Clive Barker is a sick man. Jericho is a sick game. It’s awash in gore, features a lot of naughty language including occasional deviant sexual references, and is thoroughly unsuitable for children, the devoutly religious or those of a delicate constitution. However, if you exhibit a fascination for the morbid and grotesque, you’ll undoubtedly love it.
The graphics are simultaneously disgusting and beautiful (the screenshots on the left really don’t do the game justice), with your Jericho team members and the Firstborn’s minions looking particularly good. Likewise the audio is by turns eerie and frenetic, with a lot of visceral weapon SFX and guttural snarls and howls from your demonic opposition. The music too is suitably atmospheric, making liberal use of what I like to call the ‘creepy choral’ technique. Say what you like, there’s no faulting Jericho’s presentation.
Sadly, the game has received a lot of negative press, much of which has been exaggerated beyond all proportion. Granted, Jericho is not without its flaws. The AI can be occasionally dense during hectic firefights resulting in unnecessary casualties, and the gameplay does give whole new meaning to the term ‘linear’. You cannot get lost navigating the Pyxis. You can go back, stand still, or go forward. There are no side passages to explore, and no nooks and crannies where enemies lurk or treasure awaits. In fact, there is absolutely nothing to ‘pick up’ during the entire game. Not that it really matters.
Cole, one of your team members, can create ‘localised chronological anomalies’ which is just a fancy way of saying she can rewind time on your weapons to a point when they were fully loaded. This is one of many neat tricks possessed by members of Jericho. Feisty Delgado has a parasitic flame spirit housed within an arcane containment unit fitted to his arm. When he lets it out to play, the air is swiftly filled with the stench of burning flesh and the screams of the dying. Black is a telekinetic sniper, able to mentally guide her bullets to up to three consecutive targets. And Rawlins is a Catholic priest toting twin Desert Eagles who gleefully disregards the commandment “Thou shalt not kill…”
If you’re a Clive Barker fan, you’ll appreciate what Jericho has to offer, and that’s a great story. Linear gameplay ceases to be a concern when you’re compelled to keep playing just to see what new malformed abomination is going to try to tear your arms off next. Add to this unholy concoction crucified corpses writhing in eternal torment, torches constructed of flaming human remains and challenging combat against some truly horrific boss monsters and you have a gameplay experience that can only be described as delightfully sanguinary.
Don’t be a sheep. Give Jericho a chance. Just don’t eat anything while playing or you may need to purchase a replacement keyboard.