Clive Barker's Jericho - Xbox 360

Woopsie doodle, kind of forgot to review this game when I beat it. Well, here it is:

In my last review for Red Dead Redemption I talked about what makes a good game, not wanting a game to end. Being so engrossed in the story that you just want to keep going. So what's the opposite of that? Pretty much Clive Barker's Jericho. This is a game I wanted to end. A game that I wish would end. How long is the game? I've heard anywhere from five to ten hours. How long did it feel? Like a goddamn eternity.

In case you can't read between the lines, I absolutely hated Clive Barker's Jericho. I paid $7 for it new, and frankly I wish I could have my $7 back.

I remember putting the game in and the first thing I thought was "Oh, this must have been a launch title." The graphics weren't horrible, but occasionally I noticed that the characters limbs looked like they were made out of 2x4s. They were occasionally incredibly blocky... but it's understandable, being released in 2005... wait, this game was released in late 2007? If this game had been released in 2005 I would say it had decent-ish graphic. In 2007? Some of the graphics are absolutely shittacular. Like I said, not all, but some. It's a here and there problem, not an overall problem.

The AI on the other hand? That's an overall problem. My biggest complaint about the game is probably the AI. Little back story before I get into it.

You're a member of a paranormal team in charge of keeping the firstborn in line. What's the firstborn? It's a long story. Basically the antagonist. You're team consists of six members, all who have different paranormal skills. You can switch between each of these members and use their skills to fight various bad guys.

Each one of these skills comes in handy during different battles, also despite the fact that you have enough guns to take on a small army your skills are almost always superior... and that's where the AI problems start.

A lot of times they're using their guns, even if their powers are charged. I don't know how often every single one of my teammates was going full out with their guns... that is when they weren't getting absolutely slaughtered. My teammates were essentially cannon fodder. You can revive your teammates as long as you are alive, and for the most part anytime their was a firefight I spent a good portion trying to revive most if not all of my team. They would just run towards anything shooting them. There are bad guys who blow up after they're dead, several times all of my teammates would die because they would rush these enemies. The AI was absolutely awful. I can't say that enough.

There were so many things wrong with this game. The AI, the graphics, the voice acting, and frustratingly difficult parts, the awful ending, the fact that it's billed as a horror game but really lacked on the whole "horror" part, and I could go on and on... It's just a bad game. I honestly can't think of one redeeming quality. How do you review a game like that?

At the end of the day I beat the game and thought "I hope I never have to play this game again." That's a bad sign for any video game. Clive Barker's Jericho wasn't enjoyable to me, from the start to the end felt like a chore. I don't think I ever really enjoyed it. I played it to beat it, and I didn't really have much if any fun. If they're handing this game out for free I would say skip it, it's not even worth free. Skip it.

Squid.

Dead Space - Review

What do you get when you mix a little bit of Aliens, a little bit of Event Horizon and a whole lot of awesome? Dead Space.

Occasionally a game will come along that I hear very little about. That was pretty much Dead Space. I heard a few people talk about how awesome it was, or how scary it was but nothing really about the game. I resisted playing it because I thought it was a survival horror game, and well me and survival horror games have a love hate relationship.

Then a while back Dead Space went on sale, $15 at Best Buy. My brother asked me if I wanted to go in half on it... well, I generally don't turn down paying $7.50 for a video game so we went ahead and bought it. Seeing as I had a ton of games waiting to be played I let him have a go at it first. I would occasionally come over and see him playing it, even played it myself for about three minutes. Seemed good enough but playing it for that short period of a time wasn't really enough for me to see what the game was really about.

Fast forward to this week.

My brother was going on vacation so I'm house sitting for him. I brought along Tales of Symphonia to play, but then I remembered Dead Space. My brother was going to be gone for five days, plenty of time to beat Dead Space. So I decided to pop it in and give it a go.

I'm glad I did, because Dead Space turned out to be a great game.

Once in a while a game comes around where things just seem to click. Where everything just seems to come together perfectly. This is how I felt about Dead Space. Everything came together to create a tense, creepy experience.

I've often said that in both video games and horror movies, ambiance is the key factor. You have to create a creepy atmosphere before something can be truly scary. Sometimes something not happening is scarier then it actually happening. When there's a monster around every corner you lose something, you come to expect it... but when you hear that monster, but can't find it... when it stalking you and you're waiting for it to pounce on you at every turn... that's where the real tension comes in. That's how Dead Space it. You're kept in almost a constant state of fear about what's going to happen next, what's going to sneak up behind you, what that noise is and where it's coming from. You're constantly on the edge of your seat.

Dead Space performs flawlessly at getting you, and keeping you, on the edge of your seat. You almost never know what's coming next. The next room you go into could be full of monsters or it could be empty. Either way you get the feeling that you don't want to go in there.

The story is great, the atmosphere is great, the game is great. Seriously, you can pick it up for $20 on Xbox360, PS3, or PC... there's no reason not to play this great game. Do yourself the favor.

Squid.