Metascore
63 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 25
  2. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. One of the best horror games to come out this fall, with horrifically imaginative creatures and dark, blood-covered environments.
  2. 80
    Unlike many squad-based shooters that don't require the use of the whole team, Jericho's premise relies on it. What's equally important is that each character is genuinely worth playing.
  3. I would've enjoyed more variety in the enemy fodder, but what's available is certainly creepy and intense. Clive Barker should develop more games. [Nov 2007, p.65]
  4. A solid shooter marred by poor design. Excellent visuals and some fine FPS gameplay are to be had in Jericho, but I wouldn't pay full price for it.
  5. Jericho is definitely a case of inventive design married all-too-unhappily to old school thinking, and the result is a game that is almost fatally broken.
  6. The developers' love for detail, which is apparent in the characters of the Jericho team, is missing otherwise: the levels are linear and sometimes monotonous, the enemies always act the same way.
  7. I guess I would recommend it to Clive Barker fans. Bear in mind that there are obvious drawbacks to it, too. If you can live with the abovementioned issues (mostly concerning the tedious elements in the level design and its appearance), you will find stuff that you can like in this one.
  8. I can't promise you a perfect horror FPS in Jericho, in fact I can promise you that it won't be, but somewhere between the dense oppression of its atmosphere, the unapologetically, almost decadently horrific nature of its production design, the satisfaction of its gameplay when it's firing on all cylinders, and some rather broken protagonist characters who I was surprised to grow rather attached to by the end despite the script not making the most of their backstories, I find myself unable to write it off.
  9. Utterly unremarkable. [Jan 2008, p.72]
  10. Ironically, the story is better-suited to a summer Hollywood horror flick, and it falls flat as a premise for driving action in a video game. With a number of great releases on the horizon, there's no reason to let this aberration anywhere near your hard drive.
  11. The action is quite a laugh and oddly refreshing. But it repeats and repeats and repeats. [Dec 2007, p.78]
  12. Poor level design poisons Jericho's awesome but unrealized potential.
  13. If the AI worked as it was intended, and if there was a cover system beyond "stand behind that pillar and the splash damage 'might' not kill you," Jericho would be great. But it doesn't, there isn't, and it's not. [Dec 2007, p.82]
  14. On one hand it's a near-broken video game, packed full of so many gaming no-nos that it ought never to be spoken about again, but on the other it's original, atmospheric and sickeningly good fun.
  15. If broken gameplay mechanics and community college acting didn't weigh down the game, it might actually be worthwhile.
  16. Jericho doesn't really bring anything new to the gaming world.
  17. Jericho shows a great deal of thought put into the final product, but it just doesn't rise above its own problems, unfortunately.
  18. 60
    For fans of Clive Barker, Jericho could provide some degree of entertainment, and as we stated at the beginning of this review, it's not totally devoid of rewards. At the same time, it's difficult to recommend a game with so many lackluster elements in a world full of Gears of Wars and BioShocks (both of which managed to be scarier than Jericho).
  19. The end result is just to routine to be scary. [Holiday 2007, p.84]
  20. 56
    Instead of getting caught up in the struggle against a demonic force that threatens the continued existence of your race, you're left with tacked-on squad elements, poor friendly and enemy AI, repetitive encounters, and unabashedly linear levels. Jericho has a few memorable moments, but they're not worth the cash.
  21. The sheer number of things that had to go wrong to keep Clive Barker's Jericho from being a raging success is almost unbelievable, because when it comes right down to it, this game had the makings of a real hit. The fact that the credits roll at the exact same moment you finally find yourself on the edge of your seat cements the overall feeling of incompleteness the game gives off from the beginning.
  22. The game's failure to monopolise on its squad dynamic relegates it to a shooter-by-numbers, and its appeal is then further undercut by the fact that, while Barker clearly has a sense for the grotesque, it is the only note that Jericho plays. [Dec 2007, p.91]
  23. So what you have is by the numbers, lead you by the nose shooter with decent graphics, some neat special powers, and a crazy (but still kind of cool) Clive Barker story-that isn't scary in the slightest. This is perhaps the game's greatest failing: it's just not scary.
  24. Given how much repetition is in the game, one would think it was much longer than its six to eight hour length. The lack of any kind of multiplayer hurts it further. And the final stake to the heart is the appallingly abrupt and inconclusive ending.
  25. 40
    The action and violence are satisfying enough to make the game marginally recommendable, but only barely. Add in the complete lack of any multiplayer options, a terrible ending, and Clive Barker's Jericho feels like a game where the good parts are overwhelmed by the shortcomings.
