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Could Have Been Better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: October 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

In many ways, The Thing is exactly what I'd hoped for as an adaptation of the John Carpenter movie. It has a strong, tense atmosphere and new innovations in PC/NPC interaction (such as playing mind-games w/ your comrades to determine whether they are the dreaded "Thing").
However, the gameplay in combat is a little awkward and the ally NPCs have some occasional difficulty following the player into some not-so-tight spaces. Nevertheless, this in and of itself is not such a big issue since most games (including some very good ones) suffer from similar problems. What most annoyed me was the discontinuity of events. That is to say, NPCs can turn out to be the "Thing" even when all the supposed tests prove them to be human. Initially the fear that your comrades may be monsters was one of the big selling points to me, both for the atmosphere and originality I thought it would impart. But on many occassions I would give my men blood tests (which turned up negative) walk a very short distance while keeping them in sight the whole time, and they would still turn into monsters. There is no way any enemies came into contact with them, but it happened nevertheless. This became very annoying later in the game when I needed more and more support and found less and less attention to the rules of "cause and effect" in this area of gameplay. It should take more than a second or two for an NPC to be completely replaced by a monster, which means they should have to be out of sight for awhile. This could easily have been solved by simply requiring the player to send his squad members to different places to complete various missions, thus giving enemies the opportunity to take over the characters. All in all, this could have been a much better game if, perhaps, there had been less combat and more suspense- such as having only a couple of "Things" in the whole game which keep popping up again and again, chasing or infiltrating your team, and so forth. Instead, it became too much of a shooter with thousands of little monsters swarming all over the squad at every turn and not much growing, gnawing fear of the enemy.

It's the "Real Thing"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I played this game when it first came out and I couldn't put it down. I expected a lot and that's what I got. It was a great transfer from movie to video game.

For once, I was actually interested in the story line and keeping your team members alive for as long as possible was equally important. They raised the fear effect level on this game as well. You had the opportunity to freeze to death if
you got lost outside in the snow or getting eaten alive if
you crossed paths with one of those "things" indoors. And
just for kicks, there's this creepy music playing in the background. You never know when one of those monsters will
come busting through the walls, and you just can't kill them
by blasting them which makes killing a little unique. You
have to roast them extra crispy first, then shower them with lead. I wouldn't bother testing your partners to see if
they're infected. It doesn't do you any good. The game is
preset to change them anyway, so enjoy them while they're human.

The graphics are good, but switching weapons and accessing
your health during an attack is tedious. The difficulty
level is perfect. You'll have to redo some missions over
again, but you'll become smarter because of it. I wish it
had a "save anywhere" feature like Red Faction, but that's
ok; the levels weren't too long. I suggest running away from
conflict whenever possible to conserve ammo, unless you absolutely have to go in that direction.

All in all, I would give it a 4.5 out of a possible 5 only
because the items box is (un)user friendly. I have about
80 video games and this would have to be on my top 10 list.
Buy it!

Wow. 'Nuff said.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've played a lot of games in my time, and this is the first game I've ever played that actually shocked me. I mean, serious spine twitching shocked. I'm very impressed. The atmosphere of paranoia and mistrust is bolstered by the fact that the squadmate that amiably chats your ear off may actually be an alien monster in disguise... or they might think that YOU are...
After all, when your adversary can take on ANY form... who can you really trust?

Not all that original ...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: October 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

... but really well done. This game is a direct sequel to the 1982 Kurt Russel Film.

Pro's:
The game is basically another game in the 'survival-horror' genre that games like Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, and Silent Hill popularized. However I thought there were a few really nice additions to this game.
*Use of non-playing characters

*need for constant awareness of exposure to the elements

*Less need to conserve EVERY SHOT of ammo. You can't exactly go on a DOOM style free-for-all, but it's not like Resident Evil where you're counting every single round of ammo either.

*The idea for the use of blood tests to identify infected characters

*Use of the Stress meter

Con's:
*They flubbed the use of the blood tests. Sometimes I'll test a non-playing character, he'll register as human only to break out a minute later anyway. The results of the test don't seem to have any bearing at all, wether or not you keep a character you don't absolutely need seems totally random.

*Characters you absolutely have to have to move forward in the game, don't seem to break out. Unless maybe I just had exceptionally good luck ...

*In regard to the game sound, I noticed a few times that I couldn't hear enemy gunfire, that got very annoying toward the end of the game.

*At the VERY end of the game, I thought you went a little too long without being able to save.

