Clive Barker's Jericho
{{short description|2007 video game}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Clive Barker's Jericho
| image = Clive Barker Jericho Cover.jpg
| developer = MercurySteam
Alchemic Productions
| publisher = Codemasters
| director = Enric J. Álvarez Benito
| producer = Rafael Martínez García
Clive Barker
| designer = Luis Miguel Quijada Henares
José Darío Halle Cano
Ignacio Abad Donado-Mazarron
| programmer = Carlos Rodríguez Butragueño
José Darío Halle Cano
José Antonio Martín Armayones
| artist = Juan Antonio Alcázar Redondo
| writer = Clive Barker
| composer = Cris Velasco, Allister Brimble, Anthony N. Putson
| platforms = Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
| released = {{Video game release|NA|23 October 2007|EU|26 October 2007|AU|7 November 2007 (PC)|AU|8 November 2007}}
| genre = First-person shooter
| modes = Single-player
}}
Clive Barker's Jericho is a horror first-person shooter video game developed by MercurySteam and Alchemic Productions and published by Codemasters. It is produced by Clive Barker. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.
Gameplay
Jericho{{'}}s core gameplay consists of leading the game's seven-man team codenamed Jericho, allowing control of all team members by jumping to each character during certain points in the game, through various environments that have been warped by the Firstborn while fighting off a variety of twisted creatures.
The game also features several quick time events where the player must press the corresponding buttons or keys shown on screen in order to successfully survive. Additionally, each team member has both a primary and a secondary attack, either in the form of an alternate fire such as a grenade launcher on a rifle, or a secondary weapon such as a sword or pistol that can be dual wielded. While the game is a first person shooter, the ability to control different members of one's squad adds a tactical element; players must determine which squad member is appropriate for each particular job. Not only does each squad member have different strengths and weaknesses, but they also each have a unique ability (or supernatural abilities in some cases). This allows the player freedom in choosing a playing style that suits them throughout much of the game. However, during certain instances, certain characters are unplayable.
The squad's supernatural abilities play a prominent role in the game. The character the player originally controls is a psychic healer (medic) with the ability to fully heal fallen comrades that are close to death. Other squad members have other powers, such as summoning a fire demon, slowing time, firing a guided bullet, and leeching life from enemies to add it to one's own.
Plot
=Premise=
Certain depictions and ancient scriptures dictate a being created by God in His own image before the creation of Adam and Eve; according to legend, this being was abandoned by its own Creator. In the game's mythology, this being is called the "Firstborn". God was so disturbed by what He created that He banished it into the Abyss. God then started anew and went on to create humankind, giving the species two sexes, feelings, and love.
The Firstborn, too powerful for even God to keep from breaking into the mortal world, would make seven attempts to escape, each time taking back a piece of the earth to add to its domain and each time sent back to the Abyss. Fragments of time and space would form layers around this domain, linked to this world in the city Al Khali. These layers would entrap pieces of history within its walls, from the time of the ancient Sumerians to World War II. Over time, other great conquerors and civilizations would arrive to claim the city as their own. Eventually, the city was forgotten and buried by the sands of time.
The Department of Occult Warfare was created in the 1930s to combat the supernatural and unexplained. Another purpose was to meet Nazi Germany's own research into the paranormal. One of their most brilliant members, Arnold Leach, was recruited in 1962. However, his unscrupulous behavior and nature would eventually have him expelled. He was marked for assassination, and although the operation appeared to be successful, it seems that he may have survived.
The Jericho Squad is sent to Al-Khali to prevent Leach from opening the breach and unleashing the Firstborn upon mankind once again.
=Story=
The game begins with General Arnold Leach, a high-ranking member of a secret U.S. organization called the Department of Occult Warfare (DOW), being contacted by the Firstborn, a being that was imprisoned by God at the beginning of time in a patch of reality called the Box. The Firstborn convinces Leach to help it escape from the Box. Leach leaves the DOW, and spends the next twenty years committing acts of great evil to build up evil energy to cause a breach in the Box.
Eventually, a breach is made, and the DOW sends in a Special Forces team called Jericho to seal the breach. The leader of the squad, Captain Devin Ross, is killed by Leach, but he is still able to linger on as a ghost able to possess the other members of the squad. Being unable to seal it any other way, they enter the Box to close the breach from within.
Once inside, they must battle the souls of those who have breached the Box in the past; a Nazi officer, a fallen Catholic priest from the Middle Ages, a depraved Roman Governor, and six ancient Sumerian priests (Ninlil and Ki, Inanna and Enlil as well as Nanna and Utu, who were the first to banish the Firstborn but ultimately fell victim to its corruption). Jericho is aided by the souls of those who ultimately resealed the breach each time it was broken.
