9) The Thing
PS2/Xbox/PC third-person psychological horror The Thing is a video game sequel to John Carpenter’s taut and tense 1982 classic. The story focuses on Captain Blake, a member of the US Special Forces team sent to the remnants of the Antarctic outpost featured in the film in an attempt to discover the truth of what’s happened to the scientists and research facility.
For the most part, gameplay leans heavily on third-person shooting action, replete with flamethrowers, machine guns and sniper rifles. However, the cool and very memorable mechanics of the game are its Trust/Fear and Infection systems. Trust/Fear governs how NPCs and team members react in combat; the more your team trusts you, the more they help support you in combat and follow your orders, and vice versa.
The Infection mechanics, meanwhile, mean that every time your team members take on a Thing type monster in combat, they can, based on a probability system, secretly become infected by it, which can result in them attacking you without warning later in the game. Spooky, right?
Interestingly, John Carpenter strongly endorsed this project and even voiced one of the characters in an uncredited cameo.
Published: May 2, 2017 06:45 pm