💎 PREMIUM: Id/GodSaveMySoul/recommended/ - High Quality

When you start the game, you might think some of the mechanics are kinda interesting. There's a sanity mechanic, you can order squad members, you can share inventory with them, oh and you have to manage your temperature too. Pretty interesting!

Don't be fooled. None of these features are really relevant, particularly the sanity, since you're never with the same set of people for very long for it to make an impact. You might be naive in thinking you'll be controlling the same squad for most of the game. This isnt the case, you will control many different squad mates and you'll remember none of them. They will quite literally vanish at times when you enter new areas, it makes it somewhat comical. And the game throws engineers at you for when you need them to progress through some obstacles. Ahh, but only some! Because our protagonist can also fix some of these obstacles himself, it makes you wonder why this is even a feature at all. You will also enjoy your squad dialogue when they lose their minds and regain their sanity in the span of two seconds, and all the repeating voicelines that occurs. I feel like you have to actively and deliberately go out of your way for anything bad to happen with this mechanic, it genuinely requires no management from the player despite all the warnings at the start of the game.

I had a moment where one of my squadmates went missing and it got my mind thinking, is it possible for a scripted event to occur where a squadmate becomes the thing when you're not looking or they got ambushed? And what a cool mechanic that would have been, but no, he actually got stuck behind a door. And don't worry, this will happen more than once as the AI pathfinding is atrocious at times.

But the absolute deal breaker for me, were the final levels of the game, where it truly becomes a different beast. Where rather than The Thing, you instead fight hordes of human enemies and automatic turrets. The bosses themselves are reskins of each other, in these tiny cramped rooms, but there's never any fear factor, since the game gives you near infinite ammo for most sections.

Even if you're a fan of The Thing, I genuinely question your standards if you think this is actually good or an enjoyable experience of a video game. I think there's a lot of potential for a game with this setting, unfortunately, this ain't it chief.
Maybe if I also played this when it originally came out, I'd also be blinded by nostalgia.

TLDR: It sucks lol

When you start the game, you might think some of the mechanics are kinda interesting. There's a sanity mechanic, you can order squad members, you can share inventory with them, oh and you have to manage your temperature too. Pretty interesting! Don't be fooled. None of these features are really relevant, particularly the sanity, since you're never with the same set of people for very long for it to make an impact. You might be naive in thinking you'll be controlling the same squad for most of the game. This isnt the case, you will control many different squad mates and you'll remember none of them. They will quite literally vanish at times when you enter new areas, it makes it somewhat comical. And the game throws engineers at you for when you need them to progress through some obstacles. Ahh, but only some! Because our protagonist can also fix some of these obstacles himself, it makes you wonder why this is even a feature at all. You will also enjoy your squad dialogue when they lose their minds and regain their sanity in the span of two seconds, and all the repeating voicelines that occurs. I feel like you have to actively and deliberately go out of your way for anything bad to happen with this mechanic, it genuinely requires no management from the player despite all the warnings at the start of the game. I had a moment where one of my squadmates went missing and it got my mind thinking, is it possible for a scripted event to occur where a squadmate becomes the thing when you're not looking or they got ambushed? And what a cool mechanic that would have been, but no, he actually got stuck behind a door. And don't worry, this will happen more than once as the AI pathfinding is atrocious at times. But the absolute deal breaker for me, were the final levels of the game, where it truly becomes a different beast. Where rather than The Thing, you instead fight hordes of human enemies and automatic turrets. The bosses themselves are reskins of each other, in these tiny cramped rooms, but there's never any fear factor, since the game gives you near infinite ammo for most sections. Even if you're a fan of The Thing, I genuinely question your standards if you think this is actually good or an enjoyable experience of a video game. I think there's a lot of potential for a game with this setting, unfortunately, this ain't it chief. Maybe if I also played this when it originally came out, I'd also be blinded by nostalgia. TLDR: It sucks lol