The Thing
- Platform:
- Release: Aug 2002
- Developer: Computer Artworks
- Publisher: Black Label Games
- Composer: Keith Tinman
- Genres: survival-horror - third-person-shooter - action
- Other platforms:
November 12, 2026
I need an engineer
“The Thing”, John Carpenter’s classic 1982 movie, is every bit as spectacular as it is terrifying. It left us with an open-ended finale that, to this day, has never received a definitive, officially recognized conclusion.
In 2011, two prequels arrived in different formats:
- One made it to the big screen under the same title as the original movie: The Thing.
- The other came in comic book form and takes place several centuries before the events of the movie: The Northman Nightmare.
But perhaps the most interesting additions were the sequels, which actually came out a few years earlier:
- Between 1991 and 1994, three comic book stories were published: The Thing From Another World, The Thing From Another World: Climate of Fear and The Thing From Another World: Eternal Vows.
- And in 2002, we got what we’re here to talk about today: the PS2 video game, The Thing.
The problem is that these two continuations tell conflicting stories. The survivors of the 1982 movie’s events are different in each one, and even the creature itself behaves differently.
So, which story is canon and which isn’t? The debate is still going on today. Many fans aren’t entirely convinced by the game’s storyline, despite John Carpenter himself giving it his approval.
For now, this is all the material we have to keep exploring this universe. Will we ever get a 100% official sequel?
But…let’s focus on the video game
The story picks up right after the events of the 1982 movie.
Our protagonist is Blake, a new character in the franchise. He’s a military officer assigned to investigate what happened at the remote Antarctic research station. Blake and his team won’t take long to uncover the horror lurking there, and they’ll have to fight for their lives.
The game is entirely linear. It’s primarily a third-person action game with some classic survival horror elements thrown into the mix. It’s divided into a series of consecutive levels that gradually unfold the story, with very few puzzles and no way to revisit previous locations once you move on to the next level.
One of the most interesting aspects of The Thing is its squad management system, a pretty innovative mechanic for its time…and perhaps a little too ambitious, as we’ll see later on.
It’s a great idea: we can put together a squad of up to four members. There are three types of companions: medics, engineers and soldiers. Each has their own abilities and can help us fight enemies, heal us or repair certain mechanisms and doors.
But the really interesting part is that we also have to look after them to prevent them from abandoning us, turning against us or losing their minds. To do so, we need to be very careful not to shoot them, as friendly fire is a thing. We’ll also have to provide them with weapons and ammo, calm them down, heal them and even take blood tests ourselves to prove we’re not infected and earn their trust.
All of this sounds great, but don’t get too attached to your teammates. They’re completely tied to their respective levels. No matter how well we look after them, some will get sick because the plot demands it, while others will simply disappear when we move on to the next level, without any warning.
Overall, I’ve enjoyed the game, although I was expecting a little more. I think it had a huge amount of potential that, unfortunately, it never quite managed to live up to.
The story hasn’t completely won me over either. While it fits within the movie’s universe, I’ve found it rather conventional and full of clichés. On top of that, the overall polish leaves quite a bit to be desired in several areas, which I’ll discuss later on. All of this gives the impression that the game was rushed out before it was completely finished.
Curiosities
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John Carpenter makes a cameo appearance in the game as Dr. Faraday.
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The studio actually planned a sequel titled The Thing II, hoping to build on the success of the first game. Unfortunately, the studio eventually shut down. According to Andrew Curtis, the project’s Lead Designer, in this interview, they grew too quickly.
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The developers had some pretty ambitious ideas, but the tight development schedule prevented them from implementing everything they had in mind. There is still unused content hidden in the game’s files. If you’re interested in this kind of stuff, check out The Cutting Room Floor, a really interesting website dedicated to uncovering cut and unused video game content.
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In 2024, a remastered version was released (which I haven’t tried yet), featuring visual improvements, previously unseen artwork, autosave and several gameplay tweaks. One of the most interesting changes is the revamped infection system: scripted transformations of squad members have been removed, meaning they can now only become infected through direct contact with the creatures.
What I liked the most
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Some of the game’s memorable lines are enough to make anyone’s day: “I’m freezing my ass off!”, “This mission is bullshit!” or “We’re so screwed!”
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There are some really great and intense survival horror moments. Huge creatures chasing you down, forcing you to shake them off by taking advantage of interconnected paths, all while trying to survive without any medkits and with smaller creatures lurking nearby.
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Building a good squad is rewarding. Sometimes things can get pretty rough if you fail to recruit the right teammates, especially medics.
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The trust and paranoia system between squad members is a brilliant idea that adds a lot of tension to the game. I think it’s easily the feature that does the best job of bringing the movie’s atmosphere into the video game.
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Movie-based video games are often complete stinkers. However, this one is actually pretty decent and genuinely enjoyable.
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The balance between how long we can stay outside before freezing to death and the sense of exploration around the research station.
What didn’t win me over
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The ammo counter is pretty unintuitive. For example, 8/30 means we have 8 spare magazines and 30 rounds in the current magazine. The exact opposite of what you’d normally expect.
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Be very careful about saving your game when you’re low on medkits, or have none left at all. You might end up in a situation where progressing becomes extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible. For example, towards the end of the game there’s a section involving explosions, some of which are practically impossible to dodge. If you get there with low health, you’re screwed. 💀
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If you die and want to reload a save, you have to go all the way back to the main menu.
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Some sections could really use more save points, while others seem to have too many.
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On one occasion, I had no weapons in my inventory, yet during the next cutscene my character was suddenly holding a machine gun. A small detail, but one that breaks immersion a little.
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Your character’s health bar only appears when you take damage or heal yourself. It’s not permanently visible, which is rather impractical.
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The environmental art, variety of items and overall texture quality are pretty poor for a game released in 2002.
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Most enemies need to be finished off with fire. The problem is that the flamethrower naturally aims towards the ground. If you walk or run while firing, you can end up setting yourself on fire. The only way to avoid this and shoot straight ahead is to crouch before using it.
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The on-screen message interface could definitely use some work. The text is too cramped and there’s very little contrast between the letters and the background. The current objectives screen is a good example: it’s not particularly clear where one objective ends and the next begins.
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Squad AI pathfinding is pretty unreliable. More than once, I’ve had to shove a teammate around to get them unstuck, especially in outdoor areas.
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The freezing meter only affects the main character. Our teammates can stay outside without suffering any of its effects, which makes the survival mechanics feel less consistent.
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Boss fights are pretty boring. We face the same type of enemy multiple times, usually in very small rooms, and the strategy is practically always the same: shoot it until it turns red, then finish it off with fire.
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Using a blood test on a potential teammate to check whether they’re infected can end up being a waste of resources. If they eventually transform into a monster, we don’t even lose the weapon we gave them. On top of that, some infections are revealed through scripted events anyway. This takes away from the usefulness of a mechanic that should, at least in theory, be pretty important.
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There’s not enough feedback when shooting. Some objects can actually take damage even though there’s no clear visual or audio indication that our shots are having any effect.
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The squad management menu is a bit clunky and includes features that, personally, I barely ever used. For example, ordering an engineer to repair something directly through the menu feels unnecessary when we can simply do it ourselves.
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Squad member infections are entirely predetermined, just like the sections of the game in which they can accompany us. This makes certain situations feel anticlimactic and undermines the need to look after our teammates and earn their trust. In the end, we know that certain events are going to happen regardless of how well we’ve managed our squad.
