Clive Barker's Undying

The Good
There are so many good things about this game that they can not be all mentioned here - but I'll try. First of all, the graphics are outstanding. The view is clear and landscape shows all the way to the horizon line. Enemies look great and move realistically. Then sound... voice talent is way better than in most other games, and sound fx are great. The game balance is great, and two-hand combat system works well - one hand for weapons and another for magic.

But the thing I like the most is the atmosphere and storyline. It had real writer this time and you can see that. The storyline is just awesome, better than in any other FPS. And the atmosphere... sometimes this game is really scary, and always eerie and dark. I still see dreams about blood dripping from floor and making stains to the roof. And the best thing, with one spell, you can see events of the past - those visions are one of the greatest things in the game.

The Bad
Well, there are a few annoying jumping "puzzles" to beat. Also in the end the gameplay mostly becomes boring, just cast shield, swing the scythe, repeat... And the system requirement is pretty high.

The Bottom Line
Great shooter with awesome storyline and atmosphere. If you liked Half-Life, you'll love this!

The Good
Clive Barker's Undying is a well plotted shooter that loses its impact in the final 1/3 of the game. In Undying, you are Patrick Galloway, a man who's life has been touched by the supernatural. An old war buddy has called you to his estate to help him unravel a family mystery. The family story is revealed through journal entries that you find and through a scrye spell that shows how events unfolded in the past. The scrye spell was my favorite part of the game.

While the game plays as a first person shooter, the ability to use weapons with one hand and cast spells with the other is a distinct touch. Some spell/weapon combinations even complement each other. There is little inventory management and the linear design of the game means that you will have access to every weapon and spell.

I specifically liked how each weapon and spell had advantages and drawbacks. The revolver is powerful but has a long reload time; the shield spell is helpful but blocks your vision. Also you have the ability to "amplify" spells through power-ups, which offers a slight degree in variation of gameplay.

Graphically this game was impressive, I particularly liked the lighting in the outdoor areas. Characters looked great and sound was immersive.

AI was passable, the best AI comes from creatures deciding what attacks to use at what range. Also some creatures used cover for protection, but most encounters involve having creatures run straight at you.

The Bad
This game seemed to unravel towards the end. I really enjoyed the game up until the first boss (which was rather far into the game). Tension had been slowly building and I felt significantly challenged. Towards the end of the game, I was simply too powerful. I ended the game with 50+ health packs, most of my spells were maxed out, and I had tons of ammunition. This game lacked the bullet conservation aspect of most "survival horror" games.

This game is also very linear. Innumerable doors are sealed which prevented me from getting lost, but I began to wonder why the designers bothered putting doors in to begin with. I would have enjoyed exploring more rooms even though they might not have had any useful items or information. At the end of the game I felt like I hadn't missed any areas (unlike the Thief series) and feel that there is little replay value.

Finally, bosses were easy to beat. Like most game bosses, there is a method to beating them and discovering the method to defeating these was very easy. Often, I had much more trouble with the ordinary creatures leading up to the bosses rather than the bosses themselves.

The Bottom Line
This game is very similar to Realms of the Haunting but technologically light-years ahead. I really liked most parts of the game and was only really disappointed with the final level. Spells and weapons were great and there were several scary moments. Unfortunately this game sold poorly and it seems that no sequel will be made. Its strengths are its unique spell/weapon system, character models, and price. Its weaknesses are its linear design, lack of replay value, and a weak endgame.

The Good
Hard as it is for me to single out anything spectacular about this game, there must be some reason why I played it so rigourously all the way to the end. I normally don't blitz on games at all in that way. I did with Max Payne, but I don't know what kept my attention on that one either.

It's probably because both games are incredibly easy to get into, fun, and not especially challenging. Undying grabs your attention pretty early on, and even though the control system leaves something to be desired, keeps you playing without much of a hitch. All the elements of a solid game are here: the graphics are good, the sound is good, the story is good, the gameplay is good, and the length is good. Nothing special, just good.

The animation though, is very good. The enemies really move nicely, especially the howlers and skeletons. There is also a fair amount of variety in the enemies I think, but some people admittingly don't think there is. Also, this game has brought back the tradition of boss creatures to fight, which deserves much thanks in my opinion. The spells are good. The weapons are ok. That's it really. Sometimes you get whisked off to a totally different environment for no real reason other than to provide a change, but that's ok because every FPS does that. Half-Life did it. System Shock 2 did it. I don't mind.

The Bad
Still, this game, even in an optimised condition, is never going to be like Valve's trailblazing debut. It's an FPS, it's a good FPS, but it doesn't try anything different. There's nothing to make Undying stand out from the crowd other than the addition of bosses and the funky 'scrye' spell. Serious Sam stands out by being so wonderfully excessive, but that's one of the few around that do. But anyway, it's unfair to compare every shooter to Half-Life. So on with the more niggling complaints: Firstly, the story gives off a slightly false impression. The stage is set for something deep and mystifying: Your war-buddy calls you to his house to unravel the secrets contained within the Standing Stones (which his father spent most of his life trying to figure out), and to find out about the curse that has plagued his family, what has become of his siblings, and what all these monsters are doing here. I don't want to spoil the experience for anyone who is thinking of buying this game but you find out very little. It turns out the plot doesn't really mean anything anyway, and it never moves on until the end like so many other games.

Secondly, why are all the bosses so easy? I admit I played this game on 'easy' because I'm a wuss, but I rarely got hit anyway so it didn't matter. The first boss is easy, the second is ridiculously easy. There are more but they're not really worth saying much about. In fact, one of the normal enemies I found tougher than any of the bosses in the game. The whole game is still not hard though. At one point I was carrying 60 health packs. The bosses aren't much fun to play again either because they...oh I don't have the room to describe it. All I can say is that ideally, bosses should have the pressure on you ALL the time. Metal Gear Solid 2 did it right when I played it. In that game I fought a guy on a rooftop who seemed to be constantly coming up with ideas of how to kill me, and who would actually try to corner me. Fighting bosses should be like fighting a guy in a boxing ring. It should be that intense.

Thirdly, why are there doors that jam for no reason at all and prevent your access? I've never known a house to have so many. I suspect the reason is probably because...

Fourthly, the game loads every time you go into a new area. Other than annoying you, this makes navigation of big places very difficult.

Fifthly, the sound in this game is good. But what makes it nowhere near System Shock's league is that many of the sounds aren't real. You can hear howlers when there aren't any around, they're just in the general vicinity. It's scripted sound and it doesn't work because it doesn't tell you anything. All FPS developers take note: ambient sound is at it's most tense and frightening when it is from real activity. What makes SS2 a work of genius is that when you hear a monkey, you KNOW there is a monkey near you for certain, and the volume and direction of the sound will tell you where it is. That's when you panic because you know the speakers aren't lying. So even when it's silent you're filling you're pants because you sit there praying you won't hear anything. Ocassionally SS2 does use music and sounds to heighten the tension. The moment you enter the cargo bays where currently dormant but evil robots are pressed against the sides of a very thin corridor which you must walk down, and you hear that soft hum and tiny rush of air sound, every hair stands up on the back of your neck. That is how it should be done. Less sound, more meaning.

Sixthly, the thought that servants would continue to work in a house where people are being eaten alive is laughable, let alone that they should be as nonchalant as ever about it.

The Bottom Line
A good game. It has faults sure, but it's still fun. Few of the faults are major, they just stop the game from being a really good regular game like Medal of Honour, instead of a good regular game. (Stop me if I'm confusing you ;O)) Either way, the game would never have been anything other than regular. Easily it's biggest fault is that it doesn't try hard enough.