Clive Barker's Jericho Preview

To the more experienced among you, the name Clive Barker should be synonymous with decent entertainment. Clive Barker's Undying, a game with distinctive and extremely convincing horror elements, ended up being one of the most honored additions to horror genre.

Cool it, buddy!

Put out your tongue and say: arghhh!!

Spanish development studio Mercury Steam (known for games like, Scrapland) and renowned British publisher Codemasters teamed up to use the Clive Barker recipe for their new project, Jericho.

Barker, of course, was the one who penned the story, which has now been adapted by Codemasters and Mercury for the game's setting. Although the whole plot boils to gloomy and somewhat hackneyed fiction, flavored with a few biblical elements, it's pretty much all you need for a game of this type.

Before shaping Adam and Eve, God made a major blunder by creating a completely screwed up version of man. This first entity was banished for all eternity into a parallel universe called "the box." Understandably, this imperfect version of man wasn't thrilled at the prospect of being caged forever. Such punishment clearly pissed 'it' off. So, without hesitation, he continually tries to return to Earth. Fortunately for mankind, whenever he attempts to return, a team of highly trained US soldiers, referred to as the Jericho, are prepared to meet him and cast him back where he belongs. The player takes over from here.

As part of the Jericho team, you'll be sent on a number of assignments through time, delving deeper into different periods: World War II, the Crusades, the times of the Roman Empire and the Sumerian era - the developers are still keeping one era secret… for now anyways. Each undertaking requires you and your squad to find the abovementioned corrupted life form, which was inadvertently created by God. Sending it back to "the box" is your ultimate goal.

Mind you, the Jerichos aren't just a bunch of trigger-happy military upstarts. The tradition of the squad goes way back to the World War II, when the group was formed to look into the Nazi obsession with the occult.

There are seven team members, including the leader, Captain Ross (a.k.a. you). The team is divided into alpha and omega squads, and each member in both subsections has a range of strengths and weaknesses. Now, get this, as the leader, you have the ability to inhabit the bodies of other members in the squad. Oh and I forgot to mention that apart from being able to use a considerable variety of weapons, each member of the Jericho squad has a choice of supernatural abilities.

Aside from Cap Ross, the team consists of Delgado (an alchemist and pyromancer), Billie Church (a so-called blood mage, using her own blood to cast spells and wards), Jones (a seer, who utilizes astral projection for reconnaissance), Cole (alters time and is mostly responsible for teleporting supplies), Father Rawlings (the team exorcist, wielding two pistols) and, finally, Abigail Black. The last character is definitely an interesting one. She's a telekinetic sniper with the remarkable gift of steering bullets in mid-flight. Apart from that, she's also a lesbian (yes, you've read it right). Abigail Black isn't the only cool character though. Church, another dangerous individual armed with an exceptionally sharp samurai sword, is quite gifted as well. When enemies walk into view, Church, the half-naked female ninja, can send them flying into the air. Alternatively, she uses a stealthier approach, with the ability to slip pass foes without being noticed. Her skills can also help the team to overcome certain obstacles. If the Jerichos come across a locked gate, Church can climb up and crawl through a narrow tunnel in order to get to the other side and unlock the gate.

Other characters contribute to the proceedings with their own unique skills. Black, for example, is best suited for handling long-ranged fights, given her ability to manipulate bullets. So, while the swift Church is good at dodging attacks, Black can take out multiple enemies at once. Deglado is also good in that department, since he often uses his great physical strength to beat a number of foes simultaneously.