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My Thing Review

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First of all, as one of the biggest John Carpenter fans (I even kind of liked Ghosts of Mars) that I know, I was both eagerly anticipating and dreading this game. I knew that there was no way for it to live up to the 1982 film, but I was hoping that it would. I am both pleased and somewhat disappointed. As a Carpenter fan I enjoyed the way that the game managed to build upon the film. You do find out who was infected at the end of the movie (was is MacReady or was it Childs) and you get to look at the spaceship that Blair (A.k.a Wilford Brimley) was building - and all of this happens in the playable prologue in a visit to the site of the original film. The nice mood that the game builds up in this prologue (and trust me, its really creepy) eventually winds down into a rather average first person shooter. Now, as a fan of both half-life AND all of the resident evil games (yes, even survivor!) I like first person shooters as much as I like survival horror games - but this ends up being almost too much of the former. While much has been said here about all of the great aspects of this game, little has been said about what just doesn't quite work. Yes, the whole trust aspect of the game is interesting - but there are problems. Certain squad members only follow you so far during levels before they change into a version of the thing and attack you (i.e. they will change just before you fight a boss - they won't go any further - so whether you kill them when they are a thing or save yourself some health and just put a bullet in their head before it happens is up to you. I prefer the latter since it saves ammo and it usually takes off the top of their head in a nifty video game gore way.) Now, I have no problem with this - it was in the movie and so it should be here. However, I see no point in being able to test the blood of your squad if they change into the Thing whether or not the blood test comes back positive or negative. Why even put the blood test in the game? So far, I have had about 5 team members - all of whom who have changed into the monster despite my giving them blood tests in which they tested negative for being infected. So that's a problem.
Second, the real time weapon switching (as opposed to Resident Evil, in which you have to switch to an inventory menu) can be really frustrating. Espescially when you are looking for a weapon, scrolling through a list, and getting jumped by five of those hopping chicken things from half-life. I've been killed many times because I pulled up a sniper rifle instead of my shotgun. Also, the weapon icons are so small that its hard to tell the difference between weapons - and since I only have a 29" TV - it can be tough.
The controls are much nicer than the "turn and move design of resident evil - however, since (at least on playstation two) the same joystick you move with is also the crouch button, I often find myself trying to run from a particularly tough foe, only to find myself duck walking away in a crouch since I pushed down on the joystick nub while running.
All in all this game is great for the gamer who likes survival horror or for the fan of the Carpenter film who has never played R.E. or Devil May Cry or Silent Hill. However, it will never replace R.E. Code Veronica in my collection.

THIS GAME ROCKS!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I AM A GREAT FAN OF THE MOVIE, SO WHEN THIS GAME CAME OUT MY INITIAL REACTION WAS THAT THIS GAME WOULD BE SOME LAME ATTEMPT TO MIRROR THE MOVIE.... NOT SO!!! THIS GAME PICKS UP WHERE THE MOVIE LEFT OFF AND DEVELOPS AN INTRICATE STORYLINE BASED ON THE MOVIES' EVENTS. THE GRAPHICS ARE QUITE GOOD AND GAMEPLAY IS SUPERIOR. CONTROLS ARE VERY USER FRIENDLY. I HAVE PLAYED MANY PS2 GAMES, INCLUDING MAX PAYNE, METAL GEAR SOL, AND MEDAL OF HONOR. THIS GAME RANKS WITH THESE MASTERWORKS WITH EASE. I HAVE NOT ENJOYED PLAYING A VIDEO GAME THIS MUCH SINCE I FIRST PLAYED RESIDENT EVIL ON PS1. TWO WORDS: PLAY IT.

Great Game A Must Buy!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Alright first of all. Okay 10-Year old kid that wrote very dissapointing. Your review is terrible, the game is worth alot more praise than what you gave it. The graphics could not really be any better, if the graphics had to be better go buy an x-box. Alright now. This game is great. Its got a terrific story line that keeps you on the edge of your seat and wanting to play more. The squad based features are very cool along with the whole trust interface feature to make it even cooler. What I like the most is that you can give your members the gun you want to give them, have them heal you, have them fix things for you. The only downside is that you cannot cure them of an infection. This game is just too cool for me to explain in 1000 words. Go rent it see if you like it and knowing that you'll probably like it then go buy it.

AMAZING................................

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is a science fiction/survival horror game were you play as a man named Blake who went with his team to Anartica to investigate a American research station that has been destroyed by deadly aliens that were frozen in the ground for years,then they thawed,woke up,and imatated organisms they ate and digested.Researchers couldn't tell who's human or a imatation so they thought trust was the only thing that could save them.RJ MacReady(researcher)left a record to let people know that if him and his team can't make it people will know what happened if they find the tape.When Blake and his team made it to Anartica they were trapped,confused,and didn't know who to trust.Blake found MacReady's tape and Blair's(researcher/giant Blairmonster alien)saucer(made from helicopter parts)and started to find out what was going on.This is not for kids due to the games violence,blood,gore,strong language,and scenes of suicide.If your 13+ it's okay(if you don't get disturbed by violence,gore,and strong language).This is also about what happened after John Carpenter's THE THING.
positive side:
(+)great graphics
(+)great seqeul
(+)good acting
negative side:
(-)way hard
(-)lip movements [stink]
If you want to learn more about RJ MacReady and Blair watch the movie before playing the game.
Here's the cast of the movie.
RJ MacReady(Kurt Russell)
Blair(Wilford Brimley)
Childs(Keith David)
Nauls(TK Carter)
Palmer(Dave Clennon)
Copper(Richard A. Dysart)

Norris(Charles Hallahan)
Bennings(Peter Maloney)
Clark(Richard Masur)
Garry(Donald Moffat)
Fuchs(Joel Polis)
Windows(Thomas G. Waites)

Good game......Some what scary too

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The thing is a very good game. The game is very scary in the first 5 levels but than (wich led me to give this only 4 stars)
is after you find out the man who youre working for in your mission is the bad guy who now takes your weapon away and abducts you. Its gets worse. You have to kill swat gaurds instead of monsters. The first beggining part was very fun and scary! But than well it seems like youre in a very bad sci fi movie. It is filled with action packed shooting,filled with fould language and extreamly graphic violence that will make some little ones run off to there moms.

