FPS Rantings

Clive Barker’s Jericho review

by Mike on November 9th, 2007

If Clive Barker’s Jericho is capable of moving your bowels, then you may consider the game as art. However, the horror author’s second foray into video games is more reminiscent of a glossy Hollywood film—big on production value and budget, but rather shallow in depth.

It’s not clear up to what extent was Clive Barker’s involvement in making Jericho, but you can see that the story is very much in the author’s domain. You’ll be treated to pseudo-historic plots, another creation supposedly made by God, and fantastic monsters that only Barker could conjure. And yes, the story is pretty interesting if you pay any attention.

Despite the game’s moniker, Jericho is not scary like Undying. You might freak out at how the enemies are designed, but the experience isn’t particularly frightening. One example: survival horror games tend to limit your ammo reserve, and you’ll get plenty of ammo here—and there’s a good reason for it: The enemies are very durable. Because of this durability, firefights are protracted. To complicate things, the onslaught of enemies seems endless at times. You might think this would make the battles suspenseful, but as Jericho wears on, this suspense is turned into tedium.

At first glance, the AI might look smart enough because your teammates get out of your way when you get close to any one of them. However, you’ll realize that they’re not so clever after all. Despite the option to let your squad advance or stay put, you’ll see that teammates would actually disobey your commands and walk into disadvantageous spots, which would result in everyone’s deaths. Even when you’re in a strategically-sound area, your teammates have a nasty tendency of getting themselves killed easily.

Thanks to the atrocious level design, this tendency of comrades getting slaughtered easily actually makes sense because there’s no space between you and your numerous exploding and/or unbelievably resilient enemies. Even the idea of having a sniper on the team can at times be useless because confrontations are usually up-close.

That’s not to say that Abigail Black, the sniper, won’t be of any use to your team. In fact, each squad member will have his or her time to shine. However, some of the members’ special abilities would be of use only when faced with a particular puzzle. Beyond these contrived teasers, you’ll be playing favorites for long stretches. At least until everyone gets killed and that rarely-used member is the only one left standing.

The retail version of Jericho performs surprisingly well compared to the demo. Visuals are smooth even on a year-old rig, but that’s probably because of the confined levels. Loading was considerably quick and installation size is pretty small for a new game. However, you’ll have to load succeeding levels every so often.

One of Jericho’s pillars of strength is its audio, which contributes greatly to the game’s atmosphere and freakiness factor. The music is particularly impressive—one level gives you a cacophony of wails as background, while another is a haunting solo that’s heard whenever a certain child appears. Voice acting is a mixed bag because while performances are generally good, the script delivers some genuine clunkers that would make Ed Wood, Jr. blush.

The game’s other strength is character design that screams Clive Barker. You’ll see a huge rogues’ gallery here: a cursed bishop, an army of dead children, a morbidly obese and formerly-human creature hung on meat hooks, undead centurions that tote riot police-sized shields, and many other strange sights. When you combine the bizarre character design with smooth visuals, Jericho is indeed a feast for the eyes.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing in the game that would keep you coming back beyond the story. Finish it once, and that’s the end of it. There’s no multiplayer to keep Jericho installed, no Easter eggs for you to find. The game may have higher difficulty settings, but considering its frustrating level design, you’re better off without an encore.

Jericho had a potential for greatness, but it was squandered with bad design decisions. You’ll love it for the atmosphere and production values, but hate it for its levels. The game’s short, eight-hour journey would give you mixed feelings. On one hand, you’re glad that you won’t have to go through any more bad levels. On the other, you’re still wishing for a redeeming factor, a deus ex machina that would come and make it all up. Your bowels might be moved, but not in the art-inducing way that Clive Barker was aiming for.

Rating: 6/10

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POSTED IN: Cliver Barker, Reviews