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Wikipedia

The Thing (video game)

The Thing is a 2002 squad-based third-person shooter survival horror video game developed by Computer Artworks and co-published by Vivendi Universal Games under the Black Label Games label and Konami.[5] It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions were also planned, but both were cancelled early in development.

The Thing
North American Xbox cover art
Developer(s)Computer Artworks
Publisher(s)
Director(s)
  • William Latham
  • Mark Atkinson
Producer(s)Chris Hadley
Designer(s)Andrew Curtis
Programmer(s)
  • Diarmid Campbell
  • Mark Atkinson
Artist(s)Joel Smith
Composer(s)Keith Tinman
Platform(s)
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
Xbox
PlayStation 2
  • NA: September 10, 2002[4]
  • EU: September 20, 2002[1]
Genre(s)Third-person shooter, survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Set as a sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film of the same name, the story focuses on Captain Blake, a member of a U.S. Special Forces team sent to the Antarctic outpost featured in the film to determine what has happened to the research team. Only to find himself caught in an invisible fight for survival against the titular shape-shifting alien, who seemingly has regained life despite being destroyed at the end of the film. Other survivors encountered and ordered by Blake assist the battle against the creatures different forms while trying to uncover the reason for the infection, all while being fully aware that they can trust no-one. The game was endorsed by Carpenter,[6] who has a cameo appearance in the game.[7]

The Thing was a commercial success; selling over one million units worldwide across all platforms, and received generally positive reviews. A sequel was in the early stages of development, but was canceled when Computer Artworks went into receivership in 2003.

Gameplay

The basic gameplay in The Thing is that of a traditional third-person shooter; the player character, Blake, can run and shoot, strafe, crouch, interact with the environment, interact with NPCs and use items, such as flashlights, fire extinguishers or flares. The player also has the option to enter first-person mode for more accurate targeting during combat. When in first-person mode, however, the character cannot move, except to side-step a little to the left and right. Weaponry includes pistols, grenades, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, grenade launchers and fixed heavy machine guns. Other items featured in the game are health packs, explosives, ammunition, portable blood test-kits and adrenaline injections.[8]

 
Blake fights a boss in The Thing. The HUD shows his health (red bar), currently selected weapon and ammo count (on the right), and his left hand item (in this case flame grenades).

Enemies come in three main varieties. "Scuttlers" are small Things formed from the limbs and appendages of infected personnel. They are fast, but weak, and can be killed simply by shooting. "Walkers" are larger than scuttlers, and much stronger. To kill them, the player must weaken them using gunfire before then using the flamethrower, as only fire can completely kill them. Bosses are larger and much more powerful than Walkers, and although each one requires a specific strategy to defeat, the principle is the same; weaken it with gunfire before burning it.

One of the main features of The Thing's gameplay is the inclusion of multiple NPCs who join Blake at various points throughout the game. At any one time, the player can control up to four characters; Blake and three NPCs. There are three types of NPC in the game; engineers, soldiers and medics. Engineers can repair fuse boxes, which control locked doors, computers and save points. Soldiers have more health, and are better shots than engineers or medics. They are thus more suited to combat. Medics are capable of healing both Blake and any other injured NPCs, and carry unlimited health packs. The player can issue basic commands to each NPC, such as ordering them to follow Blake, ordering them to remain where they are, ordering them to give Blake their weapon, and, in the case of engineers, ordering them to fix a fuse box.[9]

NPC AI is determined primarily by the "Fear/trust system". The trust system determines whether the NPCs will follow Blake's orders and join him in combat. To do so, the player must ensure the NPC trusts Blake, and does not suspect him of being a Thing. NPCs have four levels of trust; red, amber, green and 100%. Red means they are convinced Blake is a Thing and will attack him. Amber means they are not sure if he is a Thing, and although they won't attack him, they won't follow his orders. Green means they trust him and will follow his orders. 100% means they have complete faith in him, will follow his orders, and even if he attacks another NPC, they will support him.[10] To gain the trust of NPCs, Blake can give them weapons and ammo, heal them, put himself at risk to protect them, or use a blood test kit on himself to prove he is not a Thing. Actions which deplete trust include accidentally shooting teammates, taking away teammate's weapons or ammo, or pointing a weapon at them for a sustained period of time to force them to do something.[11]

The fear system dictates how scared a given NPC is. There are three levels of fear; normal, scared and "Crack-up".[12] When an NPC enters "Crack-up" mode, Blake has only a limited amount of time to reduce their fear level, or the NPC will kill themselves, attack Blake and other NPCs, attack the environment, or die of a heart attack. Each NPC responds differently to different surroundings; for example, medics tend to scare easier than soldiers. Generally, however, fear increases when entering rooms covered in blood, entering dark locations, finding particularly disfigured corpses, being attacked by multiple enemies, and hearing enemies but not being able to see them. When an NPC is scared, it affects their performance; soldiers become less accurate, engineers take longer to repair fuse boxes and medics don't heal characters as quickly. Blake can reduce fear by giving NPCs adrenaline, topping up their ammo, moving away from particular locations, or successfully defeating enemies.[13][14]

The game also features an infection system, which determines whether or not an NPC is infected by the Thing. Although most NPCs are scripted to transform into a Thing at specific points in the game, they can also be infected at any time prior to this. When the team comes under attack by enemies, the possibility of infection is based upon a probability system whereby any teammate who comes into direct contact with an enemy can be infected. Although infection does not alter their immediate behavior, it will result in them turning into a walker-Thing after a set period of time, at which point they will attack the team.[11]

The Windows PC port features patches that fix issues present on the consoles. Furthermore, "Patch 1.2 adds a very handy mouse-look mode, which makes the game play more like a modern PC game."[15]

