Clive Barker's Undying

Other products by Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Our recommended age: 17 - 20 years
• Manufacturer recommended age: 0 months and up
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005RD6Y
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 12, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,541 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

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  Video Games > Mac Games > Action > Horror

• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Mac

Amazon.com Review
After making a name for himself with horror classics such as The Damnation Game novel, The Books of Blood short-story collection, and the feature films Hellraiser and Candyman, Clive Barker has slowly moved away from the horror genre toward more fantasy-centric work. Barker hasn't completely forgotten about his first love, however, and Clive Barker's Undying, a first-person action game from Electronic Arts and DreamWorks Interactive, beautifully captures the type of horrors that populated Barker's earliest works. And not only is this game genuinely frightening, it's also a lot of fun to play.

Cast against the backdrop of Ireland in the year 1923, Undying follows Patrick Galloway, an investigator of the paranormal. Galloway has been summoned to Ireland by his old war buddy Jeremiah Covenant to put an end to the strange occurrences at the Covenant family estate. What Galloway finds is a house of horrors that is populated with Jeremiah's dead siblings (and other ghastly creatures), all of whom want to snuff out Jeremiah so they can complete a spell cast when they were children.

Graphically, Undying is first rate. The Unreal Tournament graphics engine has been used to great effect and the result is amazing character models and environments. The haunted mansion is suitably dark, with wispy draperies and macabre paintings. The estate's grounds are a mix of lush Irish countryside and crumbling ruins, all set against vivid skies.

Pretty pictures aside, the most impressive thing about Undying is its atmosphere--this game is flat-out scary. Every element of the game, be it the gothic architecture, eerie story, great weather effects including rain and lightning, or amazing sound effects, perfectly complement each other. The result is a gameplay experience that rivals the Resident Evil series in terms of generating sheer terror in the player.

The great atmosphere isn't Undying's only innovation--it also features a very cool two-handed attack system. Most action games saddle the player with an attack system where one hand controls all the weapons and the other hand does nothing. In Undying, the left hand (and left mouse button) controls the standard weapons, such as the pistol and shotgun, while the right hand (and right mouse button) casts spells. This is a great gameplay device and ensures the action stays at a frantic pace.

Of all the spells in the game, the coolest is the Scrye spell. When cast, it lets the player see and hear past events--some of which are quite horrific--and occasionally it shows you how to progress beyond a certain level. This help can come in the form of highlighting certain objects or unveiling a portal, but whatever the method it is a very well-designed gameplay element.

The only real complaints with Undying involve the long loading times between levels and the system requirements, but even those aren't enough to derail this excellent--and terrifying--action game. --Kilmic Robbins

Pros:

• Very, very creepy
• Amazing sound effects
• Excellent graphics
• Slick controls

Cons:

• Long loading times
• Story is a little convoluted

Amazon.com Preview
Horror book fans have plenty of experience with spine-tingling, creeped-out feelings during late-night reading sessions. Gamers experience the same feeling when immersed in horror games such as Half-Life, Resident Evil, and Diablo II. Now gamers are in for a double dose of the fear factor. The master of horror himself, Clive Barker, is adding a computer game to his rich portfolio of bestselling novels, movies, plays, and paintings.

Clive Barker's Undying is a first-person action game based on the Unreal Tournament engine that immerses players in 1920s Ireland. What better location for an eerie, supernatural experience? The fog, ancient rites, ruins, and imposing castles are perfect tools for Barker's craft. Players embody Patrick Galloway, summoned to an ancestral estate by the only surviving descendent, Jeremiah. But the family isn't resting in peace. Jeremiah's siblings have risen from their graves, dead set on slaying their brother. Seems that Jeremiah's status as living blocks the release of a horrific curse, one that unleashes a flurry of hellacious creatures.

Naturally, it's up to Patrick to dismantle the curse. His quest will take him through five otherworldly realms before returning him to the final showdown at the estate. Each world reveals a uniquely horrific environment populated by 20 breeds of appropriately scary creatures.

