I have this thing ...
STORY: The Thing’s story has this twist I really like in licenced games. Instead of copying the entire film’s storyline (putting you in the shoes of the characters), it has a new storyline of events that happen in parallel with the events of the movies’ characters. At some point of the game, you even get to meet one or two surprising guest stars.
The Thing basically was a horror movie (and for many, Carpenter’s best film) in which a squad of marine-like characters go to the arctic and deal with an alien parasite than infects humans and turns them into aliens themselves. There is a vast amount of paranoia and deception in the movie, and the game tries to imitate that feeling as well as it can.
GRAPHICS:
The Thing’s graphics look really nice (especially character models), but some monsters lack detail. The backgrounds are in good shape as well, with blizzards, snowfall and various other environmental detail really putting you into the mood that you are in freakin’ Syberia or something.
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS:
Music is non-existent, aside from a hard rock music clip heard in the Credits. Sound effects abound, whether they are machine gun fire, vomit, alien snarls and death cries, human screams, flamethrowers, heartbeats and crashed walls. All of the sounds build up a tremendous amount of suspence. The lack of music is actually a good thing here; it increases the agony of the horror element of the game.
GAMEPLAY:
The Thing proves that an action game with a few original twists can almost make it seem like an original game. While moving and shooting isn’t anything new, The Thing possesses quite a few aces up its sleeve.
For starters, your arsenal changes your battle tactics, as well as the place you choose to pick your fights. Its better to use wide-range weapons in open spaces and short-range weapons on tight rooms and corridors.
There are many squad members like soldiers, medics and engineers you’ll need in order to proceed to the game, and keeping them alive is vital, as well as earning their cooperation. You can do this by intimidation, threaten them at gun-point, prove to them you’re not an alien by making an anti-serum test in front of their eyes or fighting aliens. Your teammates may also panic by the horror they’re seeing and be unable to take any action at all (they run, they puke, they panic, the works). Sometimes they even get infected and become aliens when you least expect it. You need to keep a fully-functional team in order to survive.
The aliens are plenty in numbers, but lack in diversity. Thankfully, the WAY and the circumstances you’re fighting them ARE diverse. The game’s difficulty is just about right, although some bosses are annoyingly bothersome. Sprite collision is not perfect, but it’s not unplayable either.
OVERALL:
All in all, The Thing is an interesting title possessing many original touches that would make it worth a rental (or a purchase) even by people unfamiliar with the source material (I never saw the film, although I’m thinking on buying the HD-DVD version). Happy playing!