The Thing

aka: Das Ding aus einer anderen Welt, La Cosa, La Cosa, Nechto, The Thing: O Enigma de Outro Mundo, Yuusei kara no Buttai X: Episode II
Moby ID: 7168

[ All ] [ PlayStation 2 ] [ Windows ] [ Xbox ]

Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 77% (based on 50 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 73 ratings with 6 reviews)

Not a "bad" game, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, really.

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.

Xbox · by kbmb (415) · 2003

Great concept with only marginal realization.

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.

Windows · by Sycada (177) · 2002

Excellent movie adaption, great atmosphere: I am infected, trust me !

The Good
The atmosphere is dense, the movie was captured very well. The graphics are outstanding with their great fire, snow, wind and illumination effects. The sound is awesome, the movie like engine-cutscenes are excellent.

The Bad
Savepoints.They are well placed, but nothing beats the standard saving system (via hotkey, at best). The team managment is okay and adds more depth and a certain paranoia factor, but the handling could have been easier.

The Bottom Line
Its a great game in the tradition of Resident Evil and the gfx look so much better. Having played this, I would say that a real 3D environment is indeed better than the static prerendered backgrounds that this "survival horror" genre offers normally. Good step ahead, and a lof of fun to play ! But maybe my vote is beeing affected by my....infection ?

Windows · by Emmanuel Henne (23) · 2003

A great game that flew under the radar

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.

PlayStation 2 · by Mike K (5) · 2004

Man is Still the Warmest Place to Hide

The Good
Picking up where the 1982 film ended, The Thing puts the player in control of Captain Blake, a member of a Special Forces group sent to find out what happened to US Outpost 31. Braving Antarctic winds, Blake leads a small contingent through the ruins of the American research station. Here Blake learns that it's no longer a recovery mission; in fact, it's something else completely. Something has torn the outpost apart, slaughtering the inhabitants, and perhaps the Alpha team sent in earlier. Every clue points to this being a medical emergency of extraterrestrial origin.

The Thing is basically a squad-based shooter, equal parts action and adventure. Blake spends stretches exploring derelict buildings, restoring power and repairing switches and then entering into intense firefights as Things either reveal themselves by tearing through infected teammates or bursting through windows or doorways. There are no real puzzles, but there are plenty of environmental obstacles to overcome—including the freezing temperatures which can kill Blake if he remains unprotected for too long. Blake finds notes and computers which expand on the game's story, but most of the inventory is dedicated to killing or healing.

Unlike the movie (or the title), the game is more about killing Things than a Thing. Early on, Blake finds small Things which look like bodily organs with legs ('cause they are) which are easily dispatched with a shotgun blast or a few machine gun rounds. Larger Things, like manThings need gunfire to weaken them before facing incineration via the flamethrower. Actually, the amount of "Thingage" running around Antarctica makes one wonder about the Law of Conservation of Matter; physics aside, it makes for a thrilling adventure.

What made the movie so effectual was that alien life form acted as an agent of infection, hiding inside people. The game retains that aspect with much of the squad mechanics relying on a trust meter. If Blake's troops trust him, then they'll follow him and carry out orders. If they don't trust him, then they may become openly hostile. Blake may have up to three party members: soldiers, medics, or engineers, and he'll need them to gun down Things, heal fallen comrades, and repair broken machinery.

For the most part, trust is easy to gain and hard to lose. Equipping teammates with guns and ammo, healing them, or defending them raises trust while taking their weapons away, engaging in friendly fire, or sitting by when they come under attack lowers it. Conversely, isn't it weird the way Carter keeps wandering off, how Pierce never seems to have a clear shot, and why doesn't Cruz react when the Things leap out of the air ducts? Well, if anyone acts draws too much suspicion, you can always run a blood test on them and see what happens.

Regardless of their size, the Things are pretty smart. They avoid fire and figure out the fastest way to get to you. Human opponents (and fellow soldiers) are not quite as bright, but I loved the squad mechanics described above as well as the panic stages the troops hit. Seeing a blood-stained bathroom with a gutted corpse in the corner and a head in a urinal separates the men from the boys. Blake's a cool customer, but his troops vomit and wet themselves at the drop of a hat. Freaked out party members open fire at shadows or just cower in the corner and refuse to go on. Blake can lead by example, chill out until they others regain their composure, or shoot them full of adrenaline and march on.

The Bad
The Thing looks great, sounds great, and plays great, but the story is mediocre. Teammates come and go either bursting into Things (as scripted) or simply disappearing between levels. There's no real interaction with characters, either between them and Blake or between each other except for a few scripted responses. I can only imagine how much stronger this game would have been, if you tried to keep the same team throughout the whole game.

There's also an unwelcome military subplot—lifted from the Aliens franchise—involving a twisted colonel (voiced by the Cigarette Smoking Man) and his desire to cultivate human/Thing hybrids. The final acts take the player along a nonsensical story where Antarctica is crawling with hundreds of black ops troops and Things who chase each other through large, sprawling military complexes. The real problem here is The Thing can't reconcile the twenty year gap between movie and the game.


The Bottom Line
The high point of the game, for me, came during one of those ubiquitous "been captured, start level unarmed" missions found in gaming. I've seen these so many times, I've come to hate them, but The Thing actually does something different—it treated the level as one giant environmental obstacle where I had to find a medic to heal a soldier who could defend an engineer long enough to repair broken doors. I had to use surveillance cameras to keep an eye on Things and enemy troops and eventually I was rearmed but using remote controlled machine gun turrets against the enemy to defend my team. Brilliant level design, but don't ask me how we got there.

Ebert says in his review of the movie, "…it seems clear that Carpenter made his choice early on to concentrate on the special effects and the technology and to allow the story and people to become secondary." It's amazing how well this description works for the game. I highly recommend this game for the game play and the great squad dynamics, but don't expect an engaging story.

Windows · by Terrence Bosky (5397) · 2004

Another good game, great box art, that's what sold it for me.

The Good
When I saw The Thing on in the shop I was complete taken by the box art, I read the summary on the back, saw the screen shots and thought, wow. The story line is based on the film (as you may have guessed) now I haven't seen the film so that didn't really influence my decision, but from explaining how the game is going to my mates it seems to stick to the movie fairly well.

The Bad
I'm not that keen on TPS but I'm coping, the controls are a bit weird, but hey, what ever lights your candle. Another thing I don't like is the amount of in-game menu's there are. You must know the ones I mean, when you pause the game you get a menu, if your press such-and-such-a-button you get a menu which has millions of options AAARRRGGGHH!!!! TO MANY MENU'S

The Bottom Line
Great story and graphics, slightly strange controls. TO MANY MENU'S!!

Xbox · by David Lafferty (11) · 2003

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Scaryfun, Flu, nyccrg, Cantillon, El B, Alsy, Jeanne, mikewwm8, Xoleras, ☺☺☺☺☺, Patrick Bregger, Virgil, Wizo, Thomas Helsing, Caliner, vedder, 666gonzo666, GTramp, Cavalary, Parf, lights out party, DreinIX, jumpropeman, Emmanuel de Chezelles, Alaedrain, CalaisianMindthief.