Patrick discovers plenty of offensive capabilities that will, with nimble feet, pull him through the experience intact. The game features a unique two-handed weapon system. One hand juggles eight traditional hand weapons from past and present, such as guns, Molotov cocktails, dynamite, and more. The other hand is empowered with over one dozen spells that offer the most unique methods of returning creepy-crawly nasties to the netherworld. Patrick's psychic senses are accessible as well, giving him the ability to fly in the spirit worlds, and, in certain "hot spots," perceive past events that unveil clues and back story.

Undying's development team secured the Unreal Tournament engine, which it has customized with very nice results. The richly rendered environments and detailed characters capture the dark, ominous spirit of Clive Barker's other narrative creations. Knowing the importance of a fully immersing game world, the team smartly integrated layers of haunting, atmospheric sounds. More than ear candy, several scenarios require that players pay attention to sound clues in order to proceed unscathed. The soundscape is enhanced with a haunting Celtic-inspired soundtrack.

Renowned horror consultant and finely detailed production values aside, how will the game play? That answer is as unpredictable as Clive Barker himself. But with the first-person shooter genre evolving into a powerful platform for narrative, scenario-based gameplay, Undying may very well reveal itself as the perfect haunting ground for Barker's visions.

For more information, read our interview where Clive Barker himself discusses Undying.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Undying does fright right!, June 22, 2002

By	HLB (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

I'm the kind of person who loves ghost stories and creepy movies. What could be better than a yarn of Gothic mansions and cursed ruins, all properly haunted, laden with rumours of nefarious rites, of course, and situated in some remote rural region with heavy skies where the weather is suitably gloomy? I for one have often wished to be myself deposited in just such a setting to experience the sublime horror of a spooky plot--all without the possibility of getting my clock cleared through wicked and uncanny doings, naturally. Clive Barker's Undying aims to do precisely that, and it succeeds masterfully.

I won't go much into the storyline here, as a quick look at the editorial reviews discloses enough of it, and you will want to uncover it yourself if you give Undying a try. Suffice it to say that the plot is solid and satisfying, if not mind-blowingly original. Instead, let's talk about atmosphere. In this regard, Barker's craft is most apparent in the game, which strikes an excellent balance between action (this is a first-person shooter, after all) and exploration, resulting in that splendid alchemy known as suspense. Let me be quite blunt: this game had me jump out of my seat more than once. Sound and lighting are used to great effect, and you will start looking over your (virtual) shoulder many times, startled by frightening noises. Not everytime will something actually be there to threaten you, but often enough you will hear trouble from afar that will indeed find you. In some locations you will see the uncouth silhouettes of possible attackers outlined against a bloodred evening sky as they shamble across distant rooftops and walls. At other times you will have a hard time seeing anything at all, as the game is mercilessly realistic in its use of dark locations, giving rise to a sensation that I never experienced in any other game: reluctance to explore that dark passageway, tunnel, etc. Never while playing Unreal or Deus Ex have I thought "Sheesh, must I?" Well, you must, to move ahead--and being frightened is what it's all about, right? You will often fumble about in the dark or near-dark, and if there are torches or candles, they will sometimes go out at the most inconvenient times. The various spectral fiends hunting you, on the other hand, see perfectly fine in the dark. D'oh!

Your opponents will appear in varying numbers--enough to keep you occupied. They will rarely inundate you, but when they do, it never feels like it's just to make a part of the game more difficult, rather it fits with the plot. For example, as you penetrate deeply into the catacombs under a ruined monastery, the ghoulish Howlers come leaping in hordes out of dark passages choked with bones: you have stumbled into one of their lairs. Can you take them all down?
No. Unlike in more straightforward third-person shooters, you will have to realize when it's time to turn and run in Undying, unless you want to be treated to rather explicit 'footage' of your character's decapitation, disembowelment, or similarly creative demise.