Plot

The game begins at U.S. Outpost 31 in Antarctica, a short time after the events of the film. Two teams of U.S. Special Forces have arrived to investigate the U.S. camp and the nearby Norwegian camp. Captain J.F. Blake (voiced by Per Solli) is the leader of Bravo Team, who are investigating the U.S. camp, whilst Alpha Team, under the command of Captain Pierce, investigate the Norwegian camp. Both teams are under the overall command of Colonel Whitley (William B. Davis), who is in constant communication via radio. Whilst investigating Outpost 31, Bravo Team soon discover the small spacecraft made by the Blair-Thing and a tape recorder with a message from R.J. MacReady, describing how nobody trusts anybody anymore. They then find information detailing how the base has been infiltrated by an extraterrestrial lifeform that is capable of imitating the physical appearance and characteristics of any living organism it assimilates. They also find the body of Childs, one of the two survivors at the end of the film, who has died from hypothermia. The film's other survivor, MacReady, is nowhere to be found. Under orders from Whitley, Bravo Team set up C-4 explosives throughout the facility, which are detonated remotely, destroying the outpost.

Whilst the rest of Bravo Team are airlifted to safety, Blake heads to the Norwegian camp to locate and reinforce Alpha Team, with whom contact has been lost. He soon learns they have been attacked and scattered by a horde of "scuttlers"; small limbs and appendages of much larger Things. Eventually Blake finds Pierce. However, he has become paranoid, believing everyone to be infected and demanding Blake agrees to a blood test to prove he is still human. Blake does so, and he and Pierce set out to find a way to reestablish communication with Whitley. However, they are soon separated, and with no other choice, Blake continues on, finding the radio room, but discovering someone has stolen the radio and fled into a nearby warehouse.

En route to the warehouse, Blake encounters Pierce in an observatory. However, he is infected, and rather than allow himself to turn into a Thing, Pierce shoots himself in the head. Blake continues to pursue the man with the radio, eventually discovering that he is a Thing. Blake kills him, and takes the radio. Moving on, he enters the "Pyron" sub-facility beneath the Norwegian base, learning of a company called Gen-Inc., who have installed a research team under the command of Dr. Sean Faraday (John Carpenter). Gen-Inc. had been conducting biological experiments on the Things when their team was infected, and now only a few survivors remain within the facility. Blake rescues Faraday and attempts to leave. However, he is prevented from doing so by Whitley, who shoots him with a tranquillizer gun, and reveals to Faraday that he has infected himself with the Thing gene, claiming it to be controllable, something of which he is living proof, and therefore demonstrating its capability as a weapon. When Faraday attempts to eradicate the Thing virus, Whitley kills him.

Blake awakens in the now abandoned "Strata" research facility, and learns that his cells have a unique resistance to infection by the Thing virus. After escaping his confinement, he unearths a government conspiracy whereby Gen-Inc. isolated a microbiological form of the Thing called the "Cloud virus", which was intended for use in biological warfare. However, the Thing infected everyone at the facility. Blake learns that Whitley was in charge of the entire operation, and has injected himself with a strain of the virus known as "Cloud Virus B4" in an attempt to cure his terminal cancer.

Blake fights his way through the facility, battling numerous black ops under Whitley's command, as well as many Things. Learning that Whitley plans to distribute the Thing virus around the world using a fleet of airplanes, he is able to destroy them before they take off. Eventually, Blake confronts Whitley himself. He sets him on fire, but Whitely is unhurt. He explains that an airlift team is on its way and when it arrives, he will begin global infection. Whitley flees further into the base, pursued by Blake. At the partly excavated site of the original Thing's spaceship, Whitley transforms into a massive Thing creature. Blake encounters a helicopter pilot, who helps him defeat the Whitley-Thing. As the helicopter flies away from the base, the pilot reveals himself to be R.J. MacReady.

Development

"The Thing is a phenomenal franchise that gamers have been requesting for a long time. This franchise presents an incredible opportunity to draw upon Universal's rich movie history and today's technology to create a one-of-a-kind gaming experience."

— Jim Wilson; Universal Interactive president[16]

In 2000, when Universal Interactive began looking through Universal Studios' back-catalogue of feature films with potential for adaptation as video game franchises, they quickly decided one of the most lucrative such intellectual properties was the 1982 film directed by John Carpenter, The Thing. The film was based on the 1938 John W. Campbell short story "Who Goes There?", which had already been filmed by Howard Hawks in 1951 as The Thing from Another World. Carpenter's version was the most widely known iteration of the story, however, and the ambiguous ending to the film was seen as particularly attractive in terms of a video game which could explore what happens after the events of the film.[17] Universal and Konami announced the game on September 20, 2000, before development had begun, confirming it would not be an adaptation of the film, but a sequel. They also revealed the game would be released for "next generation consoles", of which only the Xbox was initially confirmed, as well as the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, the Handheld version was rumored to support with the Mobile Game Boy Adapter[a] device (although both versions were quietly canceled early in production).[16][18]

"If ever there was a franchise with fantastic games' potential, this is it! Move over Alien, move over Predator, The Thing has arrived and it is crueler, more intelligent and more terrifying than any other previous opponent! Computer Artworks is delighted to be selected by Universal Interactive Studios to bring this cult film to the world of games. Combined with Konami's huge marketing muscle we are looking forward to a dynamic chart success."

