Clive Barker's Jericho Review (XB360)

Clive Barker's Jericho arrived just in time for Halloween, but it's not the horror romp we were expecting. This bloody first person shooter had the makings of a hit, what with an original story penned by Clive Barker and published by Codemasters, which soared to success, thanks to its last major release, DiRT. But with lame shooting, combined with comical narrative drops, this game is several pegs below its competition, mainly Halo 3, Half-Life 2: The Orange Box and Bioshock.

Barker's involvement with this project piqued our interests, not only because it's yet another example of Hollywood trying to get a piece of the gaming scene, but also because the guy penned Hellraiser, one of the most respected horror franchises. With that said, Jericho's story is typical video game cheese, an over the top action yarn about a seven man team of paranormal commandos called Jericho Squad and their mission to prevent an ancient evil from destroying our world. Their adventure takes them to the Middle East, among other locations, running them head first into an army of twisted abominations hell bent on their demise. We certainly don't hate the story. If anything, we appreciate the diverse cast of characters as well as the thrills of fighting as a unit. At the same time, there are a lot of corny lines that continue to make us laugh, though being that this is a horror-themed game, we're not sure if Barker had humor in mind while writing the script.

As for the gameplay, Jericho's gimmick rests in your ability to jack into the bodies of your comrades, thus making use of their signature weapons and abilities. Sgt. Frank Delgado, for example, carries a chain gun, while Cpl. Simone Cole can throw grenades and hack into things. The game, however, suffers from a host of issues.

To start, none of the characters' feature over the top weapons. It's not like we've never seen a chain gun or dual wielded pistols. Furthermore, none of them have any weight. Capt. Devin Ross' secondary fire, a shotgun, doesn't have the same kick as the shotgun in Halo 3 or Half-Life 2. You just never feel like you're carrying bad ass weaponry, and this gets cemented in your brain by the game's creatures, which take numerous bullets without dying.

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