Clive Barker's Undying

The Good
- The FPS gameplay was based on the Unreal Tournament game engine; suffice to say it works pretty well. The horror themed graphics and textures are good enough and help create an atmosphere.

• The music and sound effects are sharp. The voice acting is okay.

• The game difficulty is more than acceptable; it's possible to beat it even if you play on the highest skill. It has some tense fights.

• The plot is hooking. There is an intriguing story which get unraveled at a decent pace while maintaining the gamer's interest. The four (or maybe five) Covenant siblings are distinctive personages with a dark backstory. The quests to hunt each sibling have their own perils, puzzles and monsters. The enemies are also distinctive and could require to think in different strategies.

• You get some cool weapons, both conventional and mystical; some weapons have different modes and modified ammo available. You also get some very cool original spells, with aggressive or defensive power; the magical energy, or "Mana", unlike other games alike, regenerates itself, so you won't need to worry about getting magic flasks (although you can get items to boost your Mana and improve your spells).
  
  The Bad
  - The uninspired level design can make the game get old and linear. The unevenness of the quests makes it seem deformed (the last quests feel rushed). Also, the puzzle solving aspect gets tiresome (I'm sick of the usual "get the key" solution).

• The difficulty is not consistent. Some levels, particularly at the beginning of the game, can be really hard to pass, while others, some in which you even get to fight bosses, offer little challenge. Besides, at some point in the game, and from then on, they started making the typical mistake of providing the player a ridiculous and excessive amount of ammo and health items. Some enemies (like the monastery monks for example) are unrealistically tough.

• Unfortunately it has AI glitches. While the enemies are diverse, most of them are quite stupid and can get stuck unrealistically.

• Some plot points are poorly explained. The ending leaves you confused and wanting to know more.
  
  The Bottom Line
  If you like horror themed games and FPS, you should check this out.

The Good
Undying is scary. At it's most intense moments it can become so extreme that you need a break so that your heart rate can level out. Ominous corridors with curtains blowing right out into the centre, obscuring your view, heavy storms, lightning and of course, hideous monsters and ghouls. There are times when you can use a magic that allows you to see or hear events from the past. These are often horrific visions such as an intestine splattered bed coupled with the screams of a young child or a painting in which the images become demonic. The visuals are fantastic and very well done both architectural and organic. Watch out for the ghost who persues you with bloody hooks. The music and sound is magnificent. Orchestral pieces and for once, decent voice acting are most welcome additions to Undying. The story is really good and unfolds at just the right pace to maintain interest over the course of this longer than average game. This is all well and good but what about the gameplay? Wonderful. The weapons and magic systems are great but never make you feel like a one man army. There's a lot of skill involved here and as I mentioned before the quest is huge so there's many nights of intense action to be had.

The Bad
On approach to the final section of the game, it gets a little less interesting but never drops below good. Also the game is a little linear, leaving doors you need to go through open and others shut tight only to be opened when you need them later. This is a minor niggle at best.

The Bottom Line
A horror adventure/ 1st person shooter which is terrifying and fun to play. One of the best horror games for any platform. Judging by the recent and suprising news that the Playstation 2 incarnation has been cancelled due to the PC versions poor sales, fans of horror adventuring and 1st person games alike would be wise to pick it up while it's still available as I'm betting that Undying won't be given a repeat pressing. Brilliant!

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!