Official Website

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: First Person Shooter

Number of Players: 1

Support: HD 720p, 1080p, 1080i

Clive Barker is a name that goes together quite well with horror, much like that of other authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft or perhaps even, to some, Stephen King. Barker though has shown that he is multifaceted when it comes to writing, not just in the various genres that he was worked in, but in media in general. Short stories, full length novels, comic books, and even video games, it seems that Barker can adapt to just about anything, and Jericho is just the latest.

Al Khalid, a mysterious lost city has reappeared and due to its occult nature, The Department of Occult Warfare, code name: Jericho, has been sent in to investigate this phenomenon. Their squad leader, Captain Devin Ross, has been victimized by horrible nightmares about the city and the Firstborn, an entity that is said to have existed even before Adam and Eve. Jericho’s insertion into the city is successful, but survival may not be so easy.

Arnold Leach, an individual that Jericho has dealt with in the past, and a cult of followers is behind the events at Al Khalid and there is fear that his actions will lead to giving the Firstborn the power that it so craves. As Jericho ventures further into the city inhabited by the walking dead, Ross is soon nothing more than a casualty, at least that’s what it appears. The team leader is alive in spirit, quite literally, and the team ventures further into the ancient ruins looking for answers and hoping they can stop Leech and his followers before it is too late.

Clive Barkers foray into video games, and first person shooter in particular, isn’t anything new for the author. Previously there was Undying, the cancelled Demonik, and many years back, though some may not recall it, there was even a blurb in a gaming magazine about Hellraiser making its way to computers as a first-person shooter, but apparently the idea was scarped. The first person shooter genre though has become something of a cluttered marketplace with just about every developer deciding at one point or another that they can make the latest and greatest entry that will impress gamers, and that’s not necessarily an easy thing to do as many don’t offer anything that is truly different.

With that taken to heart, Jericho does try and deliver something a little different, though there are some things that have in fact been seen in the past. This is a mission where you won’t be flying solo and the Jericho squad consists of a number of members, each with not only their own, unique weaponry, but many with psychic abilities that become a huge asset in the coming battles ahead. You begin the game as Ross who is armed with a 5.56 mm G36C assault rifle and an attached XM-26 semi-auto shotgun. He also has the ability to heal fallen team members, a skill that proves to be vital, though others can do the same. Healing can mean the difference between losing a skirmish and emerging on top. Initially Ross can also give orders to the team, at least until he is killed in battle, but that’s not the end for him.

Ross doesn’t pass over but instead finds himself in the body of Sergeant Frank Delgado who is armed with a 7.62 cal belt-fed chain gun. Delgado also ahs the power of Pyromancy which allows him to conjure snake-like flames that envelope enemies with fire. Ross soon learns that he can move his spirit from one team member to another giving him full control of his abilities. Players simply select which squad they want to control a team member from and then select them. This gives you complete and total control not only of whatever brand of firepower they have at their disposal, but also their abilities. If you’ve jumped into the body of Father Rawlings for instance, you can not only use his healing ability which is vastly superior to that of Ross, but also with dual guns which have three different types of rounds that can be used. If there are debris obstructing your progress, simply jump into Black’s body and use her telekinetic abilities to your advantage including the use of a “ghost bullet” which acts as a sniper rifle. Magically sealed doors aren’t an issue if you control Church and her blood ward abilities, and you’ll find other team mates allow you to hack reality and even do a bit of astral travel, not to mention their weaponry is personalized and can help in some rather difficult situations.

The idea of working as a team is taken in a much different direction thanks to the body hopping abilities, but no matter which member of Jericho you’re currently residing in, they do still act as a team. They aren’t going to stand aside while the nightmarish dead that walk the city attack you and they will open fire at the first sign of trouble. Quite often though you will find that fighting becomes almost a secondary objective as you try and keep the members of Jericho who have taken too much damage alive by healing them, and this seems to be a constant threat. There are also instances where controlling one member is essential in order to move farther into the game. The different abilities are called upon at various points and if you need to open a magically sealed door, trying to use pyromancy isn’t going to help you out much.

Also added for a slightly different feel are the games cinematic survival events, and these can suddenly pop up without warning, so be prepared, though if you fail the first time, you will repeat it and not have to start again from the checkpoint. The survival events are a variety of incidents that go outside of just shooting and instead require button combinations to pass. It’s much like what has been seen in Spider-Man 3, Heavenly Sword, or God of War, though from a first person point of view. You may find yourself attacked by one of the many undead lurking in Al Khalid and enter a hand-to-hand type of gameplay where you must follow the button combinations in order to survive.

Outside of the specialty controls and features though, Jericho is a fairly straight forward first person shooter that attempts to break up the monotony by some fairly good storytelling. Most of the other controls are fairly straight forward and the type that we’ve seen in many games in the past. The usual should buttons are used to fire, you have access to a flashlight to brighten up some of those dark recesses, and Jericho is filled with a number of corridors and rooms where the darkness loves to dwell. The stages however tend to be a bit on the short end and the game becomes filled with a number of load screens that also work to expand the story, in this case usually the back-story for the Firstborn and Jericho, but reading while waiting for a load screen doesn’t necessarily speed up the process and often times makes the game a bit more tedious.

Jericho also tries to incorporate a horror element, but your reaction will probably really depend on your familiarity with Barker’s work. There are a lot of zombie-like creatures that I have come to affectionately refer to as “bondage zombies” due to their scantly leather clad bodies and tortured appearance, but unfortunately, Barker tries to pull in too much of the thing that made him popular with horror fans; Hellraiser. While the undead are Cenobite type creatures, there is a similarity, and even something such as his Tortured Souls toy line shows some influence in Jericho. Many of the creatures may be the things that nightmares are made of, but as someone who has been a fan of Barker’s since the original Books of Blood collections, much of what is seen here really has been done in Barker’s work on a number of occasions.

The game however does work on the level of visuals. The lighting effects are done extremely well, but what are really fantastic are the character designs. Each of the members of Jericho has a very unique look to them, not just some carbon copy or cookie cutter look. This might be a military unit, but they are meant to have a sense of individuality to them instead of the standard, Government Issue look. Even though the monsters might be something of a all too familiar premise, but the look to them is very good and with the love I have of zombies, seeing living dead that are bloodied and wet looking is a very nice touch. Instead of the rather run-of-the-mill zombies that are seen in the Resident Evil games, those found in Jericho have a much more graphic look to them, and there is plenty of blood to go along with the visceral gore.

Jericho does have elements that set is slightly aside from the other first person shooters, and there are a number of them, but with a number of load times and a number of short stages that barely get your blood pumping, Jericho falls short of being some extraordinary first person shooter. It is good, don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t fantastic either and while it will be remembered for its gore and monsters, I don’t feel that it will become the template or influence for first person shooters that will follow.

-mike-