and it becomes obvious that you could break an ape out of a zoo and teach it to play this game as well as any evolved primate could. operating your character, moving and shooting, is easy as pie and opearting the options and inventory screen is just as simple so theres no excuse for stuffing up your selections of weapns or tools to use. your other sqaud members are probably the best mates in the world when it comes to combat, they'll cover your back and follow you anywhere and everywhere as well repair doors and machines you need (engineer) and yourself and your other troops (medic). because there your troops and your the leader you have to look after them as well as equip them with weapons and check there health and fear levels, a trusting troop is the best weapon you can have in the game in my opinion but a scared or sick troop on your squad is almost as dangerous as the 'things'. as for the things they are dangerous and scary but at the same time exciting opponents, seeing some walking around outside the window on the corner of my computer screen wasn't like watching a movie, but more like being in the movie. they come in a variety of different forms, in vast numbers and sometimes on their own when you least expect it mfilling the game with suspense at every dark corner. all in all i think the game play is tops, its easy to use, full of suspense, strategy and requires a lot more concentration than most games.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Sound

The sounds are superb, the surround effect is played perfectly, the atmospheric effect gives the creeps, and, did I mentioned the 'easter-egg' song "After Me" sung by Saliva that's included in the Credit screen? Cool...

Gameplay

Computer Arts tried to give PC gamers a new style of action gaming, well at least so.. Firstly the POV, yes, it sucks, If they make this game a first-person shooter, that's much more appreciated. The aiming system is snappy and is sort of a crap. The reticle always snap to unwanted foes instead of the target I want. Weapons' accuracy spoils the whole game, and firethrowers will bbq your own mates as they run towards it when you spray it to those bad ass aliens. The game is a total bug nest which I cannot explain one by one here. My teammate stuck still to the nearby FLAT LAND while I am battling those things alone. Buggy..
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Summary

The original premise for this game was very promising. However, the implementation of that premise leaves a lot to be desired. There are some excellent elements to this game (Trust/Fear aspect, available weaponry, realization of Antartic setting) but these are cancelled out by some serious flaws. The third-person perspective is annoying. This game would have been much more effective as a FPS. Character controls are clunky and frustrating to deal with. Enemy AI is surprisingly bad.

However, I think the major problem with the game is that the developers turned the "Thing" into a mindless monster. In the movie, the creature was intelligent and operated by stealth, revealing itself only when necessary. In this game, each setting is filled with "things", both large and small, which show little to no intelligence or purpose. They are just there to shoot at.

This is not a bad game by any means. It just could have been so much better if more thought had been put into the design.

Sound

Sound is generally pretty good but it would have really enhanced the game to use portions of Ennio Morricone's score for John Carpenter's "The Thing".

Gameplay

Pretty simple, actually. Determine your objectives for each level, run around to fulfill them, and shoot at "things" and enemy soldiers. Most of the time you'll have one to three comrades with you (medic, engineer, soldier) and you'll need an engineer to access certain rooms. Any of your comrades could be infected but the game's AI just seems to randomly determine when the infected individual turns into a "thing". There is no thought or purpose behind it.

Trust/fear system is a good idea that wasn't implemented very well. Sometimes a character will gain/lose trust in you for no apparent reason. And the gameplay basically ignores the trust/fear aspect of your character. Geez ,I wish they had done a better job with this. It could have been really riveting.

AI for the "Thing" is very poor. Monsters basically just run right at you and retreat when you fire at them. And this was the same creature that was supposedly building a ship to escape in? This part of the game was a real disappointment.

Game controls are kinda clunky but not horrible. Stopping play evertime you interact with another character gets annoying after a while.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Sound

MUSIC/SOUND FX
-------------
Music nearly does not exist.Except in some specific places that the games want to give you a chill, there is no music at all time.Sound FX on the other hand, are good and especialy the sounds of bullet collisions.The dialogs are very good and voices represent the characters..