However, when they finally reach the point at which they can seal the breach, the squad instead decides that they should kill the Firstborn rather than try to reseal the breach, as resealing would just result in them being trapped in the Box and endlessly tortured until the breach was opened again just like as happened with all their past allies. Traveling into the Firstborn's cavern, they find the creature in the middle of an island on a lake, with Leach bound to a nearby wall. Before Cole could identify the Firstborn's weaknesses, the Firstborn kills Cole and Jones and battles the surviving squad members. Jericho manages to defeat the Firstborn by targeting it each time it tries to duplicate any of the squad's abilities. Leach breaks free of his bonds; angered at the Firstborn's betrayal, he grabs it and carries it to a tunnel of light, causing the cavern to collapse. Jericho jumps into the water and swims to escape. They emerge from under the water in a vast ocean under an orange sky.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| PC = true
| PS3 = true
| X360 = true
| na = true
| Destruct_PC = 7/10{{cite web | url = https://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-clive-barker-s-jericho-51997.phtml | title = Destructoid review: Clive Barker's Jericho (PC) | author = David Houghton | website = Destructoid | publisher = Enthusiast Gaming | date = October 31, 2007 | access-date = January 25, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160131165332/http://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-clive-barker-s-jericho-51997.phtml | archive-date = January 31, 2016 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
| Edge_X360 = 5/10{{cite magazine | title = Clive Barker's Jericho (X360) | author = Edge staff | magazine = Edge | publisher = Future plc | issue = 182 | date = December 2007 | page = 91}}
| EGM_PS3 = 4/10{{cite magazine | title = Clive Barker's Jericho (PS3, X360) | author = EGM staff | magazine = Electronic Gaming Monthly | publisher = Ziff Davis | issue = 222 | date = December 2007 | page = 107}}
| EuroG_X360 = 7/10{{cite web | url = https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/clive-barkers-jericho-review | title = Clive Barker's Jericho (Xbox 360) | author = Kristan Reed | website = Eurogamer | publisher = Gamer Network | date = October 24, 2007 | access-date = November 4, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100628181940/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/clive-barkers-jericho-review | archive-date = June 28, 2010 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
| GI_PC = 6/10{{cite magazine | url = http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/7BD8E5EE-1EC3-4CE4-B964-5A6328400C6B.htm | title = Clive Barker's Jericho | author = Matt Bertz | magazine = Game Informer | publisher = GameStop | issue = 176 | date = December 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107080723/http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/7BD8E5EE-1EC3-4CE4-B964-5A6328400C6B.htm | archive-date = January 7, 2008 | url-status = dead | access-date = January 25, 2016}}
| GameRev_X360 = C−{{cite web | url = http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/39227-clive-barkers-jericho-review | title = Clive Barker's Jericho Review | author = JP Hurh | website = Game Revolution | publisher = CraveOnline | date = November 1, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150919090745/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/clive-barker-jericho | archive-date = September 19, 2015 | url-status = live | access-date = January 25, 2016}}
| GSpot_PC = 6.5/10{{cite web | url = https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/clive-barkers-jericho-review/1900-6181937/ | title = Clive Barker's Jericho Review | author = Kevin VanOrd | website = GameSpot | publisher = CBS Interactive | date = October 29, 2007 | access-date = January 24, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160321073030/http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/clive-barkers-jericho-review/1900-6181937/ | archive-date = March 21, 2016 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
| GSpy_PC = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web | url = http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/clive-barkers-jericho/835758p1.html | title = GameSpy: Clive Barker's Jericho (PC) | author = Gabe Graziani | website = GameSpy | publisher = Ziff Davis | date = November 15, 2007 | access-date = January 25, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170116083417/http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/clive-barkers-jericho/835758p1.html | archive-date = January 16, 2017 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
| GT_PS3 = 5.9/10{{cite web | url = http://www.gametrailers.com/gamereview.php?id=3380 | title = Clive Berker's Jericho Review (PS3, X360) | website = GameTrailers | publisher = Viacom | date = October 31, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071102002652/http://www.gametrailers.com/gamereview.php?id=3380 | archive-date = November 2, 2007 | url-status = dead | access-date = January 25, 2016}}
| IGN_PC = 5.6/10{{cite web | url = http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/27/clive-barkers-jericho-review | title = Clive Barker's Jericho Review | author = Charles Onyett | website = IGN | publisher = Ziff Davis | date = October 26, 2007 | access-date = January 24, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160201004247/http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/27/clive-barkers-jericho-review | archive-date = February 1, 2016 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
| IGN_X360 = (UK) 8/10{{cite web | url = http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/19/clive-barkers-jericho-uk-review | title = Clive Barker's Jericho UK Review (X360) | author = Rob Burman | website = IGN | publisher = Ziff Davis | date = October 19, 2007 | access-date = January 25, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160201102155/http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/19/clive-barkers-jericho-uk-review | archive-date = February 1, 2016 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
(US) 5.6/10
| OXM_X360 = 7.5/10{{cite magazine | url = http://www.oxmonline.com/jericho | title = Jericho | author = Logan Decker | magazine = Official Xbox Magazine | publisher = Future US | date = December 25, 2007 | page = 66 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120722034245/http://www.oxmonline.com/jericho | archive-date = July 22, 2012 | url-status = dead | access-date = January 24, 2016}}
| PCGUS_PC = 57%{{cite magazine | title = Clive Barker's Jericho | magazine = PC Gamer | publisher = Future US | date = December 25, 2007 | page = 84}}
| PSM_PS3 = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine | title = Review: Clive Barker's Jericho | magazine = PlayStation: The Official Magazine | publisher = Future plc | issue = 1 | date = December 25, 2007 | page = 85}}
| MC_PC = 63/100{{cite web | url = https://www.metacritic.com/game/clive-barkers-jericho/critic-reviews/?platform=pc | title = Clive Barker's Jericho for PC Reviews | website = Metacritic | publisher = CBS Interactive | access-date = April 28, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130102073454/http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/clive-barkers-jericho | archive-date = January 2, 2013 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }}
}}
Clive Barker's Jericho received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Many critics praised the squad-based system, elaborate storyline, Clive Barker's dark style and soundtrack while criticizing the character AI, linear gameplay, abrupt ending and difficulty with certain game mechanics.