— William Latham; director[19]

Based upon Computer Artworks' 2000 video game Evolva, Universal invited them to make a pitch for the game. For the pitch, Computer Artworks reskinned a level from Evolva with an Antarctic theme and a Thing-like creature as a boss fight. The pitch impressed Universal sufficiently, and the deal was signed.[17] According to the game's director, William Latham, "Universal were very good to work with. They told us to come up with original ideas. It wasn't like a Harry Potter license. There weren't strict guidelines, as long as we retained the quality of the original work."[20] Drawing inspiration from Aliens, the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Half-Life and Area 51 conspiracy theories, Computer Artworks began work on the game in November 2000.[17] On January 16, they announced the game would also be released for Windows, with a release date slated for mid-2002.[19] The game was first shown at Universal Interactive's "Gamer's Day" on August 13, where it was confirmed it would also be coming to PlayStation 2. A non-playable demo was shown, and a Q&A session was held with the developers. Universal revealed details of the fear/trust and infection systems, which they said would form an integral aspect of the basic gameplay.[13][21]

A playable demo for the PlayStation 2 was released on March 25, 2002.[22] In an interview with GameSpot on April 1, Universal Interactive producer Peter Wanat explained "the trust-fear dynamic was born out of the film and the simple fact that we needed to give the main character NPCs to interact with. That whole not knowing who is human and who is "the thing" was a big part of the movie and worked for the game really well." Wanat cited games such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto III, and Max Payne as influences. However, he stated;

The gameplay is more action horror. We have built on all the elements of survival horror games in the past, but what we wanted to do was get away from the slow "plodding for hours" style of gameplay, which made us more likely to fall asleep than wet our pants from fear. So we made the shooting aspects more frenzied in order to really wake the player up. So when we do slow the pace back down, your sense that any minute it might get hairy again really starts to mess with you.[23]

 
The trust system in The Thing. In this screenshot, Carter does not trust Blake, and will not follow him (top), perform an action for him (left) or give him a weapon (bottom). The only option available to the player is to give Carter a weapon (right). Upon doing so, Carter will trust Blake, and the other options will become available.

Speaking in 2014, Latham reiterated Wanat's claims that the fear/trust and infection systems came from a desire to reproduce a strong element from the film;

It was early days for squad-based games, and the fear, trust and infection mechanic was quite innovative for the time. It came from very early meetings where we all watched the film to come up with brand identifiers. We decided there should be a novel AI element that mimicked what happened within the film: you never know who's going to turn.[20]

Similarly, designer Andrew Curtis said;

We always planned The Thing to be more action-horror, and having had some experience in squad-based gaming with Evolva, it seemed right to have the game as squad-based so we could support the core ideas of fear, trust and infection. It was more about the tension of not knowing what was going to happen next - was the guy next to you going to try and shoot you, go insane or morph into a freakish beast with thrashing tentacles?[17]

Originally the game was to be more open world based, with the possibility that each NPC could turn into a Thing at any moment completely randomized. Curtis also hoped the player could get to the end of the game with many, perhaps all, of the NPCs still alive. However, this kind of open-endedness proved impossible to implement, with Curtis, pointing out "It was of course very naïve as it caused huge problems with the squad command menu and dynamically balancing the encounters and resources required for the NPC."[17] Ultimately, NPC characters were scripted to change into Things at specific points, irrespective of the player's actions. This led to a much criticized aspect of the game; the player can test an NPC to find he is human only for him to change into a Thing mere seconds later.[20] Programmer Diarmid Campbell explains;

The infection system was conceived as a simulation that had the capacity to play out differently each time you played the game, leading to potential replayability. However, the game was also very story-led with set-pieces that required specific characters getting infected at certain times. These two aspects were constantly pulling in different directions. I think we ended up with a slightly messy compromise with good story elements and a genuinely new mechanic but also some logical inconsistencies which, ironically, became glaringly obvious if you played the game more than once.[17]

Similarly, Latham states "We had to scale it back. There were a few cheats to make it entertaining. We tried to mimic human behavior, but at the end of the day it didn't matter too much how you treated your teammates."[20]

The Thing also features a vocal ending theme "After Me", performed by Memphis-based Nu metal band Saliva, from its second studio album Every Six Seconds.

In August 2002, Vivendi Universal formed a new publishing division called Black Label Games; a label which Ken Cron (Vivendi Universal Games CEO) stated "will focus on delivering innovative, high-quality titles to satisfy the growing consumer appetite for increasingly sophisticated content." The game transitioned from Universal Interactive over to the new label.[24]

The console versions are co-published with Konami, with Vivendi Universal handling distribution.[25]

Reception

The Thing received "generally favorable reviews" on all three platforms; the PlayStation 2 version holds an aggregate score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on twenty-seven reviews;[27] the Xbox version a 78 out of 100, based on twenty-one reviews;[28] and the PC version a 77 out of 100, based on nineteen reviews.[26]

Eurogamer's Kristan Reed scored the PlayStation 2 version a 5 out of 10, arguing of the trust/fear system "It is nowhere near as much of a neat gameplay innovation as the hype had some people believe [...] As a squad based game it would work far better if you ever had to care a great deal for anyone's survival. As it is, most of the team seem to split off once a level's over (or turn into aliens at pre-determined moments during it), so you're left merely using each NPC as a means of progression." He was also critical of the graphics, which he argued "look old school, with bad texturing, uninteresting particle effects, and vanilla architecture." He concluded, "If you can pick up The Thing cheap you won't be too disappointed; it's by no means a bad game, but it's all the more disappointing thanks to the fact that it could and should have been brilliant."[29]

GameSpy's Tom Chick scored the PC version a 3 out of 5, writing "The Thing starts out strong, but it's the sort of game you don't have to feel bad about not finishing. Of course, you're paying for a full game, so if dollar value is your main criteria, you might be better off renting John Carpenter's movie, reading the original short story, and then having a laugh at the walking carrot in the 1951 version."[33] Tom Ham scored both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions a 4 out of 5, writing "not only is the game a solid action-adventure frenzy, it also manages to tell a tale that is truly chilling. Combined with topnotch graphics, incredible use of sound, and a very cool trust/fear interface, The Thing manages to do what so many movie licensed games have failed to do -- succeed."[34][35]

