The Thing (video game) Appreciation Thread.

[SharkClub]

The game was okay but it was mostly a gigantic waste of potential in terms of gameplay mechanics. They could have done so much more with the paranoia / thingified companions system and made a much more systems-driven and non-linear game (like an immersive sim) but instead it's a railroaded and linear corridor shooter with the biggest sin of all being that companions that you can blood test can show up as not-a-thing moments before they follow you down a hallway and suddenly the scripted trigger in said hallway decides they were a thing the whole time and they turn and attack you. There's a lot of potential for a game using this IP that this game made close brushes to but never fully realized. I still don't think its absolutely awful or anything, I remember (I think it was) Spoony's review where he shat all over it for the fuseboxes or whatever but that stuff is just a surface level progression excuse from a game trying to give you objectives that aren't just "shoot the enemies", my biggest issue with the game is just that it doesn't try hard enough to lean into the only systems it had that were unique.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The irresistible urge to attack me overrode your reading ability.

Yes, because you're a moron and a poseur, which I always enjoy pointing out.

They are actually quite similar games. Both are real-time, third-person horror games with a similar atmosphere and very similar 'horror adventure', story-driven gameplay. They also came out only 2 years apart. And you can clearly see the influences The Thing had on The Suffering. The monster design for example, as well as the overall color palette.

Bullshit. Even ignoring the fact that The Thing is primarily a shooter and horror second, it's low sci-fi/extraterrestrial, while The Suffering is psychological/supernatural. The Thing has rudimentary squad mechanics that The Suffering does not (except for the occasional escort quests). The monster designs in The Thing are very obviously Half-Life worship, while in The Suffering they are strongly stylised and arising from the theme of the game (dudes exposed to various means of capital punishment) - very nice of you to post a picture of a generic blobby hulk enemy in bad quality in an effort to compare it to the obvious not-headcrab zombies of The Thing. Now try the same comparison e.g. with Mainliners.

Also lol at 'both gamez are real-time horror third-person shootaz zumg' - because there has never, ever been any game like that before The Thing. If I had to take a guess, the developers of The Suffering were much more inspired by Silent Hill than this shit, and I'd be surprised if they even thought much of it.

 

[NecroLord]

my biggest issue with the game is just that it doesn't try hard enough to lean into the only systems it had that were unique.

Ditto.