This game is the true face of evil developed by DreamWorks Interactive, published by EA Games and designed by the master of horror himself, Clive Barker in the year 2001. It was released on PC only. The day I first played the game I was shocked to see such scaring things happening before me, the sudden movements and screaming voices and the demons like howlers moving so fast that it was something never seen or expected. For days I couldn’t sleep, the horror in the game is overwhelming.
The only game which terrifies me more than this game was (will post later about it, those who have played it cannot forget it)
This game is a first person shooter action adventure game where you play the role of Patrick Galloway, an occult expert who receives a letter from his friend Jeremiah Covenant. The letter reveals some disturbing facts about some kind of curse which has befallen on Jeremiah’s whole family and has taken the lives of his four siblings. The curse has further reanimated all four of his siblings and now they lurk in the extensive estate which the Covenant family owns and haunts Jeremiah. Jeremiah wants Patrick to come over as soon as he can to help him as he fears his life might be in danger.
After arriving at the estate Patrick must embarks on a perilous quest to to break the curse and to unravel the horror which lies beneath the land of the Covenants. Jeremiah being the only survivor and one of the five children alive tells Patrick something he has never heard before. He tells him that when he was a child he and his four siblings, Ambrose, Lizbeth, and twins Aaron and Bethany all found a strange occult book in their father’s library which had some sort of rituals within it. They decided to recite the ritual at a place called the ring of standing stones which lies within the estate. After performing the ritual something evil was unleashed and when they reached adulthood it started taking their lives one by one. The curse has now resurrected his brothers and sisters and turned them into demons. They are no longer human and they haunt the place now and are thirsty for Jeremiah’s soul.
The solid journey to break the curse and to confront the evil entity who has cursed the Covenant family is full of arcane magic, supernatural abominations and ancient horror. In order to quell the Undying King, Patrick has to vanquish the four undead siblings of Jeremiah Covenant and to do this he has to visit them individually in their own cursed and demonic environments.
To survive in the demon’s world all Patrick needs is to be extremely cautious and active and for his safety he has his own inventory where he uses magic and weapons. The spells are great, they does a lot of damage to the enemies but in close encounters they are not the best choice. This is where the best weapon of the game comes forth, the Scythe of the Celt. This melee weapon is very powerful against demonic forces and can dismember the creatures in close combats.
But a mysterious supernatural power attaches itself to this Scythe of the Celt which when explored reveals something demonic , “Bless me Father for I have sinned. Temptation has overtaken me. I must leave my brethren, yet I fear there may be difficulties. No one has ever left the monastery alive. My fellow monks have eyes of the eagle and ears of the hound. Therefore, I must walk quietly under the cloak of night. Perhaps if they do not see nor hear me, I will pass safely. There is yet another reason for my leaving. Weeks ago, we uncovered the Scythe of the Celt out near the Standing Stones. This evil artefact has now infected us. I have seen a change in my brothers and in myself. Our minds are cursed, we spend less time with our quills and more time with our weapons. The Scythe is a very powerful weapon, very adept at killing, but there is a price. I pray that the ritual at the church can summon the forces necessary to destroy the Scythe and return us to peace. I will not be present for the ritual, as I will use that time to slip away quietly into the wilderness. Protect me, Father.
I find this Scythe of the Celt to be quite a disturbing force. It’s clear from the history of this weapon that it is particularly effective in exterminating the most heinous of entities. At times it seemed to pull me in directions ofcombat…almost as if it’s seeking pain and destruction. Wreaking havoc on my mana when in my hands for long duration, it seems to replenish my health in particularly frenzied fighting. I have learned to not fear many things in life, but there is something within this weapon that stirs a horror within me I cannot explain.”
All I can say is that Undying is unlike other games, it is a horrifying game, with some heart stopping jump scares. Those who have never played this game are depriving themselves of getting to know the game built so long ago midst limitations in graphics and technology but when completed and modified did it best to scare the **** out of us.
The only drawback of this game is absence of Online Multiplaying. Also poor sales of this game made the whole multiplayer-game patch to be released into never happening and badly damaged the reputation of the game.
Tell me one thing :
Are game like Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, The Last Of Us, Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, God of War, Deus Ex, The Witcher, Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted and others got fame just because of Multiplayer features? I don’t think so. Some games are best enjoyed when multiplayed but others not. I don’t disagree with multiplayer features in a game but one who hasn’t played the game as a single player campaign then how he will enjoy the multiplayer campaign.
This is same for those people who like playing games but when to choose between long story type game such as Tomb Raider, Meal Gear Solid etc. and racing type games like Need for Speed and Gran Turismo , they will choose racing type entertaining games. The reason behind it is that they don’t like waiting for the story to be told about the game, the things the player has to do which are a lot, like meeting and conversing with the non-player characters(NPCs), building inventory, strengthening the armour and weapons statistics, exploring the enormous open-world environments, levelling up, clearing the chapters, defeating the boss/main boss/dragon after a long gap etc. Infact what they love is instant killing, fast and furious kind of stuff, death matches, don’t want to wait for story to finish will press skip when displayed.
This is one of the reasons why Undying was not a success. But no matter whatever the reasons are I love this game more than Silent Hill, one of my best and more than Resident Evil. Undying has a unique horrific ambiance which disturbs the sanity within us and possesses us. To get free of this Undying curse one has listen to these chants which are chanted by the monks at the old monastery in the game :
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I have told you much about the game now it is your turn to play this game. This game deserves a remake and I will seriously request Clive Barker to build this game again and release it on PS4, Xone and PC.
Undying, a true horror masterpiece by Clive Barker.
Those who don’t know about Clive Barker please see Hellraiser.
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