GameSpot's Erik Wolpaw scored the PC version a 7.7 out of 10, and although he was very critical of the trust/fear system and the controls, he concluded "The Thing is kind of short, it's not especially effective at making you feel afraid, its most intriguing gameplay elements are somewhat extraneous, and it suffers from a wonky control scheme. Yet, thanks to some high production values and consistently interesting action scenes, The Thing rises above these flaws. It could have been great, but in light of the checkered history of movie-licensed games, being good at all is a pretty impressive achievement."[30] Ryan MacDonald scored the PlayStation 2 version an 8.4 out of 10, writing "When you look at everything the game offers in terms of its gameplay, presentation, and story, it's hard not to appreciate The Thing whether you're a fan of the film it's based on or just a fan of the survival horror genre in general."[31] He also scored the Xbox version an 8.4 out of 10, calling it "The best of the three, combining sharp graphics similar to those found in the PC version with the superior console-style control found in the PlayStation 2 version."[32] GameSpot later named The Thing the second-best Xbox game of September 2002.[43]

IGN's Douglass C. Perry scored the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions an 8.3 out of 10. Although he was critical of the scripted nature of the infection system, he concluded "The deeper you play, the more satisfying and challenging it becomes, and the more it draws you in. The Thing is well-paced, designed with an excellent variety of levels [...] Everything is consistent with the movie, the theme of which has been handled with exquisite care and thought. With the exception of the blood test goofs and the rather thin storyline, The Thing warrants your time and money."[37][38] Steve Polak scored the PC version an 8.5 out of 10, writing "The Thing is, for the most part, an immersive and enjoyable game. The visuals and sound are top-notch and the sense of desperation you feel when you are stuck outside and about to succumb to the elements or being hunted by packs of the foul creatures is very real. The squad-based elements and the way you keep your men from losing their minds also adds to the depth of the play experience."[36]

Sales and awards

The game was a commercial success, selling over one million units worldwide.[20] At the 2003 Game Developers Conference, The Thing won the "Game Innovation Spotlight" award.[17] It was nominated for GameSpot's annual "Best Action Adventure Game on Xbox" award, which went to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.[44]

Canceled sequel

A sequel went into development after the first game proved a critical and commercial success, but it was canceled when Computer Artworks went into receivership in October 2003.[45] According to Diarmid Campbell, "We had the contract in place to make the sequel and were pretty excited about it. We had a very cool prototype of 'dynamic infection' and some really imaginative thing 'burst-outs'. I particularly liked the one where the person would split in half and their top half would jump to the ceiling and start swinging around like an orangutan with his intestines turned into tentacles."[17] However, the project never developed beyond the proof of concept stage, with Computer Artworks producing some concept art, showing locations and enemies, and two short demo videos, but nothing else.[46][47]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: モバイルアダプタGB, Hepburn: Mobairu Adaputa Jī Bī

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Thing". Eurogamer. from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2015.
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  4. ^ "The Thing (PS2)". GameSpy. from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  5. ^ "VU Creates Black Label Games". IGN. August 13, 2002. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  6. ^ "The Thing 2: The Best Video Game Never Made", Halloween Love, January 14, 2014, retrieved May 13, 2021
  7. ^ "Based on the Hit Film - Replaying 'The Thing' Video Game", Bloody Disgusting, April 18, 2018, retrieved May 13, 2021
  8. ^ Azeltine, Lauren (2002). "Weapons". The Thing PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual. Universal Interactive. pp. 17–20. from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  9. ^ Azeltine, Lauren (2002). "Character Classes". The Thing PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual. Universal Interactive. p. 6. from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
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  11. ^ a b Brotherson, Corey. . Games Domain. Archived from the original on February 5, 2004. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
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  16. ^ a b Harris, Craig (September 21, 2000). "A Very Small Thing". IGN. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
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  25. ^ Dubin, Jayson (May 4, 2012). "The Thing for Xbox, PS2 and PC in Stores Now". GameZone. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
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  29. ^ a b Reed, Kristan (January 3, 2003). "The Thing Review (PS2)". Eurogamer. from the original on March 20, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
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  32. ^ a b Mac Donald, Ryan (August 19, 2002). "The Thing Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
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  35. ^ a b Ham, Tom (September 13, 2002). "The Thing Review (Xbox)". GameSpy. from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
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  42. ^ Thomas (September 17, 2002). "Golden Joystick Awards Is Announced". Worthplaying. Retrieved September 17, 2002.
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  44. ^ GameSpot Staff (December 30, 2002). . GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 7, 2003.
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  46. ^ Weebber, Bob (December 19, 2013). "The Thing 2 canceled video game". Scified. from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2015.
  47. ^ Squires, John (January 14, 2014). "The Thing 2: The Best Video Game Never Made". Halloween Love. Retrieved September 30, 2015.

