A Horrifying Mixed Bag - The Thing Retrospective

[@BenPlaysGames]

✅ Subscribe: kzbin.info 🖱 Support the channel: www.patreon.com/ben_plays_games If you haven't watched the movie, go do so as soon as humanly possible - there's nothing quite like it.

[@blockster1977]

Hey Ben, good timing! I’m the Exec Producer of the FPS: First Person Shooter documentary that came out last year. We’ve just started development on The Thing Expanded and will certainly be covering the game. Big fan of your channel (especially all the Halo content) keep up the great work 🫡😎🔥🎬

[@BenPlaysGames]

Ah no way, that's awesome! And cheers too mate. What exactly will The Thing Expanded cover (if you don't mind sharing at this stage)? I'm an absolute fiend for anything related to the franchise, so I'd imagine it will be right up my alley.

[@Jacob-360]

Hopefully „the Thing” will get another chance at a videogame. With todays technology and good direction, a new „the Thing” game could be great.

[@BenPlaysGames]

So much potential! I've been thinking about what a modern Thing game could be like a lot the last few days and I'd like either: 1. An experience in the vein of Until Dawn and similar. A heavily directed, choice-based story which puts decision making and paying attention to the little details around you front and centre, rather than constant shootouts. 2. A game in the mould of Resident Evil, set in one environment and with a greater emphasis on puzzles and exploration, combined with infrequent battles against the Thing. The first is my dream, though, I'd give an arm and a leg for it.

[@aegis6485]

Okay, but imagine an Until Dawn style game set in The Thing universe? I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I said similar in a reply to someone else, funnily enough. Would be my perfect game if done well!

[@PMO.DB98]

The thing is the reason I got into sci fi horror as a kid Aliens/Predator weren’t scary but The Thing and Dead Space sit at the top of my horror experiences

[@BenPlaysGames]

I remember reading about The Thing in the Official PlayStation Magazine's film section, then ordering it as one of the first DVD's I ever purchased after getting a PlayStation 2 at launch a few months prior. I wasn't disappointed either, quality film in every way. Dead Space is awesome too - I've just been playing the remake on stream and have had a whale of a time.

[@quintonlim4275]

Aw man thoguht you would have been talking about the movie. As it is my favourote monster movie.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I wanted to include clips of the movie in the game, but was concerned about copyright strikes. Shame, as they would have been useful towards the beginning when explaining context. If I can figure that out, maybe I will cover it in future, as it's one of my absolute favourites. In the meantime, I highly recommend this playlist of a few critiques on different subjects by Rob Agar. If you're looking for some analysis of the movie, they're excellent: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqTbd6yDpNaVgJo

[@Monolithinteal]

Great video Ben! It's a bittersweet video for me though because it reminds me of a once great KZbinr in SpoonyExperiment. I strongly recommend his video on the thing aswell, great peice of content before he went downhill

[@BenPlaysGames]

Cheers dude! I'll check it out.

[@gabe1298]

My god, there really are no meaningful redeeming factors to this game are there? I'd love to see Matt McMuscles do a What Happened on this one, no way the OG director of The Thing put his seal of approval on this dumpster fire without shamelessly selling out.

[@BenPlaysGames]

First hour or so is pretty good when it's still mostly set out in the snow and how the mechanics work is still a bit of a mystery. The other 5-6 hours? A real chore to get through.

[@beeno3487]

This KZbin channel is a great place to be I’m glad I found it.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Glad to have you along my man!

[@torb-no]

To be fair: openings with terrible voice acting is a tradition started with the first The Thing movie. Granted, only us Norwegians can tell how just godawful the acting of the supposed Norwegian truly is. 😅 Great video though! Very interesting to see game mechanics inspired by movies, too bad it fell back to bog standard shooter stuff. Reminds me of Alien which had many failed attempts before finally capturing the first movie with Alien: Isolation.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Oh is it bad in the film as well? As you can imagine, I've no clue! And thanks mate - it was interesting enough to play, but I could never recommend it to anyone in the present unless they're a super duper die hard fan. Alien Isolation is definitely one of the best movie ties in ever made, the attention to detail and commitment to the series' aesthetic is superb. Honestly, I'd consider it perhaps the best if not for the length, with it going on about five hours too long.