When you do choose to fight, you have a choice between generally fairly realistic and historically fitting weapons (the story is set in the 1920's), such as a revolver, shotgun, and Molotov cocktails, as well as a few magical items. Load times for firearms are particularly authentic, so keep your distance when it's time to reload (remember those scenes in the horror movies where a shot is heard, followed by a blood-curdling scream? That'd be you.) A miscellany of other usable items is available as well, ranging from the mundane (Dynamite) to the esoteric (ghost-trapping devices), including such that are needed to solve the games imaginative but never frustrating puzzles. You operate your weapons with the left hand (= mousekey), while Undying's ingenious control system let's you unleash magic spells with your right (mousekey, that is--don't worry, it all works fine for one-key mice as well). The spells are interesting and diverse, particularly nice is the ability to revive creatures you killed so they fight for you; unfortunately, they sometimes suddenly turn against you and you have to kill them all over again. This is not a glitch, but intended, always making it a gamble whether you ultimately can control the dead, but of course it's extremely useful when it works. The interesting aspect of your arsenal is that you have to find out which weapons, ammunitions, and spells affect what creatures. You often find out the hard way. Silver bullets or regular slugs? Hmmmm ... let me think ... Famous last thoughts.

What surprised me most pleasantly about Undying is the game's performance (NOTE: I have run the game exclusively under Mac OS X 10.1.5, and not a crash so far). The system requirements stated on the box are relatively steep, which made me hesitate to buy Undying at first. But lo and behold, the game runs very nicely on my 300 MHz G3 B&W with 512 MB RAM and an ATI Radeon Mac Edition with 32 MB VRAM. At 600x800 resolution with character and environment textures set to high, Undying looks stunning and gameplay is very fluid, the frame rate dropping a bit only when an unusual number of monsters are onscreen (but not so much that combat is hindered). I think it's safe to say that this game would absolutely smoke on one of the newer G4's.

Do yourself a favor and play it only at night ... by a dim light in your den ... when it's all quiet and still ... ahh, the atmosphere ... just don't faint when your spouse / girlfriend / boyfriend / housemate / sibling sneaks up on you to freak you out. They WILL do it (wouldn't you?). Trust me.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars underappreciated, February 6, 2003

By A Customer

this game had so-so sales (usually a better idea than reviews of how much one will like it), and i didnt do it right after it arrived. yet this is one of the best games i have done. its good and long, in addition to being scary, though familiarity will dull the surprise of the monsters. the disgusting sky lizards, floor squids, and the vile land fish will give your back chills. howling dogmen will make you jump out of your seat, and these are only some of the nonhuman(oid) opponents. the weapon list is diverse and a little far fetched, but certain monsters are very susceptible to specific weapons and spells.

even on easy, there were places that needed to be played over and over to discover the boss's weak spot. most could not be approached with pure firepower. puzzles are few, but there are side trips that end in finding valuable amplifiers (of spells) and mana wells which increase your ability to use these spells. these side paths are often difficult to find or are well guarded. of note, there are many places where you cant just kill all the monsters and then go on; if you just sit there, the game will keep throwing monsters at you, and only if you progress through the horde will they stop coming. there were several times i spent an hour fruitlessly trying to fight monsters or bad guys only to realize the solution was to run.

there are several magical levels, such as a floating sky city and an attractive but perilous mountain glen, but the best is the ancient monastery. in addition to being able to produce effective mood, these environments allow special spells such as increased jumping ability. one will find plenty of medikits; i had > 200 before encountering the last bosses, and spell enhancement is plentiful as well. this game ran very well in OSX without crashes, freezes, or slowdowns. many people have complained about loading as the game progresses from room to room. Although frequent, loads lasted 6-8 seconds; anyway, i was reloading much more frequently from deaths.

all in all, this was an exciting, engrossing game that commanded my attention the whole way through and one of the best games i have done, especially at its cheap price. this game should be bought 1) for days of top notch entertainment and 2) to encourage the availability of more games for mac.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars atmosphere, March 28, 2003

By A Customer

I've played a few of these FPS type games, and after just starting Undying, this has become one of my favorites. Why? The atmosphere this game creates is superb - there is no background music on the first level, just creaky floors, the wind moaning in the background, the occasional scream as the help is attecked and killed. Very cool, and for 10 bucks, a terrific bargain. As noted by others, it plays well on G3 Macs with less than 32 MB of vram, a refreshing change from the latest wave of games.

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