External links

thing, video, game, thing, 2002, squad, based, third, person, shooter, survival, horror, video, game, developed, computer, artworks, published, vivendi, universal, games, under, black, label, games, label, konami, released, microsoft, windows, playstation, xbo. The Thing is a 2002 squad based third person shooter survival horror video game developed by Computer Artworks and co published by Vivendi Universal Games under the Black Label Games label and Konami 5 It was released for Microsoft Windows PlayStation 2 and Xbox GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions were also planned but both were cancelled early in development The ThingNorth American Xbox cover artDeveloper s Computer ArtworksPublisher s Black Label GamesKonami consoles Director s William LathamMark AtkinsonProducer s Chris HadleyDesigner s Andrew CurtisProgrammer s Diarmid CampbellMark AtkinsonArtist s Joel SmithComposer s Keith TinmanPlatform s Microsoft WindowsPlayStation 2XboxReleaseMicrosoft WindowsNA August 20 2002 2 EU September 20 2002 1 XboxNA September 3 2002 3 EU September 20 2002 1 PlayStation 2NA September 10 2002 4 EU September 20 2002 1 Genre s Third person shooter survival horrorMode s Single playerSet as a sequel to John Carpenter s 1982 film of the same name the story focuses on Captain Blake a member of a U S Special Forces team sent to the Antarctic outpost featured in the film to determine what has happened to the research team Only to find himself caught in an invisible fight for survival against the titular shape shifting alien who seemingly has regained life despite being destroyed at the end of the film Other survivors encountered and ordered by Blake assist the battle against the creatures different forms while trying to uncover the reason for the infection all while being fully aware that they can trust no one The game was endorsed by Carpenter 6 who has a cameo appearance in the game 7 The Thing was a commercial success selling over one million units worldwide across all platforms and received generally positive reviews A sequel was in the early stages of development but was canceled when Computer Artworks went into receivership in 2003 Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Plot 3 Development 4 Reception 4 1 Sales and awards 5 Canceled sequel 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksGameplay EditThe basic gameplay in The Thing is that of a traditional third person shooter the player character Blake can run and shoot strafe crouch interact with the environment interact with NPCs and use items such as flashlights fire extinguishers or flares The player also has the option to enter first person mode for more accurate targeting during combat When in first person mode however the character cannot move except to side step a little to the left and right Weaponry includes pistols grenades sniper rifles flamethrowers shotguns submachine guns assault rifles grenade launchers and fixed heavy machine guns Other items featured in the game are health packs explosives ammunition portable blood test kits and adrenaline injections 8 Blake fights a boss in The Thing The HUD shows his health red bar currently selected weapon and ammo count on the right and his left hand item in this case flame grenades Enemies come in three main varieties Scuttlers are small Things formed from the limbs and appendages of infected personnel They are fast but weak and can be killed simply by shooting Walkers are larger than scuttlers and much stronger To kill them the player must weaken them using gunfire before then using the flamethrower as only fire can completely kill them Bosses are larger and much more powerful than Walkers and although each one requires a specific strategy to defeat the principle is the same weaken it with gunfire before burning it One of the main features of The Thing s gameplay is the inclusion of multiple NPCs who join Blake at various points throughout the game At any one time the player can control up to four characters Blake and three NPCs There are three types of NPC in the game engineers soldiers and medics Engineers can repair fuse boxes which control locked doors computers and save points Soldiers have more health and are better shots than engineers or medics They are thus more suited to combat Medics are capable of healing both Blake and any other injured NPCs and carry unlimited health packs The player can issue basic commands to each NPC such as ordering them to follow Blake ordering them to remain where they are ordering them to give Blake their weapon and in the case of engineers ordering them to fix a fuse box 9 NPC AI is determined primarily by the Fear trust system The trust system determines whether the NPCs will follow Blake s orders and join him in combat To do so the player must ensure the NPC trusts Blake and does not suspect him of being a Thing NPCs have four levels of trust red amber green and 100 Red means they are convinced Blake is a Thing and will attack him Amber means they are not sure if he is a Thing and although they won t attack him they won t follow his orders Green means they trust him and will follow his orders 100 means they have complete faith in him will follow his orders and even if he attacks another NPC they will support him 10 To gain the trust of NPCs Blake can give them weapons and ammo heal them put himself at risk to protect them or use a blood test kit on himself to prove he is not a Thing Actions which deplete trust include accidentally shooting teammates taking away teammate s weapons or ammo or pointing a weapon at them for a sustained period of time to force them to do something 11 The fear system dictates how scared a given NPC is There are three levels of fear normal scared and Crack up 12 When an NPC enters Crack up mode Blake has only a limited amount of time to reduce their fear level or the NPC will kill themselves attack Blake and other NPCs attack the environment or die of a heart attack Each NPC responds differently to different surroundings for example medics tend to scare easier than soldiers Generally however fear increases when entering rooms covered in blood entering dark locations finding particularly disfigured corpses being attacked by multiple enemies and hearing enemies but not being able to see them When an NPC is scared it affects their performance soldiers become less accurate engineers take longer to repair fuse boxes and medics don t heal characters as quickly Blake can reduce fear by giving NPCs adrenaline topping up their ammo moving away from particular locations or successfully defeating enemies 13 14 The game also features an infection system which determines whether or not an NPC is infected by the Thing Although most NPCs are scripted to transform into a Thing at specific points in the game they can also be infected at any time prior to this When the team comes under attack by enemies the possibility of infection is based upon a probability system whereby any teammate who comes into direct contact with an enemy can be infected Although infection does not alter their immediate behavior it will result in them turning into a walker Thing after a set period of time at which point they will attack the team 11 The Windows PC port features patches that fix issues present on the consoles Furthermore Patch 1 2 adds a very handy mouse look mode which makes the game play more like a modern PC game 15 Plot EditSee also The Thing 1982 film Plot The game begins at U S Outpost 31 in Antarctica a short time after the events of the film Two teams of U S Special Forces have arrived to investigate the U S camp and the nearby Norwegian camp Captain J F Blake voiced by Per Solli is the leader of Bravo Team who are investigating the U S camp