Customer Reviews

Clive Barker's Jericho

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been a fan of both Clive Barker and horror games for a long time, and I played Barker's Undying and enjoyed it, so I was curious what he had in store this time.

I haven't finished the game, but I've made good progress so far, and frankly I think its quite a lot of fun. Blending elements from several action/shooter/horror game styles, Jericho offers a lot of interesting and flexible play. It also excels, compared to most games of this kind, in concept and story line. I like the characters, I found the idea to be interesting, the execution to be good, and the play itself to be enjoyable.

It IS an on-the-rails shooter, and there is neither time nor incentive for exploration. Combat is intense, close quarters, and comes in short waves throughout, but the variety of ways to achieve survival and victory is interesting due to the use of each character's unique attributes and weapons.

This game is not graphics intensive. The graphics are good, but not overly complex. The lighting is well done, and the use of depth of field and motion blur add nice touches to otherwise insane displays of pyrotechnics in cramped and ruined urban settings. I actually like the look of the game, and though it doesn't compare to some in this department, it is quite a lot more interesting than, say, the much hailed F.E.A.R. in which office cubicles and tunnels are the only things to see.

More than anything, I have enjoyed the personality of this game- the characters and the dialog are simple but entertaining, and the pace and plot are too. True, the main objective is to run from one place to another, shooting everything in sight and trying not to get killed, but there is enough going on and enough variety, primarily in the various forms of disgusting and disturbing monsters and scenarios to keep my interest.

The music is good, too, quite cinematic and well produced. All in all, I think the game is well done, and it is certainly embued with enough vintage Barker style horror to satisfy fans of that particular element.

A horror themed FPS!

After viewing the trailer, I decided to purchase this game; it (the trailer) had an interesting, spooky 'Doom 3' look to it. Being a longtime FPS fan I was cautiously optimistic; however, the game did not live up to my expectations...let me comment on some of the good and the bad.

The Pros:

1.)Smooth flowing graphics if you have the hardware and video card to run this game as it was meant to been played. Also, the ambient sound effects were well done, adding to the creepy atmosphere.

2.)Short levels with fairly frequent checkpoint saves.

3.)Your team is composed of 7 different members, each with their own unique 'special' abilities (but these abilities are locked in and are not the RPG type, where you can pick and choose between upgrades).

4.)The game has the interesting concept of allowing you to switch between characters to become any one of the other team members; thus giving you the use of their special talents (to help get through different situations). Initially, this looked intriguing, but...[see Cons: 6.) below]

The Cons: (from minor to more important)

1.)You can't save the game except at game generated 'checkpoints'.

2.)Very linear game play. You must follow a tight, specific path; there is no other place to go because walls, rubble, ditches etc. hem you in.

3.)There are times (in what appeared to be a short separate mini-game) when you must press the 'arrow' keys on your keyboard in a specific sequence to escape a situation (and you keep repeating this 'exercise' until you get it correct or you can't progress any further). This seemed senseless to me and had no real bearing on the game.

4.Because the colors textures were so uniformly muted and dark, it was sometimes hard to tell in the heat of battle, if you were shooting the enemy or your own teammate.

5.)Although the game play (from the trailer) looked promising, it was disappointing to say the least; Fighting techniques, that initially seemed cool, quickly became extremely repetitious; kill the enemy, move on, kill the enemy etc...minimal thinking required.

6.)This game features a 'team', so you'd naturally think a 'team' concept for play would be used, but yet in battle (although you can 'switch' to become one of your teammates to use his particular skills), you have no real control over the rest your team players; which leads into...7.)

7.)My biggest concern with this game was the AI of your teammates...there was none! In battles, (which tended to be intense and chaotic, almost arcade-like in quality), your fighters just stand there, out in the open, and fire away (with the end result...they get killed)! Standing behind cover for protection would never occur to this group of heroes; dumb, unrealistic AI.

Conclusion:
A game that really looked promising, but missed the mark. It had great graphics and good audio but just didn't deliver where it really counted...in game play. I gave up on this game after about a dozen levels; boring, very repetitive and a frustrating teammate AI.

I love a game that when I play it, I can feel the quality blow over me like a cool wind on a summer day, or, in the case of "Clive Barker's Jericho", hot blood mixed with guts and all manner of nasty stuff. This game oozes quality out of every pore, except the ending pore, but we'll get to that later. From the graphics, to the sound, story, gameplay, characters, and the fact the game isn't a shoddy port, you can tell the developers put in a lot of work, and love into this game.

