# Clive Barker\'s Jericho {#clive-barkers-jericho .reader-title}
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| Clive Barker\'s Jericho |
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| Developers | <div> |
| | |
| | - MercurySteam |
| | - Alchemic Productions |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Publisher | Codemasters |
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| Director | Enric J. Álvarez Benito |
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| Producers | <div> |
| | |
| | - Rafael Martínez García |
| | - Clive Barker |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Designers | <div> |
| | |
| | - Luis Miguel Quijada Henares |
| | - José Darío Halle Cano |
| | - Ignacio Abad Donado-Mazarron |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Programmers | <div> |
| | |
| | - Carlos Rodríguez Butragueño |
| | - José Darío Halle Cano |
| | - José Antonio Martín Armayones |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Artist | Juan Antonio Alcázar Redondo |
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| Writer | Clive Barker |
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| Composers | <div> |
| | |
| | - Cris Velasco |
| | - Allister Brimble |
| | - Anthony N. Putson |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Platforms | <div> |
| | |
| | - Microsoft Windows |
| | - PlayStation 3 |
| | - Xbox 360 |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Release | <div> |
| | |
| | - NA: 23 October 2007 |
| | - EU: 26 October 2007 |
| | - AU: 7 November 2007 [(PC)]{.small} |
| | - AU: 8 November 2007 |
| | |
| | </div> |
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| Genre | First-person shooter |
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| Mode | Single-player |
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'*Clive Barker\'s Jericho'* is a horror first-person shooter video
game developed by MercurySteam and Alchemic Productions and published by
Codemasters. It is produced by Clive Barker. The game was released for
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.
*Jericho*\'s core gameplay consists of leading the game\'s seven-man
team codenamed Jericho, allowing control of all team members by jumping
to each character during certain points in the game, through various
environments that have been warped by the Firstborn while fighting off a
variety of twisted creatures.
The game also features several quick time events where the player must
press the corresponding buttons or keys shown on screen in order to
successfully survive. Additionally, each team member has both a primary
and a secondary attack, either in the form of an alternate fire such as
a grenade launcher on a rifle, or a secondary weapon such as a sword or
pistol that can be dual wielded. While the game is a first-person
shooter, the ability to control different members of one\'s squad adds a
tactical element; players must determine which squad member is
appropriate for each particular job. Not only does each squad member
have different strengths and weaknesses, but they also each have a
unique ability (or supernatural abilities in some cases). This allows
the player freedom in choosing a playing style that suits them
throughout much of the game. However, during certain instances, certain
characters are unplayable.
The squad\'s supernatural abilities play a prominent role in the game.
The character the player originally controls is a psychic healer (medic)
with the ability to fully heal fallen comrades that are close to death.
Other squad members have other powers, such as summoning a fire demon,
slowing time, firing a guided bullet, and leeching life from enemies to
add it to one\'s own. ^\[1\]^
Certain depictions and ancient scriptures dictate a being created by God
in His own image before the creation of Adam and Eve; according to
legend, this being was abandoned by its own Creator. In the game\'s
mythology, this being is called the \"Firstborn\". God was so disturbed
by what He created that He banished it into the Abyss. God then started
anew and went on to create humankind, giving the species two sexes,
feelings, and love.
The Firstborn, too powerful for even God to keep from breaking into the
mortal world, would make seven attempts to escape, each time taking back
a piece of the earth to add to its domain and each time sent back to the
Abyss. Fragments of time and space would form layers around this domain,
linked to this world in the city Al Khali. These layers would entrap
pieces of history within its walls, from the time of the ancient
Sumerians to World War II. Over time, other great conquerors and
civilisations would arrive to claim the city as their own. Eventually,
the city was forgotten and buried by the sands of time.
The Department of Occult Warfare was created in the 1930s to combat the
supernatural and unexplained. Another purpose was to meet Nazi
Germany\'s own research into the paranormal. One of their most brilliant
members, Arnold Leach, was recruited in 1962. However, his unscrupulous
behaviour and nature would eventually have him expelled. He was marked
for assassination, and although the operation appeared to be successful,
it seems that he may have survived.