whilst Alpha Team under the command of Captain Pierce investigate the Norwegian camp Both teams are under the overall command of Colonel Whitley William B Davis who is in constant communication via radio Whilst investigating Outpost 31 Bravo Team soon discover the small spacecraft made by the Blair Thing and a tape recorder with a message from R J MacReady describing how nobody trusts anybody anymore They then find information detailing how the base has been infiltrated by an extraterrestrial lifeform that is capable of imitating the physical appearance and characteristics of any living organism it assimilates They also find the body of Childs one of the two survivors at the end of the film who has died from hypothermia The film s other survivor MacReady is nowhere to be found Under orders from Whitley Bravo Team set up C 4 explosives throughout the facility which are detonated remotely destroying the outpost Whilst the rest of Bravo Team are airlifted to safety Blake heads to the Norwegian camp to locate and reinforce Alpha Team with whom contact has been lost He soon learns they have been attacked and scattered by a horde of scuttlers small limbs and appendages of much larger Things Eventually Blake finds Pierce However he has become paranoid believing everyone to be infected and demanding Blake agrees to a blood test to prove he is still human Blake does so and he and Pierce set out to find a way to reestablish communication with Whitley However they are soon separated and with no other choice Blake continues on finding the radio room but discovering someone has stolen the radio and fled into a nearby warehouse En route to the warehouse Blake encounters Pierce in an observatory However he is infected and rather than allow himself to turn into a Thing Pierce shoots himself in the head Blake continues to pursue the man with the radio eventually discovering that he is a Thing Blake kills him and takes the radio Moving on he enters the Pyron sub facility beneath the Norwegian base learning of a company called Gen Inc who have installed a research team under the command of Dr Sean Faraday John Carpenter Gen Inc had been conducting biological experiments on the Things when their team was infected and now only a few survivors remain within the facility Blake rescues Faraday and attempts to leave However he is prevented from doing so by Whitley who shoots him with a tranquillizer gun and reveals to Faraday that he has infected himself with the Thing gene claiming it to be controllable something of which he is living proof and therefore demonstrating its capability as a weapon When Faraday attempts to eradicate the Thing virus Whitley kills him Blake awakens in the now abandoned Strata research facility and learns that his cells have a unique resistance to infection by the Thing virus After escaping his confinement he unearths a government conspiracy whereby Gen Inc isolated a microbiological form of the Thing called the Cloud virus which was intended for use in biological warfare However the Thing infected everyone at the facility Blake learns that Whitley was in charge of the entire operation and has injected himself with a strain of the virus known as Cloud Virus B4 in an attempt to cure his terminal cancer Blake fights his way through the facility battling numerous black ops under Whitley s command as well as many Things Learning that Whitley plans to distribute the Thing virus around the world using a fleet of airplanes he is able to destroy them before they take off Eventually Blake confronts Whitley himself He sets him on fire but Whitely is unhurt He explains that an airlift team is on its way and when it arrives he will begin global infection Whitley flees further into the base pursued by Blake At the partly excavated site of the original Thing s spaceship Whitley transforms into a massive Thing creature Blake encounters a helicopter pilot who helps him defeat the Whitley Thing As the helicopter flies away from the base the pilot reveals himself to be R J MacReady Development Edit The Thing is a phenomenal franchise that gamers have been requesting for a long time This franchise presents an incredible opportunity to draw upon Universal s rich movie history and today s technology to create a one of a kind gaming experience Jim Wilson Universal Interactive president 16 In 2000 when Universal Interactive began looking through Universal Studios back catalogue of feature films with potential for adaptation as video game franchises they quickly decided one of the most lucrative such intellectual properties was the 1982 film directed by John Carpenter The Thing The film was based on the 1938 John W Campbell short story Who Goes There which had already been filmed by Howard Hawks in 1951 as The Thing from Another World Carpenter s version was the most widely known iteration of the story however and the ambiguous ending to the film was seen as particularly attractive in terms of a video game which could explore what happens after the events of the film 17 Universal and Konami announced the game on September 20 2000 before development had begun confirming it would not be an adaptation of the film but a sequel They also revealed the game would be released for next generation consoles of which only the Xbox was initially confirmed as well as the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance the Handheld version was rumored to support with the Mobile Game Boy Adapter a device although both versions were quietly canceled early in production 16 18 If ever there was a franchise with fantastic games potential this is it Move over Alien move over Predator The Thing has arrived and it is crueler more intelligent and more terrifying than any other previous opponent Computer Artworks is delighted to be selected by Universal Interactive Studios to bring this cult film to the world of games Combined with Konami s huge marketing muscle we are looking forward to a dynamic chart success William Latham director 19 Based upon Computer Artworks 2000 video game Evolva Universal invited them to make a pitch for the game For the pitch Computer Artworks reskinned a level from Evolva with an Antarctic theme and a Thing like creature as a boss fight The pitch impressed Universal sufficiently and the deal was signed 17 According to the game s director William Latham Universal were very good to work with They told us to come up with original ideas It wasn t like a Harry Potter license There weren t strict guidelines as long as we retained the quality of the original work 20 Drawing inspiration from Aliens the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers Half Life and Area 51 conspiracy theories Computer Artworks began work on the game in November 2000 17 On January 16 they announced the game would also be released for Windows with a release date slated for mid 2002 19 The game was first shown at Universal Interactive s Gamer s Day on August 13 where it was confirmed it would also be coming to PlayStation 2 A non playable demo was shown and a Q amp A session was held with the developers Universal revealed details of the fear trust and infection systems which they said would form an integral aspect of the basic gameplay 13 21 A playable demo for the PlayStation 2 was released on March 25 2002 22 In an interview with GameSpot on April 1 Universal Interactive producer Peter Wanat explained the trust fear dynamic was born out of the film and the simple fact that we needed to give the main character NPCs to interact with That whole not knowing who is human and who is the thing was a big part of the movie and worked for the game really well Wanat cited games such as Resident Evil Silent Hill Grand Theft Auto III and Max Payne as influences However he stated