Clive Barker's Undying

 PC
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 207 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 182 out of 207
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 207
  3. Negative: 9 out of 207
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  1. izdwuut
    Dec 9, 2018
    6
    I have troubles with this game. My main concern is that I find it archaic, but it's hard to me to blame it for just that - being old. How about an astounding ability to neglect your saved game states accompanied with a crash that will inevitably happen when you alt+tab? Luckily the solution is simple: just don't do this. And pray it wouldn't corrupt your save for some totally randomI have troubles with this game. My main concern is that I find it archaic, but it's hard to me to blame it for just that - being old. How about an astounding ability to neglect your saved game states accompanied with a crash that will inevitably happen when you alt+tab? Luckily the solution is simple: just don't do this. And pray it wouldn't corrupt your save for some totally random reason, forcing you to use cheats to restore your progress, which in turn can be mitigated by utilizing many save slots. Or just don't buy it. Yeah, it would be an appropriate solution if it weren't for it's brilliant ambiance and engaging gameplay, which may be a bit of a stretch given that it's a shooter that fails to deliver. I find it mediocre, yet I love it and I'm considering replaying it in the future. A truly undying title.

    + a journal
    + the main music theme
    + Oneiros
    + level design

    - you fight flying electric eels cross-breed with piranhas
    - using cheats may be your only chance to restore your progress and it messes with your difficulty level
    - obnoxious HUD
    - frequent loading screens
    - bugs
    - the final boss, when you think about it    … Expand
  2. abcdef
    Sep 25, 2009
    7
    The game begins as a classic horror game, with the visions of a man hanging at the entrance, ghosts, haunted portraits, poltergeist activity, werewolves etc. The atmosphere and sound are usually excellent. But it begins to lose it very early on when the player steps through a doorway in the house and ends up in another dimension. It's somewhat frustrating that this doesn't The game begins as a classic horror game, with the visions of a man hanging at the entrance, ghosts, haunted portraits, poltergeist activity, werewolves etc. The atmosphere and sound are usually excellent. But it begins to lose it very early on when the player steps through a doorway in the house and ends up in another dimension. It's somewhat frustrating that this doesn't receive any reaction from Patrick Galloway who doesn't mention this to anyone when he returns back to the house. Later he creates a portal to the past and though this trip equips him with a key weapon, he didn't know this when he created it, so what was his motivation? The scrye spell was used well in the beginning of the game, revealing ghostly images and memories, but by the end of the game it hardly comes into play, and the game itself seems to forget that it is supposed to be a horror game when you reach 'Eternal Autumn'. Scrying was also quite a wasted instrument, for instead of showing ghostly reinactments and memories that could have illuminated the game's back story and presented horrific scenes and images, instead its mostly used to show the ghosts of dead monks standing around an old cathedral doing nothing. This gets old after the 20th time. The game's story telling mechanisms are unfortunately bad. Apart from a few cutscenes and conversations, the story is almost completely told from diary entries. This is unfortunate if you're not in the mood for reading over dozens of entries or you just haven't picked up information that provides key details. Some of the boss characters I encountered, such as Otto Keisinger, were a complete mystery. I had no idea who I was fighting, even though he and Patrick seemed to know each. Though a few of the diary entries provide some information on him, I just didn't understand where he fit into the story or what his plans were. Maybe I couldn't find one of those key diary entries that provided this info. Some of the characters are poorly developed, particularly Bethany, who really is the least memorable character. The game even fails to provide details on the key antagonist, The Undead King, who is mentioned all the way through, yet we never know anything about him. What Patrick needed was another key character to interact with so that some of the crucial plot twists and details could have been told in cutscenes, which would have been more dramatic and memorable than scribblings on a scrap of paper. Overall, it's a good game but it could have been great.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Best PC Game of 2001
13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2001
51
#51 Most Shared PC Game of 2001

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Cubed3
    Jan 5, 2021
    70
    It constantly feels like the bad outweigh the good stuff, but it's hard to deny the charm of this highly atmospheric, dark, and almost Lovecraftian fairytale. If you are looking for a great shooter, this isn't it. Clive Barker's Undying is, above everything else, an experience. It's an adventure that carries some of the titular novelist's flaws, but also plenty of the things that make him so awesome.
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  2. ActionTrip
    88
    Linear gameplay can be a turn off… AI glitches. Ineffective spells, needs more weapons (relative con's - it's a matter of taste).
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  3. Gaming Age
    91
    It combines an atmosphere that will have you changing your shorts at least twice per playing session with beautiful visuals and balanced gameplay that requires some actual thinking to make it through successfully.
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