The summer of ET (1982 for the uninitiated) saw many box office failures due to the arrival of Steven Spielberg`s lovable alien. One of these failures (in money terms) was a movie by John Carpenter called The Thing.
The Internet Movie Database describes The Thing as follows: "An American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog crashes leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realises that an alien life form with the ability to take over other bodies is on the loose and they don`t know who may already have been taken over."
While the movie didn`t exactly rake the money in at the box office, it soon became a cult classic among horror enthusiasts for the way it dealt with issues such as paranoia and trust (or lack thereof). Twenty years on, Universal Interactive has released a computer game version of the movie.
The game, even though it has the same name, is a sequel to the movie. The player takes on the role of Captain Blake, the leader of a US reconnaissance team sent to investigate the deaths of the American scientific expedition stationed at the ill-fated Arctic outpost. Blake leads his squad through familiar areas of the movie such as the Norwegian Outpost, Outpost #31 and the weather station.
Game play takes place through a fixed (90% of the time) third-person camera angle, very much like Tomb Raider. While this succeeds in bringing the player closer to the action, the inability to look up or down is a serious hindrance. This becomes especially annoying when scuttlers (mini-Things if you like) attack your character around his feet. You only start to notice them when they start doing damage.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. By holding down the left-shift button, the player can get a first-person viewpoint of the action. In most cases though, it is better to stick with the standard camera angle.
The game looks nice, but does not compare that well with most other new games. This in itself is not that bad when considering some of the blood and gore on offer. Suffice it to say, there is more than enough highly mutilated bodies to satisfy even the most craven need for blood.
Combine the high gore-factor with some colourful language used by the voice-overs, and you have a game that is definitely not suitable for young children. The outside scenes are especially nice with the Arctic blizzard and your footprints in the snow adding to the atmosphere.
The music (or lack thereof) and sound in the game is well done. This gives unbelievable atmosphere that is essential for any horror survival game. On more than one occasion, much to the amusement of my wife, I gave a yelp of surprise (okay, it was probably fright) when attacked by these alien monsters.
Something unique to the game is the fear/trust factor of your squad members. Due to the high probability of being infected by the alien virus, no one should be trusted. While the player cannot be infected, his squad members certainly can. This creates an atmosphere of paranoia since nobody knows who has been infected and will turn into a monster (at the most inconvenient times).
New squad members are also influenced by their surroundings. Since this consists mostly of the aforementioned blood, mutilated bodies, etc, it does set the scene for some tense moments where you have to calm them down enough to follow your orders.
While the squad system does take getting used to, it generally works quite well in the game. My only problem was some path finding issues with squad members not following me. In some cases they were just standing around outside (considering that it is 40 degrees below this does not seem healthy) or were taking the long way to get to a specific point.
Unfortunately, the game does not feature a multiplayer mode and this cuts down on replay value. The linear story line means that once you finish the game, you probably will not play it again anytime soon.
Overall though, The Thing is a good game without being brilliant. If dark, atmospheric games are your forte, then this is a must. However, if you want non-stop action or are a serious multiplayer freak, then The Thing is not for you.
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