[@d1zzaster393]

Im so glad to hear you say the stairwell level was bad. I remember playing this game twice, and giving up on that level both times

[@BenPlaysGames]

The absolute worst, nearly made me give up on the game entirely.

[@turdwallet8840]

Glad to see you branching outside halo. Consider checking out the LOTR two towers and return of the king hack and slash games.

[@BenPlaysGames]

This is actually a fantastic idea, I absolutely loved both those games!

[@zeliph]

I really wish that The Thing game has a remake/total overhaul or brand new game entirely. The concept of multiple playthroughs would not be the same, because The Thing can happen anytime on your squad mates.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I'd love to see a developer revisit the franchise in some regard. There's so much scope to do interesting things with it.

[@RedAce93]

That part you described near the end of the video with the steam and the guy running by you quick and the turrets...that's where I stopped playing...I didn't intend to but I did...I died, put down the game to finish it the next day and five years have passed without ever finishing it

[@BenPlaysGames]

A few people have said the same. It's absolutely dreadful!

[@TheBeird]

That story sounds awful. I’ll ignore it like I ignore the prequel film

[@BenPlaysGames]

Snap!

[@LivingDeadbeat]

God I forgot how much of a nightmare those turrets were. I think that's where I gave up playing this as a kid.

[@BenPlaysGames]

A few people have said similar and I don't blame any of you, it's terrible.

[@6thsavage]

Honestly, the one change that would have saved this game and made it a masterpiece, is if Barry Burton was the helicopter pilot at the end.

[@BenPlaysGames]

The crossover I never knew I needed haha.

[@ninja1man4u]

I'd say deadspace is a modern reinterpretation of the thing except much better in terms of quality, lore, and setting but you wouldn't get deadspace without the thing

[@BenPlaysGames]

Don't quote me on this, but I believe someone at Visceral Studios actually came out and said that they took inspiration from The Thing for the Necromorph's designs. I'd love to see some modern Thing media - films or games are fine by me - but it's a tricky one too, as I also like the mystery surrounding the concept. I hate the story in the game as it expands on the lore way, way too much and ruins a lot of the mystique.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

My first ever PS2 game

[@BenPlaysGames]

How come? An interesting first title to say the least!

[@annasoH323]

The level of janky design reminds me of this ill-advised purchase of a PC Lord of the Rings game from the local used bookstore. I was young and starting to get into LOTR but the whole game was a hodgepodge of various kinds of level design, shoehorning in elements of different game design tropes with poor execution and a coat of drab fantasy paint. It also reminds me of the similarly janky Star Wars The Phantom Menace game but Obi-Wan using a rocket launcher and Qui-Gon cheesing a pit monster boss battle with Force push made it worth it.

[@beastmode1915]

Honestly I always thought by the end of The Thing (the movie) Childs’ breathing was way too calm with a lack of visible air showing, while MacReady’s was the complete opposite, which led me to believe Childs was infected. Maybe that’s what happened and was shown in the game? Anyways, amazing video as always, especially this unexpected but welcomed one

[@zippo71111]

The 1982 movie is among my all time favorite movies. I had this for ps2 but left it on the shelf for a little while before playing it. I remember really enjoying it and it exceeded expectations. Might give this game a replay again, did it for return to castle wolfenstein not too long ago and that game is still damn good.

