As in Bioshock, one hand used all the spells while the other was for weaponry, but the system was easier to use in Undying. Patrick’s arsenal included basic guns, magical weapons and spells that were found during play. As Undying was a horror game, enemies did their best to surprise the player, and getting hit would cause the screen to lurch violently.īesides the engrossing story, Undying featured an interesting two-weapon combat system several years before Bioshock attempted it. There weren’t any levels in the basic sense, but areas that the player had to explore for important items. Undying was somewhat linear as the player could explore the estate looking for clues as to what happened. The four siblings have been resurrected as demons that are now causing trouble and waiting for Jeremiah to die to complete the ritual. To complicate matters, Patrick’s rival is at the estate and is out to get him. Jeremiah is dying and is afraid of a curse that he and four siblings enacted with a ritual during their childhood, which caused each of them to go mad before death. The player is Patrick Galloway: a paranormal investigator who has been summoned by his friend and war buddy - Jeremiah Covenant. Right off the bat Undying featured an engrossing story compared to other shooters at the time. Clive Barker’s Undying was one of the first cases where the Game Industry went outside to seek professionals to assist with making a game. You have to remember that the push for stronger narratives in the Game Industry was still in its infancy both for technology and writing in general. As evident by the title, Undying was a collaboration between DreamWorks, EA and horror writer Clive Barker.
Undying was a FPS horror title released in 2001 by DreamWorks Interactive.
And truth be told, the list of shooters released that tell a coherent narrative beyond just shooting up enemies is small to say the least. But today’s game: Clive Barker’s Undying not only managed to beat Bioshock to the punch, but arguably had better gameplay to boot.
#Clive barkers undying metacritic series#
Examining the praise behind both Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite, the series is one of the few FPS out there to have a developed story instead of just action.