Gameplay

GAMEPLAY
--------
The Thing, gives us a new gameplay feature never seen before.The trust/fear feature.Other team members can trust or not, depending on how you threat them.For example, giving a weapon to a team member will raise his trust.Fear adds more to the atmosphere...Your team mates will be scared in sight of corpses, blood or even hearing strange sounds.In effect they may start shooting walls or even kill themselves if you do not help them out.Disapoindingly these nice feature do not take drastic effect more than a few times.Many times you will be using computers to find inforamtion, cameras, and other stuff..
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Summary

Overall, not a bad game.

Like many others, after hearing the absolutely scathing reviews, I decided to try the game out for myself and was pleasantly surprised.

First off, there are some minor (some have called them major) flaws in the game, but I think this may in fact be previous reviewers biases in terms of the games they are used to playing -- and want to play -- rather than what "The Thing" is offering... Which is not a bad effort by any means.

Second, to sum the game up in a few words would basically be as follows:

A little RTS and RPG mixed a healthy dose of 3rd/1st person shooter (Max Payne, Mafia) with an emphasis on actual thinking and strategy instead of just killing everything in sight.

If you want a good mix of the above, then Universal Interactive's "The Thing" delivers on all accounts.

If you want something else, you may be sorely disappointed.

All in all, "The Thing" is a great first effort at combining tactical, RTS elements with a 1st/3rd person adventure game.

If they ever release the source code, I can't wait for the improvements and squad-based scenarios that Mod makers will produce that will hopefully improve on what is already a fine game in its own right.

Sound

Sound surprised me.

The voice acting is definitely a step-up from other titles and plays an important part of the story and the whole "trust-fear" aspect of the game. True to real life, you can hear how your squad is responding to various situations by the inflection in their voices and make adjustments to their morale accordingly.

Other sounds such as weapons and ambience are also well done (even if some are recycled from other games/sources). Thing creature sounds are actually original and don't sound "hokey" for a game of this magnitude.

Gameplay

Gameplay is challenging and actually rewarding once you get used to the inventory and Trust-Fear system the game employs and more importantly... Once you learn how to properly navigate and control the system and use it to your advantage to keep you and your team mates alive.

As an aside, I will be so bold as to say that a lot of so-called "tactical shooters" could learn from this model and improve on the execution as the basic concepts of trust and leadership apply to not only the military, but police and law enforcement scenarios and any position where someone is in control of a squad/element/platoon either in a real world (S.W.A.T.) or fictional ("Starship Troopers") setting.

The "Trust-Fear" portion of "The Thing" is composed of being able to give and take weapons and ammunition from the NPCs, heal them, convince them you are worthy of giving them orders by proving your are not infected with "the Thing" and also how they respond to the actual orders you give depending on certain situations.

Unfortunately, what brings what is essentially a leap forward in adventure gaming a few steps back is the actual user interface for performing these various actions.

It's clunky and is the old "wheel of life" where you select an NPC, click on their icon, which in turn takes you to a second menu where you can then perform the inventory, health, and morale maintainence that is needed.

Luckily, the game pauses when you enter this "maintenence mode" -- akin to "The Sims" Buy and Build modes -- But because it does that, it ruins the flow of the game in terms of immersing you "in the momment".

This is most evident when you decide it's time to allocate weapons and ammo "on the fly", say, during a battle or even walking from one location to another. The game just stops. Dead. And while technically this may be the only way this system can be implemented, artistically, this ruins the natural flow and pacing of the game by yanking you OUT of the game momentarily... Which is a shame because "The Thing" does a very good job of immersing you into the story from the very second you enter with super locales, ambient sounds and dialogue.

As far as combat is concerned, "The Thing" suffers from what I will call First-and-Third-Person-Shooter wannabe.

Meaning, it is a hybrid of the two, but neither mode are fully implemented correctly to the degree a game like this demands given the subject matter and scenarios the player is put into as they progress through the game.

As others have noted, you can toggle between first person and third person (third being the default), but you can not move while in first person.

This is very limiting as some enemies are harder to hit while in third person even with the autoaim feature and having the freedom to move in first person would have been a welcome addition and enhanced the combat in the game instead of detracting from it.

Speaking of playing in first person, this is where I want address what I said in my summary of the game on why it may be getting a number of negative reviews: These negative reviews may be primarily due to the players playing it.

