Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Clive Barker's Undying

Phelot

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
17,908
Anyone remember this game? I thought it was pretty great for what it was trying to do. The whole "ghost vision" or whatever it's suppose to be was pretty cool. Unfortunately the game tried to be action packed around the second half of the game and abandoned a lot of the creepiness that made it fun.

The atmosphere was top notch and I still say the static skyboxes they used are way better then many modern games. Another nice little choice the developers made was to have only minimal music and rely more on ambient sounds like wind, rain, etc. That's something that isn't done enough. No more (at this point) bland and tired music from Jeremy Soule that every game "MUST HAVE." Undying is one of few games I actually enjoy having headphones on. Really great immersion.
 

A user named cat

Guest
Like almost everything Clive Barker, it had potential for greatness and ended up being mediocre. For Undying specifically, like you basically alluded to, the second half was shit and brought down the whole ship.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,406
Location
Djibouti
It was great, sure, but each time I think about Undying, I can't help but see shotgun shells lying around a monastery in the past, which was kind of... well, immersion breaking.

But apart from that, it was great.
 

Phelot

Arcane
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
17,908
Darth Roxor said:
It was great, sure, but each time I think about Undying, I can't help but see shotgun shells lying around a monastery in the past, which was kind of... well, immersion breaking.

But apart from that, it was great.

HAHA yeah I used to fire the shotgun in the air to waste ammo just to pick up all the boxes.
 

Thrasher

Erudite
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
1,407
Yeah, it wasn't close to perfect but the levels in the house were fantastic atmosphere!
 

Kahr

Guest
Don't find a more recent thread, so i take this one.

Finished it this week and i have to say: The quality between the different chapters oscillates between brilliant and awful-boring.

1. Beginning in the manor: :5/5:
The manor is kind of spooky and very entertaining. You feel vulnerable with your pistol and those howlers coming from everywhere.

2. Lizbeth: :4/5:
Atmosphere gets a little worse. Levels are mostly boring catacombs. Ectoplasm is op and you get the scythe; even more op.
The monastery is pretty nice and time travel into past was great. Although nothing can really hurt you in the monastery.

3. Ambrose: :0/5:
Suddenly you have to fight mongols/kazahks or something. Spooky setting is gone. You can't use any weapon or spell anymore as you're just op.
Even pistol is op because of head shots.

4. Keisinger::5/5:
The dimension in this chapter is bizarre and weird. A bit freaky shit. Entertaining. Well done.

5. Aaron: :1/5:
More running around in the manor. The rooms from the previous chapters get recycled. Boring.

6. Bethany::0/5:
Now you're fighting Orcs suddenly. Have fun.

7. Ending: :0/5:
End boss: Boo. Just boo.
Ending storywise: Mess! Just a mess!

Conclusion: The game would have been perfect, if they focused more on presenting NEW parts of the manor and some kind of link with one or more freaky dimensions.
Switching between the dimensions would have been pretty fun imo. Also the balancing would have need to be adjusted. Almost everything is overpowered on nightmare.
So i think the cult status of the game results in the few levels which are very perfected. For me the other chapters and the balancing drag the game down to a :3/5:.
 

Darth Roxor

Royal Dongsmith
Staff Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,878,406
Location
Djibouti
It was great, sure, but each time I think about Undying, I can't help but see shotgun shells lying around a monastery in the past, which was kind of... well, immersion breaking.

But apart from that, it was great.

It's been so many years, and shotgun shells in the monastery are still the first thing that pops to my mind when I think about the game.
 

Daemongar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
4,706
Location
Wisconsin
Codex Year of the Donut
I bought it on GOG and played it to completion about a year ago. As someone who loves "Realms of the Haunting" I thought I'd give it a shot. There was some brilliance and I thought the setup was great. It just got very, very dull at the end.

When the game felt more like "Alone in the Dark" it hit on all cylinders (lore, story, exploration, mindfucks, traps, etc.). The concept and characters made it worth the $3 I paid for it. It started to fall apart when it leaned too heavily on FPS elements (boss fights, fighting many enemies, and reused scenes.)

