The Thing (PS2, Xbox, PC) :-
Storywise, this survival horror title is a direct sequel to the events that transpired in the 1982 John Carpenter film, and has you filling the boots of Blake, leader of a team sent to find out what has happened to McReady and the other characters from the film...Needless to say, it doesn't take long before you find out.....
Wandering around outside in the snow, your health bar will continually deplete as the Antarctic weather takes it's toll, so you'll need to quickly get indoors again or at least find a heat source so you don't end up as a snowman...
The Things that you come against vary from little spidery things which can be dispatched with pistols, to massive bosses with loads of tentacles and teeth...some middle sized ones will require you to pump them full of bullets and then finish them off with a flamethrower..and just like in the movie, members of your team may secretly be hosting a parasitic alien, and suddenly change into a Thing and try to have you for lunch....
Lucky you have the test kits to help you out, then! You can use these to discover if someone you think is acting a bit suspiciously is hosting a parasite. Just be ready with your gun in case they are! This is actually a bit of the game I found to be a bit disappointing though, as on more than one occasionI had just tested someone who passed as not hosting, and then two minutes later they had mutated and were trying to eat my face....
What works a lot better is the Trust system...all the members of your team have the ability to get scared or start distrusting you. If an area becomes too scary for them, they'll start panicking and if you don't order them to go somewhere where they can relax, they might start shooting at you or even end up shooting themselves!
You also have to keep the team's trust, as if they suspect you to be a Thing (like if say, you shoot someone who acts odd without testing them first) then they'll stop obeying orders until you can win back their trust by killing mutants or giving them extra ammo or something....
Generally, the team are pretty handy to have around, as they all have certain skills....engineers can fix fuse boxes, medics can keep the team healthy and the soldier can give you some extra firepower when things get tricky! But as you'd expect, you'll go through a few team members before the game is finished, so don't get too attached....
It all makes for a rather excellent adventure and a worthy sequel to the film...it has loads of little nods to it's source material, with references to things that happened in the movie and of course comes with a similar moody soundtrack. If you're a fan of The Thing, this really has to be played...if not, then you're left with a pretty damn good survival horror to add to the collection!
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