Clive Barker's Jericho

(untitled review)

I am one of the people who thought that by this generation of consoles the developers would have figured out what makes a good game and a terrible one. Clearly Codemasters haven't. Because while playing Clive Barker's "Clive Barker's Jericho" I felt like I was playing a shooter from 1993. It was trying so hard to be gritty that the only colours on screen were grey and brown in different shades.

You play as a team of marines who like to play Buffy: The Vampire Slayer a little too much and go around defeating loads of demons. Several times. There was one point at the start which was like a never ending spawn fest.

Anyway two minutes in the guy you played as gets killed and only his spirit lives on and you can take control of your team mates' bodies. This may seem clever in theory but let's not forget that this is Codemasters who live on Average Avenue.

So as usual it comes with all its usual flaws. For example. There is one part where you are in a World War (YAWN) scenario where you are pinned down by people in bunkers firing guns at you. At this point you take control of one of your female companions and you have to set explosives. I couldn't help but wonder….why the fuck can't she do it herself? Why does she need your guidance to do it when she is the explosives expert who plays Buffy: The Vampire Slayer a little too much? It would have been better if the team leader had stayed dead and the player just entered all the other players in a play-god fashion. Oh, but no, because that takes away the supernatural element!

I didn't play too much of the game because I realised that every game in my collection was far better. Plus it reminds us that games made by authors and games derived from books and movies (save Lord of the Rings as the only good one) generally suck hairy mammoth bollocks. It's also another game where it tries to do too much, it's a shooter with marines and supernatural things and horror. Developers need to make up their minds. Just because we moved onto next gen doesn't mean we all want our games to be over packed. One reason why games like World of Warcraft (bite me) succeed is because they focus on one element and although I think WoW is/was over rated, I can see where the praise comes from.

Overall stay clear and never buy this game because if you do the Clive makes money and you'll lose money and it's atrocious.

Stay tuned for a Final Fantasy 11: 2008 Edition review….but not for a good week as it hasn't come out yet.