What is "Clive Barker's Jericho"? It is a squad based, intense, action first person shooter, but instead of fighting terrorists, or a rival nation's army, you are fighting wonderfully creative and twisted monsters. I didn't think this game was scary, and I don't think the developers intention was to make it so. It is creepy, eerie, and intense, and I loved every second of it. From the Codemasters blood splattered logo when the game starts up, to the cgi intro, the icky menu screen, the intense battles, to the decent, though somewhat let down of an ending, I smiled all the way through and had a blast. Let's see why I loved this game so much.

Story: "According to certain gnostic and apocryphanl texts, before Adam and Eve, there was the Firstborn - God's first abortive attempt at creating a being in his own image." After God created the Firstborn, a being neither male nor female, he banished it into the abyss, disturbed by his creation, and started fresh creating humans, giving them a soul, and love. However the Firstborn was far from gone, and throughout history it has appeared six times, and each time seven warriors have contained it. But with every banishment, it took a piece of that time period's reality with it creating a place out of time. It created what the characters call, "The Box."

Now it is back for the seventh, and according to prophecy, final time. Will it escape, or be destroyed. An ancient lost city, Al Kahli, appears in a remote desert in the middle east, surrounded by an intense sandstorm. The Department of Occult Warfare,a top secret government program, sends in a Jericho team led by Devin Ross (you), a seven person team trained in both weapons, and the arcane arts.

The story, while not complex or epic, is really cool and very well told through cutscenes that never leave your perspective. There are even moments of drama sprinkled throughout that really make you feel for the characters. The characters get scared and at times freak out, but they march on and continue fighting. The ending was decent, but it cut off too quickly in my opinion. Despite the characters having supernatural powers, they seem very human and realistic thanks to their banter with each other, and the fact that they do get scared at times.

Graphics, sound: I haven't been this impressed by graphics since Crysis and Mirror's Edge. While the graphics are usually the dull, brown colors that seem to be the new hotness these days in games, they are still really well done. The level designs, while linear, look both beautiful and disgusting at the same time. Wait until you see the Roman level. Wonderful archetecture mixed with filth. Especially the baths, which are not filled with water. Be glad smell-o-vision hasn't been invented yet. The creature designs have a lot of detail on them and I guarantee these are some of the most unique beasts you've ever fought. There is not a huge variety of enemy designs, but there is enough.

I was really impressed with the Jericho team. Their weapons, and especially their cool black outfits have a lot of detail in them. The sound departement is also top notch. From the gunfire, the voices of the team, the sounds of monsters, and the awesome music are all expertly done. I'll have to see if a soundtrack has been released because I would buy it, the music is that good. Especially the tune that plays whenever you see the child throughout the game.

Controls: The controls are silky smooth, and I didn't have to make any adjustments to anything. They are somewhat unique compared to other first person shooters. First off no jump button. At first I thought this would be bothersome, but it wasn't. If you are up against something waist high, you can push a button and hop over it. There was never a situation that I wished I could jump. There is also no sprint key,so you have to deal with the teams default movement speed. Again, I had no problem with this and thought that while they moved a little slower than I would've liked, it didn't feel like they were walking all the time either. You can crouch by hitting C of couse, push the E and Q keys to activate you character's powers, and use the 1 and 3 keys to order team members to a certain position. Scrolling up on the wheel orders the entire team to follow, while scrolling down orders them to stay. Another unique thing is the mouse buttons. The right button is used for the primary fire, while the left button is used for secondary. The space key is your action key, and is also used to possess teammates. If you don't like the controls you can always remap them, or use an XBOX 360 controller.

Characters: There are six playable Jericho squad members. I know earlier I said there was seven members, but bare with me. Each has one weapon with two fire modes, and with the exception of one character, has two powers. You cannot pick up additional weapons, and you never pick up ammo. Don't worry about the ammo part, I'll tell you why you don't pick up any in a bit. Here are the characters:

Devin Ross:the player character and psychic healer. Early in the game he gains the ability to possess his team. He uses a machine gun with shotgun attachment. He can also heal any downed teammates.

Frank Delgado: Frank is a Pyromancer who carries around a chain gun, and as a secondary, a semi-automatic pistol. His powers deal with a flame spirit he has attached to his right arm. He can send it out, burning foes, or create a flame barrier that offers extra protection, as well as complete protectin from fire.

