(Running away in horror before title is written)



Genre: 1st Person Shoot-Em-up
Developed by:
Published by: EA

What's the deal with this "Clive Barker's" thing? We have Tom Clancy's and Sid Meier's and so on. Albeit it probably for commercial reasons, it gives the unjust impression that a game is solely based on the work of that one featured person. And all the testers then? Programmers? Designers? Jeez. Sorry but I had to say that. Back to the game.

Clive Barker is best known for his horror stories and literature. He was hired to give the game that extra, that cinematic "zing", the magic touch. Nothing wrong with that. Undying tells the story of a family that has been plagues by a terrible curse for generations. The last generation though, unleashed a terrible hex that transformed their home and themselves... You are Patrick Galloway, a friend of one of the Covenants (the family's name). Jeremiah Covenant is plagues by cancer, but although he is dying, it seems his destiny is far less worse than that of his brothers and sisters. You are to investigate and ultimately solve the mysterious curse on the Covenant family.
The story is well thought-out, and really shows signs of professional interference. Although it might sound cliché: investigating a haunted house ; Undying tells this story so excellently that it doensn't bore. The manual for example is a true literary masterpiece and definitely one of the best I've read in years.

After the manual (which contained Journal posts on all Covenant family members) really was in the mood. I started the game. In Easy mode. Ok, call me a wuss, but playing Alone in the Dark in Hard still sends shivers down my spine. But after 10 minutes Undying...My healthy dark complexion turned a pale white, my fingers were trembling like a leaf in the wind in autumn and my mouth was open, unable to produce sounds or words. No kidding.
Undying masterfully uses traditional "scare" moments, introduced by Alone in the Dark. A monster jumping out of dark corner, a zombie breaking a window. Undying does this in a more subtle way though. I can't tell you much, since this will spoil the tension, but prepare for apparitions, strange events, and more. And also. never trust an empty room. Believe me.

The scare factor is increased by one of the magic abilities you have. That's right, next to weapons like a revolver, shotgun and more exotic ones like the Tibetan War Cannon, Galloway can perform various spells. The first one is "Scrye", which will give you the ability to...how can I explain this...to see the unseeable. A portrait for example might hide something horrible. This effect is done superbly and adds to the atmosphere. Other spells are things like ectoplasm (=smalll fireball), dispel magic, summon Phoenix and so on.

The gameplay itself is rather straightforward. Although it contains certain rpg elements (spells) Undying is "just" an FPS, although very creative. Undying is based on the Unreal Tournament engine. This ageing engine still gets the job done with vivid colours and convincing geometry. I experienced some clipping problems, but this can also be a hardware problem. What I also dislike was the way characters walked up a flight of stairs. This is very unnatural and not fluid at all. But in all, the graphics and physics engine are good. Especially the textures and skyboxes were impressive.

The sound...well.. it, sadly for us tortured souls, adds to the creepy atmosphere. Haunted screams and creepy whispers really will give you difficulty going to bed. "Oh no, it's the voices again!" I murmured last night. Perhaps I should lay off those childrens vitamins... Anyway, the voice-overs are also great but the music is rather scarce. Intentionally or not, this might not be minus at all.

Next to the graphical glitches though I missed the creativity of say a Half-Life. Of course this comparison is the most unfair one of all, since Half-Life was probably the best (FPS) game ever, but still. I got the scare of my life when a mutant punched out a bulletproof window. And I stood there staring...thinking I was safe behind those thick pieces of glass...well another illusion shattered. It is this kind of creativity I missed in Undying. Yes you have those scary moments, and especially the Scyre mode and events are cool but...I don't know how to put it. You know what? Forget what I said alltogether. Undying scared the shit out of me. No kidding.

Pros and Cons

+ Graphics
+ Scrye and spells
+ Atmosphere
+ Atmosphere
+ Atmosphere
- Minor glitches
- Cliché setting

EP sez:

Undying is a very likeable game, although not for the faint of heart. The atmosphere is brilliant, even though the setting is cliché (haunted mansion). Th gameplay is good, as well as the graphics. It just misses that "zing" though (sorry Clive) that made Half-Life a classic.

© 2001 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin

Score

Gameplay: 8,5
Graphics: 8
Sound & Music: 8
Addictiviness: 8

Overall: 82.5%

Links:

> Official Undying Site