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Xbox only hope

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 29
Date: August 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game truly showes the potential of the xbox. It's interactive gameplay and story will do for the xbox what Metal Gear did for Play station

Looks like it is going to be great!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 33
Date: August 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I can spot a good game a mile away. I have about 200 computer games and 30-50 video games. So I know a good game by reading the description, checking out the background info, looking at the back of the box and seeing a few pictures of graphics. This one looks like it will be a great game!!
I am impatiently awaiting its release.

Not a perfect, but good1st survival horror for Xbox

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: September 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm a hardcore PC gamer and picky console gamer, so I rarely purchase console games unless it's worth it. The Thing lived up to what I expected and delivered even more in terms of graphics and sounds, not to mention the AI of "The Things" are pretty good too. Controls are decent and the story plot definitely give those who saw the original movie a feeling of sequel in action (if you didnt see this 1982 sci-fi classic movie, get it, its worth it, the special effects in there are still good to date). There are few minor flaws, such as the trust/fear system that comes in conflict with scripted story/character development, so even after bloodtest those team members who are not infected might become infected due to story development or scripted plot. It's not bad, but it sort of cancels out the fear/trust system as. One minor issue I have with the game is that ammunition tend to be so readily available that it makes the game lean towards action than a survial horror game... but the blood and gore is this game will make up for that. Conclusion is this game is a much better choice for Xbox owners that wants a true resident evil type game (Silent Hill 2 was way too slow for my taste), and with the ability to be able to control a squade, good story and challenging AI this game should warrant any Xbox owner's investment.

Very Very Well Made Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game has it all. It can scare the hell out of you. The gameplay is very good. The NPC's in the game are very helpful, but watch out they will turn on you. Overall this game is very well done!

Very disappointing

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: September 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was excited about the release of this game for the Xbox but I have ended up very disappointed. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Overall the game is choppy, and I got stuck with an unmovable character within the first 5 minutes of playing.

2. I tested another character to see if he was "a thing" and I got a negative result (he's still human). Ten seconds later he turns into a thing. The test is supposed to be a 100% reliable way to test your teamates. The game just turned him into a thing to get rid of him so I would have to enter the next area alone. He was never infected.

3. I come upon an area where you can hear a nasty monster on the other side of the door. I go to look through the window... And the screen turns black, and then I am suddenly inside the room, with the monster, and the door out is locked. Basically forcing a situation on you... again.

It is not fun to have these illogical things forced upon you, when the point of the game is to figure out how to stay alive and keep your teammates alive. If the game is going to force them to die no matter what you do, then why even try?

There are more reason to not like this game, including the interface and manuals, but I can get by those if the game kicks butt. It does not.

This game sucks

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 25
Date: September 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The graphics on this game are horrible. I bought this game with high hopes that it would make me appreciate x-box. Boy was i wrong. The game [is bad]. I wouldn't even rent it. The game play is just plane bad. If you want a good game buy halo for that is the only game that x-box has that is good. X-box has really let me down. I should have bought a ps2

Outstanding!! A must for XBOX!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have this game and it is more than worth the wait. It has action, suspense, strategy, and spinetingling fear all wrapped into one. This is one of the best thought-out video games I have ever seen. Buy it, you won't be sorry.

And no Wilford Brimley!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: September 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

My fear was that it would be like the Evil Dead: Hail to the King game which was only enjoyable for the fact that it had recognizable lines, etc from the movie and I found that non-fans of the movie series were completely unhappy with it. I found the gameplay on Evil Dead to be horrible and the game itself tedious beyond all belief.

Not so with The Thing. Not only does the game replicate main aspects of the movie quite well, the gameplay is good and the graphics are sharp. It is instantly engaging and a great way to make several hours fly by. It is scarier than Resident Evil which only enhances it. The backgrounds and sound effects are perfect and the dialogue between characters is great as well. They mean it with the M rating on this one. Through only the first 3 levels I've heard more profanity than in many other console games, but it is intelligently used and not gratuitous in any fashion. While there are parts that require patience, this game always keeps you on your toes and there is one part I just got done with where we were attacked by wave upon wave of Scuttlers. I don't believe I've ever been attacked in a game by so many creatures at once. Hint: Conserve your ammo and flamethrower fuel.