The gameplay is more action horror We have built on all the elements of survival horror games in the past but what we wanted to do was get away from the slow plodding for hours style of gameplay which made us more likely to fall asleep than wet our pants from fear So we made the shooting aspects more frenzied in order to really wake the player up So when we do slow the pace back down your sense that any minute it might get hairy again really starts to mess with you 23 The trust system in The Thing In this screenshot Carter does not trust Blake and will not follow him top perform an action for him left or give him a weapon bottom The only option available to the player is to give Carter a weapon right Upon doing so Carter will trust Blake and the other options will become available Speaking in 2014 Latham reiterated Wanat s claims that the fear trust and infection systems came from a desire to reproduce a strong element from the film It was early days for squad based games and the fear trust and infection mechanic was quite innovative for the time It came from very early meetings where we all watched the film to come up with brand identifiers We decided there should be a novel AI element that mimicked what happened within the film you never know who s going to turn 20 Similarly designer Andrew Curtis said We always planned The Thing to be more action horror and having had some experience in squad based gaming with Evolva it seemed right to have the game as squad based so we could support the core ideas of fear trust and infection It was more about the tension of not knowing what was going to happen next was the guy next to you going to try and shoot you go insane or morph into a freakish beast with thrashing tentacles 17 Originally the game was to be more open world based with the possibility that each NPC could turn into a Thing at any moment completely randomized Curtis also hoped the player could get to the end of the game with many perhaps all of the NPCs still alive However this kind of open endedness proved impossible to implement with Curtis pointing out It was of course very naive as it caused huge problems with the squad command menu and dynamically balancing the encounters and resources required for the NPC 17 Ultimately NPC characters were scripted to change into Things at specific points irrespective of the player s actions This led to a much criticized aspect of the game the player can test an NPC to find he is human only for him to change into a Thing mere seconds later 20 Programmer Diarmid Campbell explains The infection system was conceived as a simulation that had the capacity to play out differently each time you played the game leading to potential replayability However the game was also very story led with set pieces that required specific characters getting infected at certain times These two aspects were constantly pulling in different directions I think we ended up with a slightly messy compromise with good story elements and a genuinely new mechanic but also some logical inconsistencies which ironically became glaringly obvious if you played the game more than once 17 Similarly Latham states We had to scale it back There were a few cheats to make it entertaining We tried to mimic human behavior but at the end of the day it didn t matter too much how you treated your teammates 20 The Thing also features a vocal ending theme After Me performed by Memphis based Nu metal band Saliva from its second studio album Every Six Seconds In August 2002 Vivendi Universal formed a new publishing division called Black Label Games a label which Ken Cron Vivendi Universal Games CEO stated will focus on delivering innovative high quality titles to satisfy the growing consumer appetite for increasingly sophisticated content The game transitioned from Universal Interactive over to the new label 24 The console versions are co published with Konami with Vivendi Universal handling distribution 25 Reception EditReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScorePCPS2XboxMetacritic77 100 26 78 100 27 78 100 28 Review scoresPublicationScorePCPS2XboxEurogamer5 10 29 GameSpot7 7 10 30 8 4 10 31 8 4 10 32 GameSpy 33 34 35 IGN8 5 10 36 8 3 10 37 8 3 10 38 Official U S PlayStation Magazine 39 Official Xbox Magazine US 8 10 40 PC Gamer US 70 41 AwardsPublicationAwardGame Developers ConferenceGame Innovation Spotlight 2003 17 Golden Joystick Awards2002 edition Best Use of a Film Licence 42 The Thing received generally favorable reviews on all three platforms the PlayStation 2 version holds an aggregate score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on twenty seven reviews 27 the Xbox version a 78 out of 100 based on twenty one reviews 28 and the PC version a 77 out of 100 based on nineteen reviews 26 Eurogamer s Kristan Reed scored the PlayStation 2 version a 5 out of 10 arguing of the trust fear system It is nowhere near as much of a neat gameplay innovation as the hype had some people believe As a squad based game it would work far better if you ever had to care a great deal for anyone s survival As it is most of the team seem to split off once a level s over or turn into aliens at pre determined moments during it so you re left merely using each NPC as a means of progression He was also critical of the graphics which he argued look old school with bad texturing uninteresting particle effects and vanilla architecture He concluded If you can pick up The Thing cheap you won t be too disappointed it s by no means a bad game but it s all the more disappointing thanks to the fact that it could and should have been brilliant 29 GameSpy s Tom Chick scored the PC version a 3 out of 5 writing The Thing starts out strong but it s the sort of game you don t have to feel bad about not finishing Of course you re paying for a full game so if dollar value is your main criteria you might be better off renting John Carpenter s movie reading the original short story and then having a laugh at the walking carrot in the 1951 version 33 Tom Ham scored both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions a 4 out of 5 writing not only is the game a solid action adventure frenzy it also manages to tell a tale that is truly chilling Combined with topnotch graphics incredible use of sound and a very cool trust fear interface The Thing manages to do what so many movie licensed games have failed to do succeed 34 35 GameSpot s Erik Wolpaw scored the PC version a 7 7 out of 10 and although he was very critical of the trust fear system and the controls he concluded The Thing is kind of short it s not especially effective at making you feel afraid its most intriguing gameplay elements are somewhat extraneous and it suffers from a wonky control scheme Yet thanks to some high production values and consistently interesting action scenes The Thing rises above these flaws It could have been great but in light of the checkered history of movie licensed games being good at all is a pretty impressive achievement 30 Ryan MacDonald scored the PlayStation 2 version an 8 4 out of 10 writing When you look at everything the game offers in terms of its gameplay presentation and story it s hard not to appreciate The Thing whether you re a fan of the film it s based on or just a fan of the survival horror genre in general 31 He also scored the Xbox version an 8 4 out of 10 calling it The best of the three combining sharp graphics similar to those found in the PC version with the superior console style control found in the PlayStation 2 version 32 GameSpot later named The Thing the second best Xbox game of September 2002 43 IGN s Douglass C Perry scored the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions an 8 3 out of 10 Although he was critical of the scripted