"The Thing" is not Quake III, Counter-Strike, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast or even the aforementioned Tomb Raider... And it never claims to be.

The pace of the game is slower than these.

The tactics -- combat and maintaining your NPC squad -- are slower than a regular 1st/3rd Person shooter/adventure game. The element of exploration and research (the storyline) don't unfold as fast as those other games. If players of the games I mentioned above were hoping that this was "Half-Life based on The Thing" then they aren't going to like this game. Period.

Actual level design of "The Thing" is nothing new. It's the standard "explore level for key codes; fight monsters; meet friends/enemies; fight the boss monster and start all over again" that all games the genre possess.

However, where the game shines is the various nature of the missions it presents the player.

For instance, in one mission you have to rescue a person. In another, you have to fight not only thing creatures, but human troopers as well while trying to plant and detonate C4 on four cargo planes. It's the variety that keeps the game interesting as the story unfolds.

A.I. is fairly good for game of this type. Both the human and non human characters -- allie and enemy alike -- exhibit realistic movement, reaction and tactics when engaged in a fire fight. There are no "shooting galleries" here as enemies will dodge, take cover and generally try and outsmart you and their NPC counter parts.

An example is if you close a door behind you in the hopes of keeping out some of the human troopers, they will sneak up to the door (crouched), open it and fall back and let their companions rush in as they fire from the doorway.

The only way that gameplay could be better is if there was a true first person mode -- complete with full movement ala any FPShooter -- And if your character was able to jump as any game of this type demands complete freedom of movement by the player. And it wouldn't have to be a Quake III stype "super jump" either. Just enough to let your character get over the flames of their flame thrower to avoid splash damage or jump up/over crates for a more strategic choices while in combat.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Sound

The sound is fairly good, but on my card the talking cut out on certain cut scenes, oh well. The sound of the critters running towards you, Thing breaking down doors, and team mates turning into Things, all have specific sounds that add to the gameplay.
Overall worth the price, one of my favorite games ever, escept to System Shock 2.

Gameplay

Start out not knowing what has happened ot all the people at the station, just you and your team. You meet up with people and are quickly drawn into the story. I nearly pooed my pants the first time one of those critters jumped out at me. The trust/fear is cool. So is the ability to take and give weapons, commands, and test your team for infected people. Plus you get some really cool weapons. Not only your standard handgun and submachine gun, but things like grenade launchers and flamethrowers. Also like the realistic fact that if you throw away the clip you also throw away th ebullets in it. I couldn't stand in game when you threw away clips but kept the bullets from them, like you really took out each bullet and saved them when you are in a fire fight with thugs (MP).
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Summary

YUK. This game is garbage. Why you ask are all Playstation Ports garbage? Who knows, but I suppose it's because console gamers have no standards.

To begin, you play the game in the third person perspective much like with Max Payne. But the game doesn't play at all like Max Payne for several reasons. As with other playstation ports, this game is too puzzle oriented. Most of you time is spent solving puzzles or running from one area to the next. There are spurts of action but that's not what this game is about. The developers tried to make the fun of this game more suspence than action.

Although there is certainly some action during the course of the game, it isn't much fun. The controls are quite cumbersome and sorely lacking. The auto-aim is retardedly overdone, there is no free-look unless you hold a seperate button which prevents you from moving and changes your perspective to the first person, etc.

You are required to fumble through your inventory alot which you are required to do by cycling through menues. None of the controls in this game are user friendly which makes game-play a drag. If you have no interest in action games, loved the movie and want to enjoy a half-harted attempt to recreate some of the movie's suspense, you might, and I say this cautiously, get some enjoyment from this game. But if you like action and playability, this title isn't for you--especially for the price. I seriously wouldn't pay more than $10 for this game. Actually, I wouldn't take the game for free because it's a complete waste of time. But if you're going to buy it don't spend over $10--you're crazy if you do.