On the game's style, Eurogamer stated that "Clive Barker's contribution to the concept and narrative direction of the game will certainly help get the attention of horror fans" while GameSpot noted its "gorgeously creepy visuals and sound". Official Xbox Magazine praised the choice of characters, being "endless fun to switch tactics and experiment with different combinations of powers and weapons for crowd control". However, reviewers complained about the in-game mechanics. Among their criticisms were the poor AI, whereby teammates would die often, requiring the player to heal them regularly. IGN stated: "If the Jericho members' intelligence level wasn't enough of a nuisance for you, there's the actual shooting itself"; Jolt Online Gaming commented that the maps were too linear and close.{{cite web | url = http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=10028 | title = Review: Clive Barker's Jericho (multi) (Incomplete) | website = Jolt Online Gaming | date = November 18, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071119074417/http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=10028 | archive-date = November 19, 2007 | url-status = dead | access-date = January 25, 2016}} Despite this, GamePro gave the Xbox 360 version a score of 4.5 out of 5, saying that the game's "slick style, amazing graphics, and dark atmosphere really make it stand out".{{cite magazine | url = http://gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/reviews/142968.shtml | title = Review: Clive Barker's Jericho (X360) | author = Andy Burt | magazine = GamePro | publisher = IDG Entertainment | date = October 24, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080105011428/http://gamepro.com/microsoft/xbox360/games/reviews/142968.shtml | archive-date = January 5, 2008 | url-status = dead | access-date = January 25, 2016}}
After being denied a rating in Germany{{cite web | url = https://www.destructoid.com/surprise-of-the-week-jericho-banned-in-germany-46460.phtml | title = Surprise of the week: Jericho banned in Germany | author = David Houghton | website = Destructoid | publisher = Enthusiast Gaming | date = September 25, 2007 | access-date = May 11, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112516/http://www.destructoid.com/surprise-of-the-week-jericho-banned-in-germany-46460.phtml | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }} Jericho{{'}}s uncut version got an 18+ rating"[http://www.gamezone.de/news_detail.asp?nid=60487 Clive Barkers Jericho - USK erteilt Altersfreigabe"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106063147/http://www.gamezone.de/news_detail.asp?nid=60487 |date=2009-01-06 }} for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. In 2010, UGO included the game as the #6 in the article "The 11 Weirdest Game Endings".{{cite web | url = http://www.ugo.com/games/the-11-weirdest-game-endings?page=2 | title = The 11 Weirdest Video Game Endings (Page 2) | author = K. Thor Jensen | website = UGO | publisher = IGN Entertainment | date = December 3, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101208041224/http://www.ugo.com/games/the-11-weirdest-game-endings?page=2 | archive-date = December 8, 2010 | url-status = dead | access-date = January 25, 2016}}
{{clear}}
Cancelled sequel
Rumours about a sequel to Jericho were confirmed in 2007 when Clive Barker had announced his intention to make a sequel to the game.{{cite news | url = https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/north-america-travel/us-travel/california/vintage-violence-w2d9g8qlxlq | title = Vintage violence | author = Tim Wapshott | newspaper = The Times | date = October 27, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110720040903/http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/gadgets_and_gaming/article2725558.ece | archive-date = July 20, 2011 | url-status = live | access-date = January 25, 2016}}{{subscription required}} The sequel project never came to fruition.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{moby game|id=/clive-barkers-jericho}}
{{Clive Barker}}
{{MercurySteam}}
Category:Dark fantasy video games
Category:First-person shooters
Category:Psychological horror games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games about time travel
Category:Video games developed in Spain
Category:Video games scored by Allister Brimble
Category:Video games scored by Cris Velasco