Clive Barker's Jericho

By Daniel Needham

Clive Barker is one of horror writing's most revered names, but he's had some trouble with his crossover into the video game market. Undying has the tag of being one of the best games you’ve probably never played. His second attempt, Demonik, never made it out of development HQ. Jericho, which is the latest attempt at cracking the formula, could pan out differently, as a new collaboration with Spanish developer Mercury Steam and British publisher Codemasters could bring the mainstream acclaim the franchise has been looking for when it’s released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 later this year.

The plot is that before creating Adam and Eve, God's first attempt at a man was a complete disaster who was banished forever into a parallel universe referred to as "the box." This aggravated the man, and he makes frequent attempts to reclaim his place on Earth. Each time, a group of US elite soldiers called the Jericho squad are there to send him back to his immortal resting place, and that's where you come into the story.

The game will see the Jericho squad travelling through time to World War II, the Crusades, ancient Rome, and the Sumerian eras. Each time, your squad will have to sacrifice itself in order to send the firstborn back to his box and restore peace on Earth. To achieve this you’ll play Captain Ross, the leader of this squad, who can inhabit the other members at will and take control of their bodies.

There are six members in total, split into two subsections called the alpha and omega squads. Every member has two weapons and two supernatural abilities, as well as a mix of physical strengths and weaknesses. For example, Black is a sniper who can use telekinetic and pyrokinetic powers to move objects and set them on fire. She can also steer bullets with her mind, allowing her to take out multiple enemies from afar.

The squad may be split into two sections, but ordering them around is simple. You can move between members simply by looking at them and pressing a button, while you can tell individual squads to hold their position or move forwards at the touch of the button. They're also intelligent enough to provide assistance or take cover automatically, and if you happen to die as one character, the game will send you to the next available squad member in the safest position, as you can only die in the game if all of your squad is incapacitated. Some levels will require you to juggle between all seven characters, while others will give you only one squad or even just Captain Ross on his own.

Jericho seems to be looking the part, and having an acclaimed horror writer behind the story certainly won’t do the plot any harm. Look out for this squad based shooter in late 07’.

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