Finally, this game is beyond buggy. I'd have a long list to give but I don't want to waste my time writing them all down. This game wasn't even close to ready for release.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Summary

"The Thing" is based upon the 1982 science fiction/horror movie by John Carpenter of the same name. Both deal with the discovery of a crashed alien vessel in the Antarctic at a research facility. When contact is lost with the base, two special forces teams are sent to investigate (when will they ever learn? Hasn't anyone noticed that this is how every survival/horro game ever made starts?) The teams quickly become disoriented and seperated at the ruined building in a storm. Through the discovery of messages left by base personel, the teams realize that some type of alien virus has been released, which is capable of infecting and taking control of anything it comes into contact with. It will initially remain dormant in its victim, but will eventually mutate the unlucky person/animal/whatever into a horrifying genetic freak. The player takes the role of the leader of one of the teams sent to investigate the incident and soon becomes enbroiled in a complex plot. This game is without a doubt the scariest, most atmospheric adventure game available for the PC, while at the same time being an incredibly enjoyable action game. There is a perfect balance between exploration/adventure and action, as the player will one minute find themselves searching for the correct switch combination to deactivate a security grid and in the next instant find himself overwhelmed by swarms of aliens. This game, while a little buggy out of the box, is a must have for any survival/horror fan and a definite buy for gamers who enjoy a smart action experience.

Sound

The voice acting is excellent and really takes away any excuse for bad voice acting in future action games, and the music (when it's there) fills the air with dread and excitement. Screams of pain fill the air in combat, while mosters roar, click, screech, slash, and gurgle in frighteningly realistic samples. Allies shout taunts at monsters ranging from, "Come on out so I can kill you!" to "I'm ready to blow s*** up," to (my favorite) a defianant laugh and "Yeah! Take it, b****!" There have been a few sound glitches, but a patch that was released on the day the game came out already fixed this.

Bottom line: get this game. It is the most fun I've had in a long time on the PC, and I gladly recommend it to the legions of hungry action gamers out there.

Gameplay

Even though it is filled with spectacular firefights, interesting puzzles, and an excellent plot, where this game really shines is in the AI of both friendly and enemy characters. The game utilizes a trust/fear system that dictates how a friendly NPC acts in relation to their trust of the player character and their level of fear. This may seem like a gimick, but the player will soon realize the importance of gaining the trust of their commrades and keeping them calm. For example, if a player is constantly screwing up (read: accidentally shooting their own men), their teammembers may soon question whether the player is infected with the alien virus. They will become suspicious and uncooperative, refusing to follow orders and even threatening or harming the player. Meanwhile, a team member who is completely loyal to the character is willing to lay down his life to protect the player and even kill another commrade if the offender threatens the life of the main character. Fear can cause teammates to freeze, vomit, wet themselves, become paranoid, perform poorly in combat, succumb to the virus, and, in the most extreme cases, plaster the walls with the contents of their skulls. Both fear and trust are measured in levels, and can increase or decrease through actions taken by the player. For example, to increase trust, the player could share weapons and ammo with the doubting teammember, perform corageously in battle, give himself a blood test, or act in any other noble/selfless way. The opposite of these actions will result in a loss of trust for the character. Increases in fear result from seeing banged-up rooms, mutilated bodies, larger and more terrifying versions of The Thing, and the execution of fellow squad members, while decreases in fear levels result from being a good weapon and ammo, the death of an alien, or the execution of an infected team member. The fact that team mates can be infected from injuries or succumb to infection from loss of sanity through fear adds a whole new level of tension to the game, and while some of these events are scripted to move the plot along, most are dynamic and are a result of how well the player is doing to protect his men. The members of your team are all quite skilled at what they specialize in (soldier, engineer, or medic) and are all extremely neccesary in large firefights, of which there are many and occur frequently. The combat can be somewhat frustrating at times, seeing as the auto aiming intentionally misses at the harder levels of difficulty to make the game more tense, but if the player enjoys a challenge and a good scare, this is actually a bonus. Some of the larger aliens are quite hard to kill, as they can regenerate strength and must be torched using either flamethrowers or incindiary grenades. Another cool element is the addition of exposure. When the character steps outside into the -40 degree arctic weather, a blue bar appears on screen and slowly depletes. When it reaches zero, the player has been outside in the cold too long and begins to lose health. This is an excellent addition that adds a great deal of tension as the character frantically tries to deal with the harsh elements and the alien threat.
Would you like to Comment?
Join VideoGameReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.