The Thing

The Good
The story is pretty good, and the intense feeling of knowing that you're really on your own throughout the adventure are probably the game's highest points. Knowing that your own comrades can turn on you at any moment added much to the excitement, and you're never really sure if they're infected or not. Not unless you put the detect-o-matic needle into their arm (note: the device used is not actually called the "detect-o-matic"). And during the game, there are times when your allies are so great that you'll actually feel something for them. You'll love'em when they're fighting by your side, and you'll feel bad when you watch in horror as they transform into a mutated beast wanting only to destroy you!

The Bad
Well, as I said, during the missions you can get a real feel for your allies in the game...but unfortunately, you can't bring them into other missions! I remember one particular set of levels in which I continuously loaded back to older saves just so I could keep my ally alive. He rocked. I didn't want him to die, and dammit, I wasn't going to let him no matter what! And then to my horror, the mission ended, and he was nowhere to be found in the next one. So sad...I guess the game really expected him to become infected.

Also, what the hell is the point of using the detect-o-matic? Sure, it can tell you when your ally is infected, but if it registers positive, your ally instantly turns on you! Even if he is infected, at least he can fight by your side for a bit longer until he mutates. It seems the detect-o-matic is useless, except for rushing the transformation.

The story is pretty vague all the way through, and the end makes no sense whatsoever. I mean, it sort of finishes up what the entire game was about, but the events that take place (not to say what they are as to not ruin the game for any potential players) at the very end are just plain stupid.

Also, I'm a big ammo hoarder. In games like Resident Evil, I'm never low on ammo because I never use it unless I have to. That's because I'm scared to death of fighting some hard sucker and not having the resources to beat him. However, in The Thing, it's just plain silly that wherever you are, there is always a stockpile of so much ammo that if you ever run out, you should seek help.

Your allies have to register trust with you if you want them to follow you...but trust is easily gained just by handing them an empty gun, or just a clip. I don't know, for me, I'd probably trust a guy less if he handed me an empty gun and said "knock yourself out" with a wink.

The Bottom Line
It's really not a bad game, but it's mediocre at best. Good for a rental, because it will take up most of your weekend ot beat, but probably not more. There are some memorable moments (like once when I really pissed off my own ally, and he took MY gun from me and SHOT ME!), but since you can't bring your allies with you into other missions, and you'll end up alone at the end no matter what (you'll realize this very soon in the game anyway), it just didn't feel very good to play through it. Not a waste, but...just not great.

The Good
"Uh-oh! A horror film license. I smell another Evil Dead on the way." Many of you must be thinking this very thing, as was I when I first heard of the game but thankfully you can breathe a little easier. This ain't no disaster, in fact despite its flaws The Thing is one of the best film to game licenses to come along in quite a while.

Taking the mantle of official sequel to the original film, The Thing place shortly after the originals conclusion. You've been sent to the antarctic base that the film took place on to find out what happened. Naturally you and your men soon find that all is not well and are soon fighting for your lives. The introduction sets a very creepy mood as you explore the empty remains of a base with your squad. Rooms are torn apart as well as people, everything looks like serious havoc was going on at some time prior to your arrival. The tension doesn't end there though because you can't stay outside for long or you'll die of exposure to the cold and inside you have to hold your team together as you encounter various gruesome scenes. You see, your squad will actually freak out in response to the things they see. In extreme cases some members will lose it totally and start shooting at anyone and anything making them a serious danger. You can use various methods to calm them such as leaving the stress bringing area or in extreme cases, giving them a shot of adrenaline which will stop them accidentally blowing your head off in a blind panic. Also added to the fresh ideas mix is a rather innovative trust system. Due to the nature of the enemy in The Thing, any human could become a monster at any time and so characters won't necessarily follow you blindly on account of the fact that you may be infected. Of course this works the other way too as at any moment a member of your squad could mutate and attack you, which they often seem to do. There are 3 types of allies you can find on your travels, soldiers, engineers and medics which all perform various different functions for you but it's the engineers that you'll really need as they can fix things that are beyond your expertise.

Graphically The Thing is very solid and crisp and despite the rather mundane setting the locales are rather interesting to explore. Voices are fairly well done and sound is of a high quality with minimal use of music at key events.

The Bad
It may have a lot of good ideas but The Thing often leaves most of them half realized. The great trust system idea is basically reduced to a case of 'character (a) won't follow you because you can't be trusted so you give said character a gun of some type and he's ready to follow you to the ends of the earth'. This is repeated for anyone you come across.

Another great idea thrown down the tubes is the blood test. In theory you can administer a blood test to see if anyone is infected. What actually happens quite frequently is you test someone and they come out negative then 2 seconds later they turn into a monster because they were scripted to do so. What on earth was the point of that? The blood tests may as well be thrown out for all the good they do you. It's practically a given that anyone you meet will eventually turn to the bad guys so who cares anyway?

The story is also very broken. Often you find yourself exiting one area only to be somewhere miles away with no cutscene explaining what happened. I trapsed through many levels blasting monsters unsure of my objective other than I had to get to the next stage, only remembering when a brief, often pointless cutscene would remind me that there was some kind of half-assed plot going on here.

The inevitable boss monster encounters are also awful and horribly unbalanced. The bosses were all fairly tough except for the final boss who was such a push over that you could almost do it with your eyes shut. Add to all of this the fact that most levels serve no real purpose other than providing filler and suddenly things aren't quite as rosy as they could have been.

The Bottom Line
A decent survival horror blaster with a lot of good ideas but failure to capitalize on them ultimately robs The Thing of a place in the hall of horror gaming fame.

The Good
The Thing is a sequel to the original 1982 movie of the same name. The guys who made this game stayed true to the movie's premise to make it feel like a true sequel.Even though it was given good reviews by the press such as Gamespy and IGN, it wasn't really a best-seller. It has great storytelling, the AI is impressive with the Trust/Fear interface, and its full of action that would make John Carpenter proud.

The Bad
Sometimes the npc's would get stuck behind doors, however it rarely occurred.

The Bottom Line
If you like 3rd person action games, the original movie, or survival-horror, you NEED to play this game. It truly is a classic. Best thing of all, its cheap now. So get out there and pick this one up.