If for some reason you haven't seen the John Carpenter classic this is based on, rent it first, then get the game, it can and will only enhance the experience. I have found that most that say they dislike this game, have no idea of the movie it's based off of.

Pretty Good

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: September 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Okay, so I buy this game, because I really like the movie. Don't buy this game if you don't like the movie. But even if you do like the movie, there a couple things about this game that'll probably dissapoint you. Like the blood test thing. The game gives you these blood testing syringes to prove if your team mates are the Thing or not. But there are points in the game where certain members of the team become Things no matter what, even if you tested him within a couple seconds before he morphed out and had it come up negative. I was really excited about the whole trust/fear levels aspect of the game, which the game advertises in all it's commercials and stuff. But as it turns out, the "who's the thing?" aspect of the game is only about ten percent of the game. The rest is running around finding keys and shooting the random Things that pop out at you. It's got great graphics, and does do some justice to the movie, but it seems like they rushed this one and didn't smooth the edges.

Sets A Bold New Standard For Survival-Horror

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: September 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Now when could you call a survival-horror game new and inventive? Seriously, since the original Resident Evil which created a new genre of gaming (Not to shabby) that is quickly turning into one of the biggest genre's in the console world; what is new for each new Resident Evil or Dino Crisis? Ever year I go through these games, some turn out to be excellent like Onimusha: Warlords, other mediocre such as Konami's Silent Hill 2 and not to forget the... of this growing pile Extermination. Yet in this over-crowded genre while everyone is trying to copy Capcom's success, Black Label's The Thing breaks the mold and its result creates something entirely new for the world of survival-horror.

The Thing takes place three months after John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic with the same name. For those unfamiliar with the story of The Thing allow me to explain. In Antarctica an alien aircraft crash lands and is found by a United States base, Outpost 31. The Thing itself is an unknown unseen creature, it has the ability to posses, imitates and change into just about any grotesque thing it desires, and most notable for me is the severed head with spider legs that have ripped out from the skull of some poor sap. Once this menace is released from its ship it turns to your typical alien storyline and rips everyone there to hell leaving no survivors. Which is where you come in, three months later a Special Forces team is sent in to investigate numerous areas in the Outpost's vicinity as to why communications have ceased.

Right off the bat you'll be able to tell how fresh The Thing plays and feels if you're a die hard Resident Evil and Silent Hill fan. The best new feature is the squad tactics that opens a door to new gameplay possibilities and unexpected twists. First off is the classes of your squad, there are three members: a medic, soldier and engineer. Obviously medics can cure you and your partners, soldiers provide help in gunfights and engineers can fix broken power boxes and bypass security locks. However along with their help comes consequences; your members are very much alive, if you stumble across severed bodies or bloody messes they're going to get freaked out, some vomit uncontrollably others shake violently and can't concentrate on their given orders and some will even snap and go crazy.

This element is referred to as the "Trust/Fear" meter. Lead the way into battle, take out large enemies single handedly and you're men's trust will sky-rocket, give unarmed member's weapons and plenty of ammo to defend themselves and they'll gladly assist you. Yet be careful how you play, take weapons away from your soldiers for your own use, they'll lose trust, put them in harms way, don't assist them in battles, shoot at them they'll refuse to help you and may even kill you if you push them to the limit. Its all about trust in the squad tactics, being The Thing can inhabit any living creature and perfectly imitate them the question of who's bad and who isn't will come into largely into play.

To dive into this players are given numerous ways of "testing" their members for infection. Most common is the blood test, inject a syringe into your partners and find out for yourself if he has been infected, if so The Thing will reveal itself and erupt from the mans body. Yet if you can suspect members of being The Thing, they can suspect you as well, depending on your actions your men may completely lose trust in which you will have to give yourself a blood test to prove you're healthy. All of the added touches to the Squad gameplay are what makes it so unique and groundbreaking.

Even if you've never seen the movie, it won't in any way dampen your experience with The Thing. It's so nice to finally play a This is the coolest game I have played in a long time and I can guarantee this is going to be in my top ten of the year.

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