The Thing (Black Label Games)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * * )

I think I saw The Thing at the movies in 1982. I can't be sure, for it's a sort of generic horror flick - isolated science lab, horrible creature, lots of gore, like many others.

Although this game is based on the film, it manages to rise above the generic, by combining strong adventure themes with the action.

While most action games are first-person, you play this one in a third-person view. That won't suit everyone, but works here as it gives you a complete view of the team hunting the Thing.

The action takes place in the Antarctic, where a mysterious alien has wiped out an American scientific outpost.

You are the leader of a military rescue team sent to investigate.

This is great for a movie plot, and suggestions of horror punctuated by dramatic, flesh-tearing episodes keep audiences wide-eyed and white-knuckled.

But it makes for a slow computer game, because there's nothing to shoot. After all, if you kill the critter in the first few minutes, that's game over, goodbye to a hundred bucks.

So Black Label have thrown in a few extra thingies to zap before the inevitable showdown. It does reduce this to the level of a standard action game.

There are some novel touches, though. This sort of movie feeds on paranoia and Black Label has built a Trust/Fear factor into it.

If members of your squad suspect The Thing has got to you, their trust drops and they won't help you. You earn trust by actions such as giving a squad member better weapons.

If you suspect someone of being contaminated by the Thing, you can execute him. Heavy stuff, which is probably why the game gets a Restricted rating.

There's an unintentional piece of black humour in the manual: "You can lose a small amount of trust from a squad member if you accidentally shoot him."

The Fear factor works in the same way. Badly affected squad members crack up and can endanger others. There's a less drastic cure Ð a shot of adrenalin does the trick.

* peter_eley@nzherald.co.nz

PC, MA Restricted 15+