The Thing

Incredibly atmospheric (it makes great use of flickering lights, icy landscapes, and foreboding corridors) without skimping on the screams, The Thing is a terrifying battle to the finish.

Excellent, moody and atmospheric, and at some points downright creepy.

The visuals and sound are top notch and the sense of desperation you feel when you are stuck outside and about to succumb to the elements or being hunted by packs of the foul creatures is very real.

More interactive movie than third-person shooter, The Thing is an enjoyable diversion loaded with atmosphere.

The Thing isn’t a classic but it is a superbly executed, engrossing horror shooter that almost everyone will enjoy, once at least.

It adds multiple innovations to the survival horror formula and improves on that genre immensely. Unfortunately, The Thing also holds on to some of the most annoying conventions of the genre.

The game is fairly short. The overall impression was also reduced with those sound bugs and camera issues I mentioned. Still, the excellent visuals and squad-based gameplay compensate for all of that and they make The Thing a truly entertaining product.

The control interface is overly complicated. When you look at the manual you might feel like ripping your arms off and beating yourself silly, but there is no need. After thirty minutes of running around the station you'll feel more familiar. However during an intense battle looking down to press the I button is like trying to read Latin in the dark.

If it weren't for a general scarcity of terror and a control scheme unsuited to its action-oriented gameplay, The Thing would be great.

This contrived implementation of a great concept is disappointing, but at least the surrounding game delivers some taught cinematic moments that would make Carpenter proud. [6 Sept 2002]

Has many unique and innovative points going for it, but in the end has one too many little flaws that prevent it from being a truly great game.

If you're willing to get frightened out of your wits, be grossed out along the way and feel like an icicle, The Thing will definitely not disappoint.

Too many rough edges ruin an otherwise smooth production: clipping problems, unexplained mission objectives..., save points strategically placed to artificially raise the difficulty of certain missions, and an emphasis on scripting over substance. [Dec 2002, p.102]

The Thing on its own stands as a slightly flawed, yet atmospheric and alluring action-adventure. Hardcore fans of the film, however, will have fewer complaints.

At least The Thing starts out strong. It's the sort of game you don't have to feel bad about not finishing.

But since the game operates in 3rd person, and doesn't give you a cursor when you're using important weapons like the flamethrower, you can't aim. This totally sucks.

It's like the design team started designing a good game, complete with the groundwork for the fear and trust system and then decided to throw it all to the wind and turn the game into some sort of half-cocked Half-Life clone, except without the playability or shock value of that title.