It's interesting to be a fan of The Thing in these current times, as not only is there a new film adaptation being worked on while John Carpenter is involved, an expanded version of the original sci-fi horror novella has also been uncovered, while a sequel is getting written already towards it!
In 2018, it was found that Who Goes There? was actually a shortened version of a larger novel previously written by Campbell. The expanded manuscript (including an entirely different opening), titled Frozen Hell, was found in a box of manuscripts sent by Campbell to Harvard University The discovery was made by author and biographer Alec Nevala-Lee during his research on a biography of Campbell and other authors from the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
How cool is that discovery!? Anyway, until those new projects have been officially released, fans will have to wait a bit longer. Until then, let's try out the only video game that has been developed and released based on the source material; the PC video game The Thing from 2002.
It plays out like a tactical squad based third person shooter. While being based on the novella, it acts more like a sequel towards the 1982 film adaptation remake, and lets you play as Blake, who is sent with a task force to figure out what the hell happened to the survivors.
You are able to move, crouch, interact and shoot around with your character, while NPC's will act as squad members towards your mission. They come in 3 forms; soldiers, medics and engineers, and they function as more damage output, healing assistance and solving puzzles, respectively towards the game logic.
The Thing itself, or the alien manifestations, also come in 3 forms; Scuttlers, small creatures acting like scouts, Walkers, much stronger and susceptible towards fire, and special Bosses that require a specific strategy to defeat, but burning them in the end remains the final touch to finish them off.
Uniquely as a main gameplay feature, there is a Fear/Trust system intact, and it's easy to imagine what this means fictionally, but also when you think about real life. Basically, the NPC's will either fear or trust you depending on what and when things happen, and you can do certain actions to improve either the fear or trust between you and them.
At the same time, an infection system is also intact, that will let most NPC's eventually turn/metamorphose into horrible alien creatures, but the chance of that happening grows higher or lower, as it depends how many times your members have made close approximation with The Thing, similar like a virus.
The Thing 2002 video game was rather scary back then, and even is now when you think of the themes playing out, the notion that you cannot trust anyone, and the survival horror aspect. Sure, the graphics are outdated, but the horrific idea's remain, and it's really playable.
Rating: 7.7
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