User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 116 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 54
  2. Negative: 12 out of 54
  1. 5
    The game isn't bad for a shooter, but it doesn't top the list either. A half decent story combined with the ability to switch characters having different skill sets make it mentionable, but the flaws really outshine the strengths. Poor level design with essentially linear corridors allowing only one way in and one way out alongside poor sqaud AI and one dimensional monsters. For the $1.69 I paid, it was money well spent. Full Review »
  2. ClaudioB.
    10
    Sure this isn't the best FPS ever (more on that later), BUT, my friends: a) the plot, the visual & the mood come from Clive Barker, a writer that I personally adore: to be honest the idea of an ancient evil radicated into the history of man so that you can change scenario with a meaning sounds good to me, while you go deeper you go past historical eras and forgive me but this is a fantastic idea; at the same time, you can (and must, to survive) control a whole squad with specific weapons and powers and this is also a great idea (instead of "oh i've found a new great weapon" of the others FPS!); b) levels are linear, enemies come out from spots...but when they do so, emerging from the myst, or a dark tunnel, well, my heart always lose a beat or two: I really don't understand other comments all over the net, this game scares me! (but again maybe its ME); always after a combat I think "wow thanks god there is a save point-that one was pretty hard"; c) bad things: powers aren't always easy to use (you have to place the character with extreme care, in THAT place and not two millimetres away!), an open ending (eh eh, space for a sequel-that's business my friends) and -but that's MY problem- the language translation in italian (totally sucks, I just play in english). To me, this game rocks: if you read Barker, buy it; if you enjoy a game with a marvellous mood, great characters and great plot and don't mind little repetitive schemes... buy it! It's worth it. Full Review »
  3. 9
    This game was AWESOME! I have NO IDEA why some people would pan this game, let alone some of the unforgiving reviews here or a steam meta-score of 63. This was one of my favorite FPS games to come out in a Long time, and I've played a lot of them. Got it as a value title on steam and I played it to the hilt in a couple of days, got more than my money's worth -- it was a STEAL! While It's not perfect, it doesn't need to be and I can be truly unforgiving to some games with profound enough flaws. The Good: Interesting and novel elements for FPS's can be found here. Lots of Abilities and gimmicks that many other games think sufficient to rest on their laurels with one or two of, this game has a whole suite of them thrown in with the kitchen sink (14 total, including bullet-time, Healing, Tele&Pyro Kinesis, bullets you can guide in flight as well as spell-like effects.) You can freely switch between the 7 characters in your squad for most of the game, each accommodating different play-styles, to keep the game fresh, or to overcome specific challenges. Need the whole squad to take something down? Go with your support classes. Just want to mow everything down and don't overthink it? Go heavy. Puzzle time? Switch to the clairvoyant. Time to get personal? One of the characters is a melee badass. The environments and characters as well as enemies are really immersive and sometimes truly horrifying. There are a few quick time events sprinkled into the game -- but where in most titles this feature is repetitive, punishing or annoying -- they REALLY shine here. I won't ruin them all but there is one where you have to use quick-time button-mashing to perform an EXORCISM! Very cool. The gore, language and violence are VERY graphic and even disturbing in places -- but appropriately so. The story is historically inspired and TRULY different. What's cooler? As the game progresses your futuristic squad moves further and further back in time and interacts with folks like 1942 British Occult soldiers (and their nazi counterparts), Corrupted Crusaders, Roman Legionaires... all the way back to Sumerian Priests! There is good character development and achievements unlock info about various heroes and villains -- in most games this is extraneous or cursorily interesting, but for this game I read and examined them all THOROUGHLY. The backbone concept alone is awesome -- Military Occult Warfare team assembled from Witches and Chaplains in the US army? The story is AMAZING. The Bad: Really... I have to work to give equal time for deep criticism, because the game is awesome especially for the price, but here goes... No multiplayer -- and in a squad-based game like this it is TRULY a shame -- if it did it could have potential for amazing multiplayer action akin to games like left 4 dead, because the characters are so different and would mesh SO MUCH BETTER if a variety of people were talking and driving them (though the AI is adequate for single-player) Perhaps dare I say considering the 7 different classes it could have been a great mesh of Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2... sadly, it was not to be. A second gripe would be that once you are able to rapidly switch between the entire squad things can get a little overwhelming at first. They DO try to acquaint you with each character in turn and introduce the powers, but before long you find yourself in situations where 1 or 2 powers are the best (or in a couple of circumstances the only) solutions before you are fully familiar with all the tools at your disposal. Thankfully the game is long enough so that before long you know what you've got and can switch it up to handle anything you need to deal with. Also, while the character selection menu uses squad members last names to identify them, in many situations the squad-members voices refer to characters by their first name. Sure, before too long you'll catch up and learn that you need to switch to Black (the Sniper) when somebody is asking "Simone" to take a critical shot or use telekinetics, or know intuitively that when people are yelling that "Billie is Down!" that you need to go help (Billie) Church as referred to into the menu. I got the idea, they wanted you to have a first-name basis and identification with the characters... but it was a little difficult at first, like being at a dinner party and being nervous about remembering everyone's name to whom you were introduced... still, by the third mission I assure you I was good friends and on a first name basis with all of them. Lastly, where some games can be annoying or punishing in putting you in situations where there is no obvious way or counter-intuitive way to proceed, it seems the dialogue in this game was almost in a hurry to give things away -- You never get to a point where you want to hit your head on a wall because in some situations the puzzle is telegraphed to you before you know there's a problem! Beats the alternative though. 9/10 Full Review »