Simone Cole: one of my favorite characters. Simone has a mild form of autism and is extremely intelligent. Her powers, while not supernatural, are intellect based. She has a custom built, wrist mounted computer built into her suit that she uses to hack into reality. See, Simone is a reality hacker,and can alter reality with her computer. She can slow down time, or alter reality to intensify the team's firepower. She's also why you don't pick up any ammo boxes. Whenever the team is low on ammo,she downloads more ammo into their ammo belts. That is awesome. She also uses a machine gun, and can throw grenades.

Xavier Jones: Jones is a Seer. He uses the same weapon as Ross, and has one power instead of two. However, that power is very very useful. He can posses other creatures, and while you're not going to be able to control them, you can make things happen to them like set them on fire, use telekineses to pull levers, or use a blood ward, freezing the enemies for a short period of time.

Abigail Black: Black is a telekinetic sniper. She uses a sniper rifle with a mounted grenade launcher. She has telekineses powers. She can use her power to stun enemies, or use it to guide a ghost bullet. A ghost bullet is a mind driven bullet that you can steer through the enviornment, nailing multiple headshots if you use it right. It never got old driving one bullet through three monsters.

Wilhelmina Church: Billie is a Blood mage. She uses her own blood to create a blood ward, which freezes enemies for a short period, and to create a fire ward, which creates a circle of flames, engulfing foes in fire. Her weapons are a sub-machine pistal, and a katana sword.

Father Paul Rawlings: Coolest.Priest.Ever. Paul is also an exorcist who uses two pistols, "Faith and Destiny". He can heal downed teammates like Ross, use a special power that can heal teamates from a distance, and uses a power that drains the health of enemies and gives it to the team.



Gameplay: The game at first plays like your average first person shooter, but early in the game you get the possession mechanic.This isn't a spoiler, but early on, Ross, the player character and leader of the squad, gets killed. However, even though his body is dead, his soul stays behind and can, to the chagrin of his teammates, posses them. Throughout the game you can possess any of the team members and use their weapons and special powers. This brings a new take on your typical squad based shooters. Picking the right character in the right situation is crucial. Don't worry though, it's not hard and after a while, possessing various team members in an intense firefight becomes easy.

There are two teams in the squad, Alpha, and Omega. You can tell each team where to go, but most of the time I didn't have to simply because the A.I. of the team was so good they most of the time found good cover. The A.I. isn't perfect, they do at times do some stupid things, but it is some of best I've seen. They rarely ever got in front of me, and, this is a first that I've encountered in a squad based game, they get out of my way. If you are standing behind cover, they will never knock you out of the way. If a character is taking cover behind a wall, you can run up to them and they'll get out of the way, and find cover elsewhere.

The game is all about shooting, there are some very minor puzzles. There is no real exploration, just surviving onslaughts of enemies. There are times where you will take control of one character and go off on your own, and these are cool sections that break up the pace. Some of the battles I got in made my jaw drop. Monsters rushing at the team, the air filled with so much gunfire it was hard to see, Delgado's fire spirit flying through the air setting beasts on fire, deafening gunfire, squadmates yelling at Simone to resupply the team, explosions, it's crazy. The game has a healthy challenge to it and never feels unfair or overwhelming. Also, and I don't say this very often, the boss fights are fun. They keep you on your toes as you try to figure out their weakness. And no two bossfights are the same. The game has some quick time events, and this is either a love it or hate it affair. I've always liked quick time events and I think they add some interactivity to a cutscene. If you die during one of these events, you will start right back at the beginning of the event, so they are pretty much frustration free. A save checkpoint system is used, and the checkpoints, with the exception of one section, are nicely spaced. So if you die, you don't have to worry about treading back through a lot of ground.

Closing: Whew, my fingers are getting tired from writing so much, but I wanted to go into as much detail as I could about the game. This game in my opinion is very underrated, and I think one of the reasons is because a lot of people, myself included, thought this would be like the previous Clive Barker game, "Undying", which it isn't. Undying was a first person horror action adventure game, whereas "Jericho" is a squad based action first person shooter with a horror theme instead of a military theme. I had a ball with this game, even in some of it's rough spots. I loved the characters, dug the story, and just thought the whole thing was just plain cool. Thanks for reading my long review, and I hope it helps in making your decision to play this game.