For me, it was worth playing but I can see how someone might just let it drop after a certain dimension or such.
 

Explorerbc

Arcane
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
1,170
I guess I'm the only one who didn't notice that much of a drop in quality between chapters. Yeah, some parts were different and/or better than others but I enjoyed the overall game, even the action sequences everyone seems to hate.
 

Carrion

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 30, 2011
Messages
3,648
Location
Lost in Necropolis
I don't remember Undying being a very good shooter, and it really didn't work as a horror game either because of the heavy focus on combat, so that the shooter and horror elements ended up diluting each other. Many of the enemies looked pretty creepy, but the tension was generally killed by the fact that the levels were full of them and they were usually total pushovers in combat. The locations were really cool but somewhat dragged down by the linear levels filled with loading screens, and a bit more room for exploration might've helped to make up for some of the game's shortcomings. It's a shame because the atmosphere was good and the game was pretty unique as a whole. I only played around the time it was released, though, being too busy jacking off over Medal of Honor and shit, so maybe it deserves another go.
 

Siveon

Bot
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
4,509
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Stopped playing a little bit after you beat the boss for the first time. I think you jump into some alternate dimension. It got bad real fast, so I lost interest. Other than the fun intro, I didn't find the shooting to be very enjoyable, and the boss fights were kind of lackluster. This was I think last Halloween, so I may be forgetting a few things. If it was more like a first person Resident Evil 1 (most of the game taking place in the one mansion) but with ghosts and what-not, I would've liked it more.
 

Dayyālu

Arcane
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
4,466
Location
Shaper Crypt
Don't find a more recent thread, so i take this one.

Finished it this week and i have to say: The quality between the different chapters oscillates between brilliant and awful-boring.

I like quite a lot Undying (and I have something of a crusade against its fake-sequel, Jericho), but your review is pretty spot-on. Undying is an excellent example of cutting corners. The beginning is very good, atmospheric, shooter and magical mechanics work rather well....

And then you get an endless amount of levels fighting Howlers. Some of them are well done, some aren't: but they keep dragging on forever until the Lizbeth fight. And then you suddenly notice that they are reciclying what they can and that the pace is heightened, and that the connections between the levels start to make little sense (for example, the Ambrose levels are kinda jarring, for not to talk of the Eternal Autumn). Magical powers become OP or useless, you don't get good new weapons.

And then you get to Eternal Autumn. I mean, the idea is awesome, a pocket dimension inside a painting or something. But the level design is Quake 2 level, the weapon design is HORRENDOUS and the enemies are HP sponges. It screams "Cut&paste&ship it".

I'd love to know what happened behind the scenes, 'cause Undying suffered greatly. As Jericho. At least the boss fight in Undying is merely retarded instead of rage-inducing.

Undying, as a shooter, is mediocre mainly thanks to the borked enemy placement. For 60% of your time, you fight Howlers, and no weapon is very well suited to counter them. And they rely on Howlers without end, and when they get to the Indian cultists they are braindead and unfun to fight (the only thing to do is to spam Shield&Invoke, to enjoy the suicide animations).

Plot and setting are very... fascinating, though. That keeps up, even when the mechanics and the level design sink.
 

BelisariuS.F

Augur
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
388
Undying was the first true horror game that I've played. And one of the last. It scared me shitless. Sometime later I've played System Shock 2. It also scared me, but there was a tipping point when I've said "fuck it" and instead of being wary of every creepy sound in the distance I've started to walk in its direction like it was nothing. Now I'm immune to horror games. I've tried some recent survival horror games and they didn't scare me at all.
 

Naraya

Arcane
Joined
Oct 19, 2014
Messages
1,513
Location
Tuono-Tabr
As usual, Noah dissects the game masterfully in his newest video: Clive Barker Games: Jericho vs. Undying
I love this guy, even though his videos are bit of a mess production-wise.

Anyway, have fun watching - I did!

 

Baron Dupek

Arcane
Joined
Jul 23, 2013
Messages
1,870,765
It's amazing to find that Undying use some tracks from Jurrasic Park Tresspasser OST.
Got small deja vu playing both in the same month.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom