I got it cheap off ebay and thought surely its not gonna be good.. how I was wrong, super game.
'The Thing' game picks up straight after the final events of the movie, as you and a squad of troops are sent to an Arctic base to find out what has happened to the survey team who have suddenly gone quiet...
In a similar vein to classic survival horror, such as Resident Evil, the action is mostly in the 3rd person as you and your team search inside the complex and through the blizzards outside, looking for humans, collecting items and weapons and shooting 'Things'.
It's got all the great sfx and atmospheric lighting of good survival horror games that get you absorbed in the action with some cool little details like an exposure meter that runs down when you are out in the cold (You've gotta be quick out there or you'll get frozen!) and the funny comments that your squad make when they are left standing.
But what makes it different? Well the squad members you have with you are an excellent addition to this kind of game. You must keep them happy by healing them and giving them weapons or they turn against you, making comments about you behind your back and even shooting you if you accidently wing them in combat! They can 'bug out' and go postal if you dont get them out of bloody areas quickly and lastly, how do you know they are not infected with the 'Thing' virus??
The attention you must pay to your squad made this a much more involving game for me, adding an angle that is missing in other games of this type as you keep them out of danger, fight alongside them or even use them as bait!
Other strengths are the mission-based approach as you complete certain goals to advance but be warned, some have a time limit to them! Its also a large game with lots to explore, find and solve as there are a few puzzles to occupy you. Some of the levels and bosses are far from easy so you need to keep saving at regular intervals.
Basically this is a detailed, atmospheric and involving game that keeps very close to the paranoid spirit of the original movie with shades of the Alien trilogy too. A must for anyone that enjoys the survival horror genre!