Clive Barker's Undying

The Good
The first thing that got my attention was the atmosphere. While it starts with the cliche dreary night in an old mansion, I got the feeling that this wasn't the average cheesy horror flick as soon as I saw the howling beast prowling just outside the manor gates. The period architecture and design with curtains fluttering in open windows, dark musty catacombs, and wind swept ruins are both fitting and fighting. What truly gives the gameplay its depth is the superb direction. Rarely has any game kept me in suspense and not alone truly made me jump in my set as Undying has.

The plot slowly begins to unfold when you meet an old friend, Jeremiah. The story, which in itself is a rarity in FPS, is an intriguing and horrifying mystery of a cursed family with twist befitting a novel. Most of it unfolds as you talk to the mansion's inhabitants or read lost journals and letters. While it's not entirely original it does add a great bit of depth to an otherwise ordinary FPS.

The monsters and beast in the game are fairly good, but not exceptional. The roster includes some that are rather typical for a horror game, and most are not original either. The others though are really inspired. Most of them are by far not weak and are sometimes surprisingly conning. Also most are quite viscous in close quarters. To make matters worse, for the player that is, some tend to be in groups, making encounters all the more challenging. This is somewhat balanced by the stronger weapons and spells that are acquired later in the game, but many are rather slow to reload or recharge, making some encounters a real fight for survival.

As for some of the more technical aspects, the graphics and textures are average and sometimes poor, but still fit nicely with the setting and architecture. The map architecture on the other hand is great, much better than Unreal, which used the same engine. The models and animation are somewhat mixed. Some are good, but others have too few polygons and wooden movements. The facial texture animation, however, at times was surprisingly well done, with realistic expressions. While these seem like minor gripes the game still fairs well for its time.

The Bad
My biggest gripe with the game is how torturous dying in the game is. While watching the various fatalities that the enemies preform are interesting, they grow old quickly, yet for some reason you cannot skip past them. You are forced to watch them again and again and again. The same holds true for most cutscenes during the game. After that, instead of loading your last saved game, it loads a secret saved game that is created each time you enter a new section of the game. While this maybe be typical for a console game, it is simply inexcusable for one on the PC. So if your not fast enough to reload when you die, you have have to watch the enemies brutally deal its finishing blow and wait for the game to restart back to the beginning of the section before you can load your own saved game.

Also, the gameplay seems somewhat unbalanced. You have to travel a great deal before you meet the first boss, but the bosses and major beast become much more frequently during the second half. It's seems as if the ran out of ideas and started rushing the game to a conclusion, which is a merely a rather cheesy setup for a sequel.

Some of my other gripes are the game's linearity. While this is somewhat common in a FPS it is to the point of being ridiculous. The mansion is full of doors that seem to be stuck, even though the door might have opened before and some of them are even ajar, yet fail to budge. The conversations are also linear has they simply play out from beginning to end without any interaction whatsoever. Also the games creators seem to believe that there were silver bullets lying around a monastery in the 1200's!

The Bottom Line
Undying is among the best action games in the horror genre with a great story, settings and plot that will keep you hooked to the very end. I've played many and this is by far the one only one that has successfully made me jump or wince time and time again. This game is not for the faint of heart, but if you're game for a good scare then I recommend 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
In 2001, I was pleasantly surprised to play Clive Barker’s Undying. It was a horror/FPS. Intriguing! I thought. The game was marked down to about $6.99! With a cool $20 in my pocket, I decided to take a risk and buy a game I never played. And I still had some cash left in my pocket….nice!

In Undying, the player assumes the role of Patrick Galloway, and Irishman, exiled from his homeland after the strange and horrific murder of a woman, a case in which he is the main suspect. He returns reluctantly after receiving a letter from an old friend, Jeremiah Covenant. During the “War to end all wars”, that’s WWI. Galloway’s life was saved by Covenant. It was also during these dark days that Patrick first realized he had strange gifts.

He is one of the few in the world that can use magic. Including a strange spell called “Scrye”. When used after being cued by an eerie voice say “look”, he can view past events. Armed with his magic, and his trusty pistol, he sets out to help his old friend.

The plot thickens when Jeremiah reveals his family curse to Galloway. It seems that his siblings all deceased, save one, have returned from the grave. From here he must deal with each. As well as an interloper mage known as Kesinger, whom Patrick has unfinished business with.

Undying is a lengthy adventure, that managed to keep my interest from start to finish. Not an easy task. It plays like a FPS, albeit a FPS with many unique twists. Aside from standard guns, shotguns, pistols. there are also non-standard ones at your disposal, magic relics, and phoenix eggs. You also have an array of spells at your disposal, from a handy shield, to a nightmarish spell that summons cackling skulls for you to fire at your foes.

You can equip a weapon in one hand and a spell in the other. And can be used in tandem. Furthermore some spells enhance your weapons. For instance, the lightning spell plus a gun give your bullets an extra electrical punch. There are also items that can be used in battle, or out. These include health packs and dynamite, to name a few. They all must be used. All thought health packs can be set to administer automatically if your health drops to low.

There are various types of ammo available for your weapons as well. Both silver and standard bullets can be used in your pistol. Magic is upgradeable, spells become more powerful with the use of special items. You can also increase your mana, via mana wells. Arcane Whorls also increase magic potency.

This game is truly scary, unlike many so called horror games. This is achieved mainly by the excellent graphics and sound/music.

The Graphics are amazing. This is thanks to the use of the always powerful Unreal Engine. Despite being five years old, this game still looks good. The character models are well done, particularly the detail of the facial animations. The monsters look creepy and even better sound horrifying! The weapons all look nice. As do environments, and spell and lighting effects.

The areas in the game often invoke a sense of dread. From the Covenant Manor, to ruins of a monastery, all the areas are well designed. The Onerios area comes to mind. Onerios is a dream city that exists just beyond the veil of reality. It was once powerful, but has lost much of that power after it was nearly obliterated by a magical cataclysm.

The sound department is where this game really excels. Just listen to the song on the game’s main menu in the dark and tell me that that it did not freak you out! There is little music to be had here but what there is works so well we don’t need more.

The sound effects do one better. This is where most of the games terrifying moments come from. In 1978, the film, “Halloween” proved that sounds and music can be used to invoke dread and horror just as well if not better than violent images. From the creepy whispering “see”. To the noises made by the monsters. The cackling of the summoned skulls as they fly from your control is in a word wicked!

The Bad
This game practically screams sequel. Alas, we will almost assuredly never get one.

The difficulty is unbalanced. Playing on normal mode is almost impossible. Yet the easy setting lacks any real challenge.

There are horror game problems here. The game insists that you watch a cut scene of your death, every time you die.

The Bottom Line
Undying is simply one of the most satisfying FPS out there. Trust me I have played almost all of them. This is also one of the most original games of it’s genre. Newer Halo wannabe type games can learn a lesson from this one.