The reviews here for this game are awful. i'm not a fan of Clive Barker or horror but i had a gift cerificate, had some left over money after picking up Bioshock and this game was just cheap enough to use up the certificate. Still, based on the reviews here, my expectations were pretty low

Turns out, this was a great game. i'm not sure if i've been this happy with any game i've played in the last few years. It's the only game i've played in a year that never once crashed my computer. The game is gorgeous (not that that's a big deal, but it is really pretty). The AI is better than i've seen in any game ever (of course, i do game AI for a living so maybe i look for different things than other people do). The story is great, the characters are good, the special powers are neat, etc. i kept waiting to get to the bad part people didn't like but i never found it. i really, really liked this game

Here's what other people have said:

1. The game is linear.
Yeah, they're right, it is. And i normally hate linear games. But i thought it worked here. i suspect part of it has to do with the story and the AI. You often have multiple paths (but many quickly lead to a dead end) and your AI allies are always pointing at the correct one to take and giving you hints as to where to go. You finish a room and then your squad takes positions, the tanks hiding by the sides of the door, the sniper hanging back and aiming at the door, the healer playing midfield but out of the line of fire of incoming enemies, etc. This works because the AI knows where the next entrance is so maybe that only worked by making the levels fairly linear. And the linearity made sense in these levels - these weren't warehouses you wander through, you had a definite goal so why not move straight towards it?

2. You can't save when you want
i hate check points and expected to hate them here. But it saves the game after every single battle so when else would you save it? The only think you can't do is save in the middle of a battle, and since each skirmish was fairly short, why would you want to? The game doesn't make you sit through cut scenes after reloading with one exception, and you just hit escape to skip it

3. No replayability
This game is just as replayable as any FPS, which is to say, not very. If you want, you can try different strategies (you have multiple people to use after all, each with very distinct game play) and there are a bunch of unlockables but in my mind, when Bioshock/Half-Life/FEAR/any FPS is over, it's over. That said, i think this might be one of the few FPSes i play again because i learned how to use Jones' astral projection power late in the game and didn't use ghost bullet much and i want to go back and try those

4. Repetitive
You shoot a lot of things here (or burn, capture, etc.). That's pretty much what you do in an FPS. This game wasn't any more repetitive than Bioshock, Half-Life or the other famous FPSes. There were some puzzles here (mostly involving hopping bodies with astral projection). There were several rhythm mini-games (which i didn't exactly love, but they weren't long or frequent, you always got to restart when you screwed up and it matched the on-screen action). And the really different powers made for lots of different ways to handle a level (stealth, capture, snipe, suck health, indirect fire with summons, etc.). Plus the bosses all had little tricks to figure out (and if you didn't, the AI characters eventually gave you hints)

i think that covers it. The only thing i didn't see mentioned here is the squad action. It's not really a strategic squad game. You can give subteams orders but i never did (maybe that was my fault). This isn't an RTS or Rainbow 6. The squad exists to give you choices of who to play the FPS as. They also kill bad guys and resurrect people (unless the healer gets killed) but they never do the one thing that wins the game for you (e.g., they'll tell you how to hurt the boss but won't take the boss out for you while you hide; they let the player get the killing blows in, which is what they should do). i expected more squad action but that's not what kind of game this is

All in all, i kept wanting to hate it since so many people here seemed disappointed but this game was simply awesome

I greatly anticipated this game, since I had enjoyed Clive Barker's Undying a few years ago. Similar to many others, the mediocre reviews scared me away when Jericho was initially released. Still, after waiting for the price to drop to less than $20, I picked it up. For that cost, I am not disappointed at all. This is a fun, team-based shooter with a great story, beautiful graphics, and some interesting gameplay dynamics. The game does have its annoyances, but overall I found it to be 15+ hours of solid entertainment.

Gameplay: The story is pretty good. In a nutshell, you and your team (Jericho) are out to defeat the Firstborn, God's initial, botched attempt at creating a being in his own image. You'll be traveling with your team through caves, coliseums, battlefields, underground dungeons, and so forth fighting off various abominations. The real interesting thing here is the team-based fighting that allows you to jump between team members and use their weapons and special abilities. It works pretty well, and you will probably have 1 or 2 favorites after a while (the sniper girl was my favorite). Team mate AI is decent, but not stellar. You will often find yourself running between fallen squad members to revive them during the tougher fights. However, pathfinding is quite good, and Jericho members know how to use cover, scout, etc.

