The Thing (Xbox, 2002)

The Thing was one of the greatest horror movies of our time. The original black and white movie came out sometime in the 50's. The movie's plot centers around an Antarctic expedition that finds an alien and his ship trapped under an ice shelf. After using dynamite to blow up the ice encasing the ship and the grisly figure, they move the alien back to the base where it proceeds to wake up and wreak havoc.

The 80's version of The Thing, which was directed by John Carpenter and was the version the game was based on, follows a wee tad different plot. The basic story is the same -- Antarctic expedition finds alien spacecraft and body. Only after this alien thaws out, instead of looking like Frankenstein, is an imitator that mimics whoever it infects. A really interesting movie to be viewed by the broad minded.

The Thing for Xbox takes places directly after the 80's Thing. It acts almost as if it were a sequel that follows up the story and answers questions that we were left asking after watching the movie. Now that the technical background questions have been answered, let's take a look at the game itself. I thought that it was an overall nice job and a good play but I thought several things could have been corrected.

The graphics were good, however I did notice a lot of pixelization in certain characters and areas. Twas a nice attempt however. The music was also good, with notable bands such as "Saliva" playing the theme song. It also had the notable "The Thing" theme, however I thought there could have been improvement on the choice of tracks in the game.

The gameplay in the game is frustrating at times. Some of the bosses are hard and some of the enemies take a bit to get used to. But perhaps the most difficult part of the gameplay is getting used to your team members' AI that you constantly have to monitor and make sure they are ok, etc.

Replay ability is nil as there is nothing that I could imagine that would want to make me play this game again. This is pretty much a one-time-only game, but it is good for that one time. I was completely content with the story progression as well as the ending. The game left me content as well, but because of the fact that this was a one-time play, I gave it a B- due to my minor complaints about the graphics, music, etc.

All in all, I liked the game. It was a good extension of the movie. It was definitely worth the $19.99 I paid for it. Anybody who is a fan of survival horror or sci-fi should pick up this game.

I am reviewing the game as played on PC so that is the note I must make at the beginning. I'm concentrating on the game itself though and not so much on the controls although on the PC they are extremely userfriendly and very very easy to learn and become an experienced controler.
The story itself continues where the John Carpenter story stopped.
The movie itself was en still is indeed one of the scariest films made to date regardless of "Saw" or other inferior surgical pornography. The fools today have lost the very important fact that a picture needs atmosphere to be scary.
As far as a scary atmosphere goes, the people who made this game did their homework very very well. Here I must stop to note that from now on I will virtually always use superlatives as the game is that good (5 out of 5 is not nearly enought).
Yes the graphics are somewhat blocky when characters and creatures are concerned but the surroundings are extremely well done. You start to feel enveloped in the game very quickly, and if you play the game on your own in the evening or at night you will become drawn in to a point where the uneasiness still has to wear off long after having stopped the game.
Then there is the added element of keeping your teammembers from blowing a fuse.
When this happens they, at best, commit suicide but more likely will comit murder... on you! It adds an extra clock to the already stressed out worklist of poor Blake (your CGI alter ego).
Some levels are very difficult but then again it wouldn't be game if everything were just a walkover.
As for the music (being a PC player) I didn't hear all that much and luckily enough no vocals, but what is there is very effective.

The game is very graphic and very violent but it is never gratuitously so. You never kill for the fun of it but only out of necessity (as it should be, even in a game). The game is defintely NOT for children. It's too scary and too violent.
As an indication: the commercial for this game was forbidden from TV broadcasts in many places because of its violent nature.

Unlike other reviewers I play the game many times. Just for the atmosphere (better said atmosfear) and the joy of seeing a game that connects so well and so respectfully with its sourcematerial. The only gripe I have is that the creatures could be more scary. There are several that are scary enough and the gigantic static cratures are quite unsettling. Also unpleasant are the small spider like creatures or the heads on two legs. But whe it gets to transforming (what was always the ultimate shock in the film) the tranformation and the final result is not scary. That is the only thing I wished the had done differently.
That and the fact that this game is so good that I wish there were a part two.
Don't misunderstand me. I think that they did right. They keep me wanting for more thus they ended on a high note (a very high one) and they are wise to not go and make something that can never surpass it. So cudos for not milkin this like other companies do (for example "Splinter Cell").
The game is quite long so you get a lot of goods for your money and very good goods at that.
Look the fact that you are on this site means that you get a game at a second hand price, like I did. After having played the game I said to everyone: "If I had payed $60.- for this game, I still would have found it a reasonable price. The game is that bloody damned excellent.
You'd be a fool not to get this!!

i love this game,even though the graphics are a bit outdated but that doesnt matter. really easy to get the hang of it, you control a team of players and lead them through the us station after kurt russel and the black dude die. so blah blah they come there and start finding out gruesome shlt. not for the young ones but if you liked the movie then youll definetly pick up this game.

the thing is one of the coolest movies and the game takes place after the movie at the site of the movie the graphics ar so so but its a seven year old game

This game is an underrated gem. not only is it one of the best survival horror games ever made, it's also one of the best Xbox Original games out there. The game is largely dismissed because it's based on a movie which is unfair. The game oozes tension and atmosphere. My only problem with the game is that it is short and the whole "trust" system is useless since ***SPOILER*** ((((((every teammate you run into eventually turns into a thing no matter what you do))))) *****END SPOILER*****. The game needs a sequel ASAP.