The Jericho Squad is sent to Al-Khali to prevent Leach from opening the
breach and unleashing the Firstborn upon mankind once again.
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The game begins with General Arnold Leach, a high-ranking member of a
secret U.S. organisation called the Department of Occult Warfare (DOW),
being contacted by the Firstborn, a being that was imprisoned by God at
the beginning of time in a patch of reality called the Box. The
Firstborn convinces Leach to help it escape from the Box. Leach leaves
the DOW, and spends the next twenty years committing acts of great evil
to build up evil energy to cause a breach in the Box.
Eventually, a breach is made, and the DOW sends in a special forces team
called Jericho to seal the breach. The leader of the squad, Captain
Devin Ross, is killed by Leach, but he is still able to linger on as a
ghost able to possess the other members of the squad. Being unable to
seal it any other way, they enter the Box to close the breach from
within.
Once inside, they must battle the souls of those who have breached the
Box in the past; a Nazi officer, a fallen Catholic priest from the
Middle Ages, a depraved Roman Governor, and six ancient Sumerian priests
(Ninlil and Ki, Inanna and Enlil as well as Nanna and Utu, who were the
first to banish the Firstborn but ultimately fell victim to its
corruption). Jericho is aided by the souls of those who ultimately
resealed the breach each time it was broken.
However, when they finally reach the point at which they can seal the
breach, the squad instead decides that they should kill the Firstborn
rather than try to reseal the breach, as resealing would just result in
them being trapped in the Box and endlessly tortured until the breach
was opened again just like as happened with all their past allies.
Travelling into the Firstborn\'s cavern, they find the creature in the
middle of an island on a lake, with Leach bound to a nearby wall. Before
Cole could identify the Firstborn\'s weaknesses, the Firstborn kills
Cole and Jones and battles the surviving squad members. Jericho manages
to defeat the Firstborn by targeting it each time it tries to duplicate
any of the squad\'s abilities. Leach breaks free of his bonds; angered
at the Firstborn\'s betrayal, he grabs it and carries it to a tunnel of
light, causing the cavern to collapse. Jericho jumps into the water and
swims to escape. They emerge from under the water in a vast ocean under
an orange sky.
*Clive Barker\'s Jericho* received \"mixed\" reviews on all platforms
according to video game review aggregator
Metacritic.^\[19\]\[20\]\[21\]^ Many critics praised the squad-based
system, elaborate storyline, Clive Barker\'s dark style and soundtrack
while criticising the character AI, linear gameplay, abrupt ending and
difficulty with certain game mechanics.
On the game\'s style, *Eurogamer* stated that \"Clive Barker\'s
contribution to the concept and narrative direction of the game will
certainly help get the attention of horror fans\"^\[5\]^ while
*GameSpot* noted its \"gorgeously creepy visuals and sound\".^\[8\]^
*Official Xbox Magazine* praised the choice of characters, being
\"endless fun to switch tactics and experiment with different
combinations of powers and weapons for crowd control\".^\[16\]^ However,
reviewers complained about the in-game mechanics. Among their criticisms
were the poor AI, whereby teammates would die often, requiring the
player to heal them regularly. *IGN* stated: \"If the Jericho members\'
intelligence level wasn\'t enough of a nuisance for you, there\'s the
actual shooting itself\";^\[14\]^ *Jolt Online Gaming* commented that
the maps were too linear and close.^\[22\]^ Despite this, *GamePro* gave
the Xbox 360 version a score of 4.5 out of 5, saying that the game\'s
\"slick style, amazing graphics, and dark atmosphere really make it
stand out\".^\[23\]^
After being denied a rating in Germany^\[24\]^ *Jericho*\'s uncut
version got an 18+ rating^\[25\]^ for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
versions. In 2010, *UGO* included the game as the #6 in the article
\"The 11 Weirdest Game Endings\".^\[26\]^
Rumours about a sequel to *Jericho* were confirmed in 2007 when Clive
Barker had announced his intention to make a sequel to the game.^\[27\]^
The sequel project never came to fruition.
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