The gist of the game is simply blasting monsters, which is both the game's major strength and weakness. On the positive side, the weapons are very satisfying to use, as are the special abilities. On the negative side, the fact that you have so much firepower at your disposal makes the game anything but scary. Only on occasions when you have to do part of a mission with only 1 or 2 squad members does the game produce a good amount of tension. Like Resident Evil 4, there are a few quick button-pressing sequences that I found rather fun after a while, but some people may not like. There are not many of them, and the average player should be able to get beyond them after 1-2 tries. The game is pretty linear and you can't get lost, so there is no need for a minimap. Again, if you are looking for a good scare here, you won't find many. However, the game does excel as a team-based shooter, and Barker's subject matter is fresh enough.

Graphics: Gorgeous game. A lot of attention was paid to detail, especially on monster and character models. The environments look great as well. Sky textures are still not that good, but not nearly as awful as those in Undying. The physics system adds a touch of realism to explosions and the like. Please note: This game is not for the squeamish. Although it is not really a scary game, there are A LOT of disturbing images, as one would expect in a Clive Barker product.

Sound: Hit and miss. The music is generally appropriate and related to the action on the screen. The Jericho members actually have well-rendered personalities and a lot of good (though often profane) dialogue. However, you'll eventually get tired of repetitive acknowledgments like "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!" The use of sound in the game does not quite live up to its full potential, since there were many lost opportunities to really scare the pants off of players by using the right sounds at the right time. However, there is really no big problem here.

Documentation/Technical issues: The game comes with a decent manual. Jericho was released on multiple platforms, but the PC version does not feel like a port. That is, the mouse and keyboard work well as controls. I was pleased to find the game in such a well-polished state technically. I did not experience a single crash, freeze, or hiccup. The game does have the checkpoint save system, which I detest though the checkpoints were usually not far apart.

Replayability/value: Although you can unlock certain minor things as you play, there is really no reason to go through this game twice. When the story ends--and it ends very abruptly, it really is over. Given the team-based nature of the game, an online co-op mode would seem appropriate, but this is strictly a single-player affair. If you are a fan of shooters or Clive Barker's work, this is worth the current price of admission ($15-$20).

Pros:
+Interesting and flexible team-based action
+Great weapons and special abilities
+Excellent graphics
+Decent sound and dialogue
+Intriguing Clive Barker story
+Polished and stable

Cons:
-Strictly linear with little replay value
-Not really scary, though some disturbing content
-Some people will not like the quick-button mini-games
-Checkpoint save system
-Abrupt ending

Clive Barker's Jericho
So I just finished the game (PC). Yeeeeeaaaaawwwnn!!! Here's a quick rundown of game-play: run, stop, shoot shoot shoot, heal teammates, heal some more, heal more, shoot shoot shoot, run to next area that looks EXACTLY like the last area, rinse and repeat. You can heal as much (or often) as you like, and you never run out of ammo. FPS have just become so repetitive repetitive repetitive that I'm just bored. Is this a scary game? No. Not in the least. It's just a fraction this side of (sort of) creepy. Since we've seen Clive Barker's "hooks-in-flesh", "rivers-of-blood-and-feces-and-vomit", "folks-without-skin" (or some skin) since the mid-1980s, it's hardly fresh. Come to think of it, Doom does Hell better than Clive Barker's Jericho. Now that's just sad. If any good is to be said it's for the team-switching system; pretty cool and I can't wait until a truly talented group of game designers cribs it and uses it in a good game. Now, I can sit here in armchair-judgment and complain or I could recommend something...so here they are: 1) to the gamers looking to buy a fun game with varied powers, a great story-line and amazing artwork, go for BioShock (one of the best games I've played in a decade). 2) if any game designers are looking at this, Jericho would have been a lot more fun if it had included strategy and actual orders for the team (otherwise, why the team in the first place?). Take a page from Rainbow Six, maybe, and let me order my team to concentrate their weapons or "craft-powers" on a certain area, allowing me (or another character I order) to sneak around back or accomplish some other objective.

-P.S. That cool opening movie (nice job, Blur Studios), does not have a companion at the end. In fact (no real spoiler here), there's nothing at the end. It just...well...ends. What a let down.

October, 2007.

Whole game is in FPS style, even the cinematics and cut scenes. Excellent story. Sad ending though... overall was worth it in the end. although the game is only playable in storyline mode and has checkpoint saves only just like GRAW. still fun though, very unique.

**Products in Amazon should have a note specifying if they come with any kind of DRM**

Don't get me wrong, this is a very nice looking game, I bought it because I found it very cheap here on amazon (some 7$) and for the interesting screenshots and reviews. It was a good chance to get some original game with box, manuals and all almost free.

