If you like survival horrors, you are going to like this game, it checks every survival horror game element: scarcity, feeling vulnerable, etc. My only gripe with the game is the lenght of it, I finished the game in 16 hours but I feel like the game could've been a 10 to 12 hours long game and be as good or even better.
In some missions the game is trying to be a stealthy tactical shooter but it fails miserably, the stealth mechanics and AI are not even mediocre, even the long range shooting is quite boring. The game is even worse when it forces you to be an assaulter, turning the game into a more traditional FPS, it fails at that too. I like to judge games with the context of the their times in mind. So, if you want an FPS of the era, just play COD 4. If you want a more tactical, slow paced experience, play Sniper Elite 2005 or V2. The visuals are quite good for the era though, I guess that was the main selling point for the game.
With all the visual and UI hurdles of the 1982 out of the way we can enjoy the birth of the dungeon crawler.
Although the lack of Orthogonal Differantion of Enemies is a blatant mistake, The Thing is a very decent and fun action game, despite the horror and desolate setting you got plenty of trigger time in this game. I wish the devs leaned more into the survival horror setting though. The AI system with its morale and trust system was pretty cool in 2002, but you realize pretty quickly that it's not that deep. The more you play, the more you feel that it's just a proof of concept that maybe couldn't be developed to its fullest potential in the game. The movie is a clear example of Lovecraftian Horror, but the elements the game introduces into the mix moves the story into a more mundane and cheap Sci-Fi flick with your typical evil human villain trying to weaponize The Thing. Leaving things vague is better sometimes. The whole game feels like it had a rushed development due to budget constraints, and maybe didn't had a clear design roadmap. The confusing "Jump Cuts" between cutscenes are a clear example of that. Buy this game if you like video game history and game design.
Feels like an early prototype.