*I never actually HAD to hold a gun to any of my characters heads to get them to trust me, careful use of your resources (which Resident Evil should have taught us) and you can avoid the situation. I would have liked to be put in a "Mexican Stand-off" type of situation. That would have been kinda cool

Video Games just don't get any better than this!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Based on the John Carpenter Movie, the game starts out right where the movie left off. You're the leader of a rescue mission at the demolished site in Antarctica.
The significant reason to like this game is the COMPLEXITY of it. The game can be completely different ever time you play it.
There are so many options, from what weapons you give to your crew, what weapons you take away, who will trust you, who won't trust you, or why they will trust you, and who might just lose it, and go postal on ya and start shooting everyone in sight! It's an amazing conglomeration of leadership choices, survival skills, and quick reflexes. And the possibilities are just endless. The story line is great, including bits and pieces from the original film(although, they are the voice-over actors for the game and not from the Carpenter movie). But it's very intense, and creepy to the max. It really keeps you on your toes.
The only negative I have noticed about it, involves the "controller". On one of the controller configurations, it involves the "left stick" of the dual shock controller. To "crouch" you have to depress the left stick. Unfortunately, that button is ALWAYS the one to break first on playstation controllers. So be careful when useing it. I have been through 3 controllers already, just because of that "crouch" button. So if you are a first time player to the game, go to your options screen and choose the "TYPE B" configuration for your controller, so you won't have to use the "left stick" to crouch, and you should be A-OK!
Otherwise, the game itself is without a doubt, the most fun I have had staring at a television screen since The Thing DVD was released.

Fear Effect + Deus Ex + Half-Life = The Thing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is definitely a great game, a wee bit difficult after the tutorials. Konami did an excellent job again in the production of this game, and they also improved the graphics, even better than Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The controls are pretty well-done, but they take a little bit getting used to. The environments though are dark, and even sometimes too dark where you aren't able to see "things" too well. This game is very similar to Fear Effect in that you have to control your team's fear levels (and perhaps your own) through the respective missions. In other words, it is Fear Effect taken to a much greater scale. Additionally, it has the paranoia induced similar to Deus Ex. The creatures in this game are very similar to the ones portrayed in Half-Life, with the exception that this game can actually make you jump as opposed to Half-Life. Additionally, the NPCs in this game are actually intelligent, far smarter than those in Half-Life. Even the enemies in this game are smarter and more responsive. The enemies know when you are weak and underpowered, and they truly attack at that point! The thing about this game that's another Catch-22 is that after the tutorials are completed, all hell breaks loose upon the teams searching the base. Honestly. Currently, I am on a mission where I am constantly dying no matter what arises since there are far too many "things" running around, despite assistance from team members Overall, this is a great game. Although I have never seen the original movie nor the remake, this game is definitely compelling me.

The Thing PS2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If anyone thinks this game stinks,they are crazy!!!My son and i both love this game!!!It has suspense,horror,state of the art graphics,and lots of violence,it's like playing a horror movie!!!This game was the best game decision i ever made...If you ever want a good action game this is the game you should check out!!!...

They need to call a do-over

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Man, I'll just categorize here...

The good:
- If you are a fan of the movie, you will find yourself saying "Awesome!" a few times during the game. It really follows the mood of the movie. It just has this "cool" feel to it that I haven't experienced in other games before. It is dark, cold, and lonely just like the movie. Atmosphere gets 5 stars.
- It is really disgusting, disturbing, and sometimes spooky. The gore fits right in with the story. Most disgusting game ever. This is a good thing...? YES!!!
- Good weapon selection, freaky looking monsters. Exciting firefights.
- Many people complained about changing weapons and equipment, but I liked the system a lot.

The bad:
- The social features of this game were heavily advertised. They are garbage. Your "companions" cannot truly be blood tested. They just turn into things when you pass certain points in the game. Everything is predetermined, and your friends are not with you for long. You can test some guy and he comes up negative - then you walk 5 feet, while looking at him the whole time, and he suddenly turns into a thing. Dumb. Real dumb.
- One of the last couple of levels is too long. There is no save location for like 30 or 40 minutes of gameplay. And it is a pretty hard level. Its like they just missed it or something. Or they just want you to try 15 times and get bored and frustrated out of your mind, I could be wrong...
- The boss encounters are ridiculous. If you stand toe to toe with a boss, you will get creamed. There is no creative way to go about killing a boss. So you have to conduct a trial and error glitch search. Never fear, you will find a glitch for each one. "Oh, if I stand here, he can't see me, even though I am in the middle of his field of view!" Dumb. It just seems stupid that you have to depend on glitches to complete the game.
- Not enough health packs. You have to go back and do levels perfectly if you want to make it further. You can kill a boss and still have to continue on into more danger, with no reward of a save location or health packs.
- Too short, too hard. Should have been longer and easier. Video games are for fun, sometimes programmers forget these things.

All in all, I had fun, the atmosphere was the best ever for a video game (I LOVE this movie), but found myself saying "That is retarded" way too many times. The #1 advertising pitch (social interaction with NPCs, and wondering if they are things)was a joke. DO-OVER!!! This game could be the best ever if they spent some time on it.

The Thing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you're into the survival horror games as I am, you will LOVE this game. It's been out for a few years now and I bought it used at one of the gaming stores locally. I'm a fan of the movie (The Thing is the greatest horror film ever) and the game doesn't disappoint the fans. Hey, you even get Kurt Russell in a voiceover. Play it.

This game is going to be great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: May 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I went to E3 last week and a demo of this game was set up and I got to play it...let me tell you, this game is amazing. It's like the next generation of video game because not only is the game play great and the graphics are amazing, but there is this whole other aspect of the game called trust/fear that you have with people on your team and it adds a whole other, more realistic dimention to the game. I didn't get to play it for a really long time but they also played a trailer for it that looked exactly like a trailer for a movie but it was all actual game play. As this game gets closer to releasing, people are going to start realizing just how progressive this game is.

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