nature of the infection system he concluded The deeper you play the more satisfying and challenging it becomes and the more it draws you in The Thing is well paced designed with an excellent variety of levels Everything is consistent with the movie the theme of which has been handled with exquisite care and thought With the exception of the blood test goofs and the rather thin storyline The Thing warrants your time and money 37 38 Steve Polak scored the PC version an 8 5 out of 10 writing The Thing is for the most part an immersive and enjoyable game The visuals and sound are top notch and the sense of desperation you feel when you are stuck outside and about to succumb to the elements or being hunted by packs of the foul creatures is very real The squad based elements and the way you keep your men from losing their minds also adds to the depth of the play experience 36 Sales and awards Edit The game was a commercial success selling over one million units worldwide 20 At the 2003 Game Developers Conference The Thing won the Game Innovation Spotlight award 17 It was nominated for GameSpot s annual Best Action Adventure Game on Xbox award which went to Tom Clancy s Splinter Cell 44 Canceled sequel EditA sequel went into development after the first game proved a critical and commercial success but it was canceled when Computer Artworks went into receivership in October 2003 45 According to Diarmid Campbell We had the contract in place to make the sequel and were pretty excited about it We had a very cool prototype of dynamic infection and some really imaginative thing burst outs I particularly liked the one where the person would split in half and their top half would jump to the ceiling and start swinging around like an orangutan with his intestines turned into tentacles 17 However the project never developed beyond the proof of concept stage with Computer Artworks producing some concept art showing locations and enemies and two short demo videos but nothing else 46 47 Notes Edit Japanese モバイルアダプタGB Hepburn Mobairu Adaputa Ji BiReferences Edit a b c The Thing Eurogamer Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Retrieved March 14 2015 The Thing PC GameSpy Archived from the original on July 14 2014 Retrieved June 29 2014 The Thing Xbox GameSpy Archived from the original on April 2 2015 Retrieved June 29 2014 The Thing PS2 GameSpy Archived from the original on October 8 2013 Retrieved June 29 2014 VU Creates Black Label Games IGN August 13 2002 Retrieved October 29 2014 The Thing 2 The Best Video Game Never Made Halloween Love January 14 2014 retrieved May 13 2021 Based on the Hit Film Replaying The Thing Video Game Bloody Disgusting April 18 2018 retrieved May 13 2021 Azeltine Lauren 2002 Weapons The Thing PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual Universal Interactive pp 17 20 Archived from the original on August 9 2016 Retrieved February 23 2016 Azeltine Lauren 2002 Character Classes The Thing PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual Universal Interactive p 6 Archived from the original on August 9 2016 Retrieved February 23 2016 Azeltine Lauren 2002 Trust The Thing PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual Universal Interactive pp 8 10 Archived from the original on August 9 2016 Retrieved February 23 2016 a b Brotherson Corey The Thing Q amp A Games Domain Archived from the original on February 5 2004 Retrieved July 9 2014 Azeltine Lauren 2002 Fear The Thing PlayStation 2 Instruction Manual Universal Interactive pp 11 13 Archived from the original on August 9 2016 Retrieved February 23 2016 a b Satterfield Shane August 14 2001 First look The Thing GameSpot Archived from the original on May 3 2015 Retrieved June 29 2014 Perry Douglass C July 2 2002 The Thing Hands on Impression IGN Retrieved July 8 2014 The Thing Play Old PC Games January 6 2015 Retrieved February 2 2020 a b Harris Craig September 21 2000 A Very Small Thing IGN Retrieved July 8 2014 a b c d e f g h i Mason Graeme May 4 2014 The making of The Thing Eurogamer Archived from the original on July 6 2014 Retrieved July 6 2014 The Thing Called Xbox IGN September 20 2000 Retrieved July 8 2014 a b The Thing is Back and More Interactive Than Ever IGN January 16 2001 Retrieved June 29 2014 a b c d e The Making Of The Thing Edge February 3 2013 Archived from the original on November 16 2014 Retrieved July 6 2014 Universal Official Announces The Thing IGN August 13 2001 Retrieved June 29 2014 Torres Ricardo March 25 2002 Hands on The Thing GameSpot Archived from the original on May 4 2015 Retrieved July 8 2014 The Thing Q amp A GameSpot April 1 2002 Archived from the original on May 4 2015 Retrieved July 8 2014 VU Creates Black Label Games IGN August 13 2002 Retrieved October 29 2014 Dubin Jayson May 4 2012 The Thing for Xbox PS2 and PC in Stores Now GameZone Retrieved July 5 2022 a b The Thing PC Metacritic Archived from the original on March 20 2014 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b The Thing PlayStation 2 Metacritic Archived from the original on March 20 2014 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b The Thing Xbox Metacritic Archived from the original on May 19 2014 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Reed Kristan January 3 2003 The Thing Review PS2 Eurogamer Archived from the original on March 20 2014 Retrieved July 9 2014 a b Wolpaw Erik August 28 2002 The Thing Review PC GameSpot Archived from the original on May 5 2015 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Mac Donald Ryan August 22 2002 The Thing Review PS2 GameSpot Archived from the original on January 4 2014 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Mac Donald Ryan August 19 2002 The Thing Review Xbox GameSpot Archived from the original on May 3 2015 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Chick Tom October 5 2002 The Thing Review PC GameSpy Archived from the original on July 14 2014 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Ham Tom September 13 2002 The Thing Review PS2 GameSpy Archived from the original on October 8 2013 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Ham Tom September 13 2002 The Thing Review Xbox GameSpy Archived from the original on July 14 2014 Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Polak Steve September 10 2002 The Thing Review PC IGN Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Perry Douglass C August 20 2002 The Thing Review PS2 IGN Retrieved June 28 2014 a b Perry Douglass C August 29 2002 The Thing Review Xbox IGN Retrieved June 28 2014 The Thing Review PS2 Official U S PlayStation Magazine November 2002 p 192 The Thing Review Xbox Official Xbox Magazine December 2002 p 143 The Thing Review PC PC Gamer 102 December 2002 Thomas September 17 2002 Golden Joystick Awards Is Announced Worthplaying Retrieved September 17 2002 The Editors of GameSpot October 5 2002 GameSpot s Game of the Month September 2002 GameSpot Archived from the original on September 18 2003 GameSpot Staff December 30 2002 GameSpot s Best and Worst of 2002 GameSpot Archived from the original on February 7 2003 Fahey Rob October 23 2003 Computer Artworks goes into receivership Gamesindustrybiz com Archived from the original on September 30 2015 Retrieved September 7 2015 Weebber Bob December 19 2013 The Thing 2 canceled video game Scified Archived from the original on September 30 2015 Retrieved September 30 2015 Squires John January 14 2014 The Thing 2 The Best Video Game Never Made Halloween Love Retrieved September 30 2015 External links EditThe Thing at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Thing video game amp oldid 1141822740, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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