I bought this instead of Bioshock, because i've read the warnings of the awesomely crappy DRM named Securom it has.

If I knew this game comes with Securom, I wouldn't buy it.

Then, I get it, install it, execute it... BOING! Securom #uninteligible error with link# click link -> Securom has detected that you are trying to run this game with a DVD image inserted instead of the original disc, please insert the original disc and try again.

MY ORIGINAL DISK WAS IN THE DVD TRAY!

Minutes later trying to find the problem, I disabled PowerISO and ran the game again...

Voilá, it worked.

Meanwhile, in some other part of the world, Mr. X has just finished downloading his pirate copy of this game via torrent, installed and started playing it with no problems at all, in half the time that it took me to play my LEGAL COPY.

This is ridiculous.

Please say no to DRM.

I've always loved clive barkers work with hellraiser lord of the illusion etc. When i heard he was making video games i was pretty pysched, i picked up Undying and still have the original copy today and wow it still gives me the creeps. I was very pysched when i saw this in game informer mag last year, Clive has always kept a low key about his work including games. Well this fails to deliver in many ways, basically here in the run down of pros and cons.

Pros
* Being able to choose from the 3 Jericho members at any given time is really cool.
* The usual clive barker atmosphere is there but in a more subtle less morbid way. More futuristic perhaps.
* The enemies are the usual twisted heeps of muscle tissue growling around waiting to kill you, but are much faster it seems.
* Very excellent sound, ricocheting bullets on metal, very ambient undground sound effects, water, creeking etc.
* Its actually pretty easy NOT to die.
* Very interesting psychic ablilities from each J member.
* Nerve racking which some people like some don't
* Lastly Great Visuals.

Cons
* EXTREME repetative gameplay, more than some games, less than others.
* No real outside environments, most of the game takes place in caves and old ruins.
* The overall feel just isnt Clive Barker.
* Awkward control issues, i would recommend a PC controller especially for when you have to hit certain buttons during cut scenes in order to survive.
* Some of the A.I although brilliant move a bit TO fast leaving you wildly spinning the mouse in every direction.
* Just an overall feel that the game was done pretty quickly and had more potential than what it gives.

So while Clive Barkers Jericho won't leave a "bad" taste in your mouth is does make you wish the game were a little more Clive Barker and a little less Gears Of War and Unreal Tournament. So fair but not much replay value.

This game is basically a squad based zombie shooter (first person). Graphics were fairly good, but sometimes so repetitive that if you get turned around, you find yourself wondering which direction you were heading since both forward and backwards look the same.

Setting was dark and spooky with lots of blood and slime. Characters were pretty cool in that each one is unique and some effort obviously went into their development. Weapons were basically fixed through out the game, but each team member has different weapons and you can "possess" any of them. Also, each team member has different special powers that must be used to overcome certain obstacles. Again, some thought went into the design of these powers and their integration into the game, so they aren't just a useless encumbrance.

It's true that the game is quite linear, but I don't see that as necessarily a negative. Movement was fairly smooth. Some of the character acting was a bit lame, but the character appearance was nicely done. I played it on a 3GHz core 2 duo running Vista x64 , 4GB ram, with two SLI-linked GTS8800 512 GPUs with no problem aside from an occasional stagger when it was accessing the hard drive. I might note that I usually have a lot of other applications (particularly browser windows) running when I play games, so my computer specs may not be that useful.

My biggest complaint with the game is that it uses a checkpoint save system, although checkpoints are reasonably spaced.

My second biggest biggest compliant with the game is the instances where you are required to execute a sequence of keystrokes to get past a particular puzzle. These puzzles consist of hitting the arrow keys in response to on-screen cues(arrows actually appear). By going through these motions, you will either escape an environmental hazard (like saving yourself from a fall) or beat a foe in close order combat (by fending off blows or striking your own blows). Basically, you are so focused on watching for the arrows that you don't really get to watch what is actually happening on screen.

Twice I had to look up the walkthrough to figure out what I was supposed to do in order to move on to the next room. While they do have some cues telling you when to use the special powers, there are times when you are left to figure it out for yourself and it isn't always clear.

Over all, the game was not bad. While it's kind of average with a few fairly cool features, part of the reason it's worthy of four stars is because you can get it cheap. I paid $4.50 from one of the Amazon third party merchants. If you like horror shooters and squad based games, I highly recommend this game.