[@AMSatellite]

One way I see a The Thing game "functioning" is if it basically copies the two movies, borrowing elements from various horror games of old. A small cast of well fleshed out and with diverse attitudes and mentalities characters who only know that the alien exists and can assimilate and imitate people, all contained in a single small to medium area that can be explored linearly (or partly freely maybe). Maybe a sort of Until Dawn fac simile with The Thing's theme and probably a single protagonist's perspective could work: a mostly linear story with some decision making (killing someone on the basis that they're a thing and maybe fucking up because they actually weren't) Maybe some pseudo open world elements could apply, such as being able to freely explore the facility's rooms and corridors that you previously gained access to, along with some enviromental control such as small outside areas that are safe from the thing but can't be hanged around in for too long in order to not become an ice cube, or sacrificing a corridor by burning it in some way to cut off the thing but also losing access or a path to specific areas. Hell, even a bit of "Alien Isolation meets Amnesia/SOMA" spice could be put on, such as having to navigate the facility or specific parts of it without the means to properly defend yourself and one (or more) things roaming about, having to outsmart them to get where you need to go and punishing you for backtracking or lingering around too much. Weapons should either be extremely scarce or completely absent from the game until the very later stages, where finally the main character transitions from being "just" someone smart who figures out how the thing works to the hero who beats it by becoming more of a predator than the alien itself, Mac style. And yeah, the 1st thing NOT to do is have too many things at the same time. The monster should constantly be cloaked under someone's guise, causing disruptions Among Us style, or showing itself in specific moments, causing mayhem and forcing quick and smart decisions to outplay it. Maybe leave one or two thing beings in specific areas to patrol like I said before at most. This sounds more like a recipe for a game that would stay true to Carpenter's work. Action has no place in a The Thing form of media. We have the Dead Space series for that, thank goodness ;)

[@INFILTR8US]

No action in a military shooter, LoL okay 😂

[@AMSatellite]

@INFILTR8US The Thing (the movie) is truly not a military shooter. A The Thing game should not be one either :)

[@BenPlaysGames]

Some great ideas here. It's funny you mention Until Dawn, as I actually said in a reply to someone else that I'd love to see a Thing game in that style! In my mind, the perfect Thing game focusses one getting two things right before any other - building complex, shifting relationships between a group of characters and creating memorable encounters with the Thing itself which are brief but make you really feel like you're in a fight for your life. Problem with the game is, there's so much action that everything else sort of gets drowned out often as there's so little time to think and reflect.

[@AMSatellite]

@BenPlaysGames My thoughts exactly. A The Thing game should have bits of momentary action, and not in the sense of a big fight with 300 bullets being shot but rather a chase sequence or a contained stealth section. I'm thinking of the situation where the splitface thing chases Carter in the prequel, and he has to hide in the kitchen. That's easily game-able material, and it has successfully been done before in Amnesia, SOMA or Alien Isolation so we know it would work. A two-faced The Thing game with massive psychological paranoia built by a well made cast of characters and the impostor and moments of absolute chaos/tension to manoeuvre around when said impostor is found out would honestly be top tier. They may as well give the license to Frictional Games, I'd purchase the game in a heartbeat.

[@SugaryCoyote]

There were some Thing comics that carried the story on from the movie

[@BenPlaysGames]

I've actually been meaning to read them, my get round to it this weekend - are they any good?

[@SugaryCoyote]

@BenPlaysGames The comics aren't going to assimilate the world any time soon, but there were some clever moments mixed in. I appreciate your review!

[@CharaGonzalez-lt7yw]

This game should get a remaster. The concepts are cool but it needs a bit of fixing up to make it decent. The seeds are there, they just need to be cultivated

[@evolancer211]

I think you like just reviewing games because you can dunk on them.

[@stefanburkhard9931]

Oh thank Jesus, a fuse box!

[@BenPlaysGames]

It's so funny, because there's absolutely no reason for the ones Blake can open to exist. Junction box or no junction box, the result is always the same - you go through the door - so all that's really being added is unnecessary time wastage.

[@87GNX]

One of my favorite games, solid hidden gem of a game.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I enjoyed my time with it well enough. I don't think I'll ever revisit it, but there were some interesting ideas in there that were fairly unique for a 2002 release.