I also noticed that if you dont tuch the controls you watch a trailer of the game wich looks ten times better than when you play it. In the trailer they showed much more camera angles and I noticed that the characters looked slight different and they acctualy looked better than they did when you play it.
I wish they have added some camera angles like they do in the Resident Evil series But oh well.
Still its a decent game with lota gore and action. And
if youre a true movie fan of the Thing than the ending will suprise you once you beat it.

Still I think they should have used camera angles for the game.
So atleast give the game a try.
Im also having High Hopes for THE SUFFERING. I hope its just as good and beter than this game.

simply put wow....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS A GREAT GAME. this game has alot going for it. only thing is the ending doesnt really make alot of sense i wont go into it though cause i might ruin someones day but everything else is superp. the trust factor and the difficulty is perfect. its cool how if you neglect your allies theyll go crazy and might shoot you and then themselves as well. the graphics are good to. the funny thing is that after you beat the game you want to watch the movie which explains somewhat about the ending and other things like that so its pretty cool. has any one heard of a sequel?

not good, but not all bad

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: November 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I borrowed this game from my friends three years ago and forgot about it. It has many bad aspects to it, yet i was glued to my T.V. for four hours before I noticed how bad it seemed.

Pros- Good partner AI, I like how there are soldier, medic, and engineer classes (Very Half-Life Opposing Force), Realistic weapons and reloading, good enemy AI and they fight in packs.

Cons- Most allies heads will expload and they will attack you,leaving you with no help at all later, Blood checks do nothing at all(I've check allies blood to see if they are fine, it would say they are fine, then I would walk into another room and they would morph and attack), graphics seem somewhat dated.

So its not totally horrible, but has some bad elements.

Action packed follow up to the movie!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Don't be fooled by other reviews. This isn't really a survival horror game. It's a squad based action game, with horror elements. Expect lots of shooting and running!

John Carpenter's classic movie The Thing, a remake of the awfully cheesy movie from the 1950's, has a classic premise that John W. Campbell originally wrote in the short story that spawned both movies, "Who Goes There." Finding a shape shifting alien frozen in the ice, and then dealing with it when it wakes up and isn't happy, is a really good setting for a horror story.

The game is a direct sequel to the Carpenter movie, and although it lacks Kurt Russel, it does a great job of re-creating the atmosphere of the film. The isolation of the antarctic research outposts is palpable, and the danger of freezing to death and getting lost in the perpetual darkness add to the tension. Your team mates will get more and more upset by the death that you discover, causing you to take measures from disarming them to killing them outright.

And I haven't even mentioned the monsters. From tiny little things that resemble facehuggers from alien to gigantic boss monsters, you will encounter a wide variety of bloodthirsty killers. Sometimes your teammates may even suddenly mutate into monsters, wreaking havoc on the sanity of the remaining members.

Unlike many survival horror games, this one gives you plenty of ammunition, so there is no need to hold back on shooting the baddies. It does use a stupid tape recorder saving system, so you have to keep on the look out for places to save the game. The story is pretty good, but if you've seen the movie you can pretty much guess the plot of the game.

THE THING is nothing more than an assimilation!

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: September 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love the movie The Thing. Hey, it's not high art and I realize that, but what it does it does well. The game on the other hand is nothing more than a...repackaging of other games. Like The Thing itself, this game has simply assimilated games like Epidemic, etc. and cleverly sweetened the deal with a thin layer of frosting provided by the popularity of the film. The character names, alien designs, and storyline are the tried and true variety of point a to point b shoot'em up'ers with little else. Hey, is it just me or do the graphics in this game seem totally lame and derivative of much older PS1 platform stuff? Take my advice, spend the money on (A) The DVD version of the movie and (B) postage stamps, so you can start a grass roots letter writing campaign to stop John Carpenter who I fear may be thinking about a sequel. I hope and pray that I am wrong and this game is not a prelude to a sequel. Please GOD, not another Escape from LA...stop the madness!

Joe's Summary

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: September 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

i saw this game that night on sci-fi. it looked very cool and intresting. So i bought it and here is my summary.

1. I get the "Disc Read Error" sometimes when trying to get it going.

2. IT IS EXTREAMLY TOO HARD! im at the first encounter with "The Thing" Im low on health, AND IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO GET PAST HIM!

3. blood test kits are useless. I would blood test one of my members, then he walks about 10 steps and then he transforms!

4. The enemys that need to be burned to kill are too much trouble! riddle them with bullets until the redical turns red, then switch the weapon and burn him 1 time, he runs, he runs, and he runs again. finaly he decides to stop being a coward and attack me. i take damage, then i kill him. TOO MUCH WORK FOR 1 ENEMY!

5. NOT ENOUGH HEALTH PACKS! I RARELY SEE THEM!

overall, if you are REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEALY careful and you watch your enemys movements, you might get further then i do. but one thing for sure. Expect to be repeating some lvls more then twice

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