Clive Barker's Undying

Undying is a horror classic but I have had no end of problems attempting to get it to run on Windows 10, some people have success, some don't but at the price it's definitely worth the risk.

It's been a long time since a game has managed to creep me out, and I certainly didn't expect a 20 year old game that flew far under my radar at the time to be the next one to do it. After a simple widescreen patch it ran perfectly on my modern hardware. For the most part, the writing is exactly what you'd expect from Barker - perfect 80s/90s gothic horror vibes. The accents are largely miserably bad, but the performances are convicted and the sound design and aesthetic combine to create a world that is shockingly evocative and creepy, and a story that hits the right emotional beats and keeps you wanting to know more all the way to the end. The enemies hit hard, and get stranger and stranger, until you feel like the only sane person in a mad house. There are moments of frustration - thankfully rare platforming, and the occasional ramble through a maze-like house - but these were always relatively short-lived. It runs the gamut of gothic horror tropes, but still manages to feel creative and original. The best compliment I can offer is that it feels like staying up all night reading a good pulp horror novel - I couldn't put it down.

Loving this game so far love the story clive barker has always been a great writer BUT the flinch is beyond bad and that's why i'm giving it 4 stars intead of 5 getting hit should not force me reticle to the ground or air great game bad mechanic

If you really love Clive Barker and the kinds of ideas he comes up with the kind of stuff you see in Hellraiser Candyman Dread and such there's definitely some great stuff for you here. For me that just wasn't quite enough. There are parts of this where it's unmistakable that Clive Barker is an author first and foremost. Some of the world building I'm sure would have been deeply compelling if I was reading it but for a video game it just bogged down what should have been a more straightforward experience. This also has quite a monster closet problem. It helps you appreciate how important pacing is for enemy encounters. Way too often in this game you go to a place a ton of enemies come out and all attack. It's not paced anywhere near as well as other first person shooters from around the same time like for example the second Alien Versus Predator game. I do think that the core concept which explains the title of the family that is Undying is a very clever idea. I just wish the game around it was significantly better. Some of the level design kind of felt like we were getting multiple separate games combined into one. They're just a bit too distinct from each other to completely feel like they exist in the same world. There's also some times where puzzle solutions feel overly confusing a non-zero amount of times in this I actually stumbled ass backwards into a solution after pretty much giving up even being able to solve it and it just is nowhere near as satisfying. I do think that some of the locations and enemy types are deeply compelling as well as some of the weapons and I'm always glad when I find a horror game that is able to deliver an action component without ending up just not being scary at all. Like, without a doubt this has a number of situations that really get your pulse pounding. There's also at least one area that badly needs to let the player just have a map because you really struggle to find your way. This came out after the first Silent Hill.

This is a totally Lovecraftian game. It conveys a lot of Clive Barker's style, a viceral style with an aura of mystery and curse that together bring us a very unusual shooter. These days, I dare say that there are few games, on the fingers of my hand, that involve this type of betting. The music is spectacular, as well as the gameplay in terms of the use of magic and weapons. It seems to me that, despite being old, he deserves a new opportunity, a new rebirth from his grave.