[@ThommyofThenn]

0:12 sounds like Halo 2 Arbiter getting that sloppy

[@codymcgrath2.3bviews3secon7]

Oh wow didn’t expect this

[@BenPlaysGames]

I've been on a Thing binge recently, played the game a couple of times and watched the movies. The 1982 one twice, actually - must have watched it about 30 times by this point.

[@codymcgrath2.3bviews3secon7]

I’m the same, I’m not a huge horror fan but The Thing gives me hope in what a good horror movie can be

[@rm25088]

I loved John carpenters the thing. Such a good movie.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I'm massive horror fan, and The Thing is up there with The Shining as the very best of the bunch in my view. I watched it, along with the prequel, twice prior to playing the game and it's lost none of its power. Incredible to think it was panned by critics in 1982 when it released.

[@rm25088]

@@BenPlaysGames Yeah man, I haven't seen the new one but it is on my list now.

[@BenPlaysGames]

@@rm25088 The new one is pretty fun. It's not a classic like the original but it has some nice ideas and is generally well made. I'd say it's worth a watch.

[@rm25088]

@@BenPlaysGames I'll check it out this weekend

[@kaelang12]

Fuse Box Count *ding!*

[@BenPlaysGames]

Urgh they're the worst.

[@burge117]

Holy smokes 😂 I am so glad I never pushed through the beginning when I was younger...the bad combat is one thing...but thr story 😅 Great video, Ben 😊

[@BenPlaysGames]

Cheers mate! Yeh it's not worth playing at this point in all honesty. I might have recommended it back in 2002 as a novelty, but nowadays there's way too much frustration for it to be worth it.

[@roywilson4514]

I loved this game

[@BenPlaysGames]

I didn't mind it. While I didn't feel like I wasted time playing it - there were some interesting ideas, especially for 2001 - the heavy focus on action felt too far removed from the atmosphere of the film for me.

[@takoshihitsamaru4675]

"Levels which drove me to the brink of despair" hahaha, love it, Ben.

[@BenPlaysGames]

My wife often says I have a flair for the dramatic!

[@skipdonaghue9451]

Crazy Swedes!

[@ForestRaptor]

Oh damn! You unlocked a deep core memory with this video. This game and MIB were like my jam for a while :D

[@BenPlaysGames]

Which MiB? I played the PlayStation original that was Resident Evil style when I was quite young and it freaked me out. Dudes used to burst into rooms as you explored and I couldn't deal with it.

[@ForestRaptor]

I remember using the tiny cricket for shits an giggles and exploding others @@BenPlaysGames It's the one by Gigawatt Studios. It was released on Windows 97 and then onto the Playstation. It was very Resident Evil like. But I have fond memories of it :D

[@chrislewis1981]

I loved this game!

[@BenPlaysGames]

I had a good time with it but I don't think I'll ever go back to it now. Was great to get a first hand look at the squad stuff etc, which is surprisingly well executed for a game of its age.

[@chrislewis1981]

@@BenPlaysGames I played it before I'd ever seen the movie so I never had the nostalgia while playing. Now I've seen the movie several times and never revisited the game. Not too sure if it would still hold up for me.

[@ganymedemlem6119]

I ferment back in the Halo: Reach days, when I was into forge mode, I made an infection map and game mode based on the '80s movie. There was a large rectangular base with a large room and plenty of smaller corridors. Another smaller base was most in line of sight but there were natural obstructions so players could attempt to move from one to the other unnoticed. I used a combination of in-game visual shaders to make the map overall rather dim and included a pair of the "flashing" red lights inside the larger base to allow players to see, but not reliability. Survivors and infected spawned in with the magnum and kept their default colors so no one would be outed at game start. Survivors and infected also spawned mixed together to add to the fear and paranoia. When you were killed you got 1 respawn to came back as one of the infected so the game was about trying to survive, either as a human, or as one of the thing. Thinking on it now I very much was trying to build a game of secret roles like a few that have taken off in the years since like Murder or TTT in Gary's Mod, or Among Us. It didn't work great as I never came up with a good solution for the crosshair turning red or green. But it sounds like that may have still been more fun than this game. 😅