Clive Barker's Undying

I like how the game looks. Levels, arsenal, monsters... I'll remember them for a long time. But game has problem with explaining of gameplay. For example - journal. How should I have guessed, that open the journal on button F3, if it's not written in settings? Or finding Mercury flash, how should I have guessed, that this rock is chest, not just decoration of level? Killing booses without guide for me was hard task. Lizbeth - first boss. How should I have guessed to cut-off head? Or Ambrose, how should I have guessed to knock-out rock for his axe? Aaron - just to cut-off hand and head. Okay, maybe I'm not attentive enough to guess. I'm ready to agree with this. But the biggest disadvantage of game - final boss. This is the worst, or one of the worst bosses I've ever seen. The battle with him is incredibly drawn out. I hope, only me had the same problem. And the last - crashes. Game сrashed 5-8 times, and last 2 on boss. If it weren't for the final boss adn crashes - I would give the game 4/5. And in this case - just a good game.

This game is as innovative as it is frustrating. +Atmosphere (only if you like horror!) +Weapon/spell system +Varied locations +Not your standard storyline +Interesting enemies and weapons -Pointlessly frustrating (PO: We need to make the product more challenging. Designer to dev: OK, please add another 40 Howlers to this level) -Monster animations can't be broken, frustrating when e.g. fighting Howlers or Skeletons -The manor is pointless since you are railroaded onto a single path anyway (doors to everywhere else are locked) -Too long vs. not polished enough -Laggy graphics with low FPS and low resolution

I bought this game years ago as part of an EA games pack, because I really had to have American McGee's Alice. That one was good, but once I finished it, I decided to install another game that came with it: Clive Barker's Undying. Holy crap! To this day, it is still hands-down one of the best I have ever played. Still creepy even after all these years. [SPOILER ALERT] The part that lives most vividly in my memory is the segment in the catacombs beneath the monastery, when you walk into the labyrinth of corridors, crunching the bones, and the wind blows out the candles that you have to relight. All the while, the skeletons rise up from the bones, come cackling at you, and if they hit you, you don't just take damage--you get spun around and lost. I was playing this part of the game, in the dark with headphones on, when my mother came into the room and put her hand on my shoulder to get my attention. So keyed up I was that I flew out of my chair and almost had a heart attack. Good times. I'd love to see this game's graphics upgraded. In the right hands **coughcoughCliveBarkercomebackanddothiscoughcough** it could even be expanded to include more of the story of the other siblings, since Lizbeth's segment seems so much deeper and more drawn out, and the others fairly compressed. And what about the implied sequel? We'd love to know what happened to Patrick.

I remember having this game and getting really far in, but not having beaten it for whatever reason. It's still holds up and looks gorgeous (including Lizbeth Covenant, my longest running game waifu.) The only thing that doesn't hold up is the original Unreal engine movement. This is a game that relys on reverse jumps and circle strafing, but the player is way over prone to getting caught in corners, furniture, rocks and other parts of the environment. I've had more than a few reloads due to getting trapped between a corner and a monster.

I suppose the day will come when I feel a sense of fond nostalgia for this game, but for now I just feel a bit frustrated. If nothing else, Undying is certainly a unique game -- well told story, effective graphics, atmospheric soundtrack, and well done voice work make this game artistically impressive. Unfortunately, the combat system is one of the most cumbersome arrangements I've come across in quite some time -- no hotkeys to speak of, instead a slow cycling through weapons, spells, and inventory (which, granted, works most of the time once you know what's coming). Hit and miss combat spells (some practically useless, weaponry which looks promising but proves largely ineffective, and gimmicky boss battles requiring either hours of trial-and-error (I would imagine) or a peek at a walkthrough for the 'solution'. (On the plus side, medkits are abundant in this game, so possibly the fiddly battle system is by design.) Undying would have made a wonderful adventure/puzzle game -- yes it's fairly linear, but every level grants enough latitude to find the odd goody here and there. I'm told the game is legitimately scary, (games don't scare me half as much as bad controls), and given the excellent production values, immersion would be complete were it not for the frequent reloads owing to another fiddly battle sequence. I finished the game out of sheer stubbornness, but lacking rose-tinted glasses it's hard to recommend this to any but the curious.