Publisher: Codemasters

Developer: Mercury Steam

Release Date: 10/23/2007

Available On

Man, playing this game has been a long time coming for me. I played the demo when it was first released, as it was highly anticipated. Clive Barker’s Undying was a very well-received horror FPS, and maybe he thought he could up the ante by making a squad-based shooter set in his universe. It sounded good on paper, and the trailers and screenshots looked decent, but once everyone got their hands on the game, the bad reviews and anger started up. I rented the game, actually bought it once when it was dirt cheap, and sent it back both times. I just couldn’t understand the game, felt it was boring, and didn’t have the patience for it.

Now, almost ten years later, I decided to try one last time, and I finally got through the game. The story is what I had high hopes for, as Clive Barker is a great storyteller. You play as a squad of seven named Jericho that is sent to close a breach in a portal to hell. This self-contained hell is called the Pyxsis, which is a series of levels within itself. It doesn’t sound dissimilar to Clive Barker’s own Hellraiser series. Once you pass through each breach, a new setting is revealed, usually a time period from the past, and a new boss is on the horizon. The smaller story elements are decent, but the game has one of the worst endings I have ever seen. Once you beat the final boss, the game cuts straight to the credits with no pause—a complete shitty ending.

Actually, playing the game is quite a chore, and this is because the developers became too ambitious with you having to play as seven people, and it becomes a chore. Each member has their own weapon type and magic abilities. Delgado is a heavy mini-gunner with a fire demon spell and a fire shield. Jones uses an assault rifle/shotgun combo and can possess bodies. Black is a sniper and can use a bullet cam and telekinesis. Get the idea? There are seven of them, and you have to keep track of all of them in cramped linear hallways. Every so often, the squad splits up, but it still doesn’t matter. I went through endless hallway after hallway, killing the same three enemies throughout the entire game, and I wanted it all to end so quickly.

What makes matters worse is that the game is extremely difficult and poorly balanced. One level might be easy, but the next is wave after wave of enemies. Reviving each and every player every time they fall really stinks and makes things more difficult. Fighting a wave of enemies and having to run around and heal everyone who is down just makes the game more unnecessarily difficult. Even with the easy difficulty, I died a lot. On top of all that, the shooting mechanics are awful, as there’s no feedback or weight to the weapons, and they all feel the same. I just stuck with Delgado and the mini-gun through most of the game, as any strategy is null and void when you’re stuck in corridors through the entire game.

There were a couple weird puzzles thrown in randomly, and the boss fights became more and more frequent towards the end, like the developers ran out of ideas. After the 25th level, the game accelerates towards the ending. I can see how this game would have been better if there was more enemy variety, less linearity, and not so many squadmates. Just a tighter, more fine-tuned squad-based shooter would have been fine. Instead, we get seven people that we don’t really care about, as the game’s story randomly throws in cut scenes and there’s no character development.

Outside of that, the atmosphere is fantastic and is the best part of the game. Clive Barker’s signature is all over the enemy and level design, with gore and blood on every inch of everything. The enemy designs are awesome, but there are about a half dozen, and they get boring to kill after a while. The levels are neat to look at, but they are nauseating in closed-up hallways and are always way too dark.

With that said, Clive Barker’s Jericho is only worth a playthrough if you are a hardcore Clive Barker fan; otherwise, there are zero reasons to even touch this game. It’s unbalanced, difficult, and boring; the story doesn’t really go anywhere; and controlling seven different people is a chore. The guns shoot like crap, and the only redeeming value is the art style and atmosphere. Stick to Undying if you want Clive Barker’s better adventure.

Reviewed On

Keyboard & Mouse