There was definitely some hype before this game hit the shelves, but when the demo was released the hype seemed to dissipate. In my opinion, the demo was clunky, and offered nothing new to a genre that was already drowning with titles. Demos can always be a little misleading, either portraying the game really well whereas the retail version fails. The other side of the spectrum is where the demo is poor, but the developers tweak a few little things for the full game, and you’ve got a GOTY nomination!

I’m afraid, as much as I’d like Jericho to fall into the second category, it doesn’t. The demo is pretty much how the full game plays, there is something missing from it to make it ‘fun’. Sure, you have your squad of mythical masters, but a lot of the time they will just get in the way. It’s bad enough them just walking in front of you, but then the verbal abuse follows. How is it my fault if you decide to walk in front of me, while my gun is obviously firing! Sometimes I love A.I.; this is one of the games where they frustrate me.

Now with regards to the story, I have never read the book by Clive Barker, nor have I ever heard of Clive Barker. It’s not a great start, but my excuse is that I’m not much of a reader. After the first 5 minutes of playing, you will have the basic premise of the story. The game itself tries to incorporate supernatural horror into an FPS, and makes a little bit of a hash of it. The small percent of atmosphere that’s created is destroyed by the annoying voices of your so-called team-mates. As you’re entering a really spooky sewer, your team mate points out “Ohh its dark”. Congratulations for stating the obvious there.

Graphically the game is solid, the animations of your team-mates can look strange at times, but the enemies cannot be faulted in any way. Each enemy will come at you differently, thus you can never put your guard down. My only complaint is that the enemies seem to have an attraction to you, and rarely attack your team mates. Maybe the developers tried to make it so you feel wanted, I’m not so sure myself and it can be a touch annoying.

Jericho is a game that once you’ve played it, that’ll be the lot. There is no real lasting appeal to be had after you have completed the story once, and the game doesn’t do anything well enough to warrant a second visit. Some people may be inclined to, but I for one won’t be playing it again. That’s not to say, that it isn’t worth at least one play through.

A short review, but in conclusion; Jericho is worth playing through but just don’t expect it to blow you away.