The Thing Xbox
The Thing Image
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.3 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Summary: While investigating the enigmatic deaths of American scientists in the Antarctic, a military rescue team encounters a strange shape-shifting alien life-form that assumes the appearance of the people it kills. As the team leader, you must forget everything you ever learned about obliterating aliens simply with a barrage of violent ammunition--this monster is difficult to see, hard to kill, and seemingly impossible to evade. In the midst of this lurking terror, you must convince your squad to cooperate and complete tasks essential to both the success of the mission and your own survival.… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 21
  3. Negative: 1 out of 21
  1. Maxim Online
    100
    Incredibly atmospheric (it makes great use of flickering lights, icy landscapes, and foreboding corridors) without skimping on the screams, The Thing is a terrifying battle to the finish.
  2. Armchair Empire
    86
    A good game that isn’t ground-breaking; however, it does add some interesting considerations with the Trust and Fear of your squad-mates and it creates a terrific atmosphere.
  3. Xbox Nation Magazine
    70
    It packs a good measure of original gameplay concepts; it just suffers a few missteps that keep it from ranking in the upper echelon of Xbox titles. [Winter 2002, p.95]
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  4. Play Magazine
    40
    Its focus is clunky, and the disparate connection to your teammates sabotages the elements that game does get right. [Aug 2002, p.71]
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See all 21 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. AlexB.
    10
    This is a game u should get because it will scare u to sh#t. never play this game at night. some parts are a little hard AT TIMES but very fun. but sometimes your squad will blow their heads off but its all good.very very addicting. i wish u could slow down time like in max payne. DONT BUY THIS GAME IF U ARE A PUSSY. IF U ARE U WILL HATE IT AND MAYBE TRY TO BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF LIKE THAT GUY THAT GAVE THIS GAME A 2..... i hope u liked my report.… Collapse
  2. JosephW.
    8
    Great game, but could have been so much more, I don't believe they took full advantage of the trust and who can you trust thing. Also I didn't like most of the bosses I fought, it was a tad cheesy when they tried to mix strategy type gameplay in an action game. Who the hell thought that it would be fun? To fight the thing bosses as in using intelligence than using action? … Expand
  3. NickV.
    7
    Going into this game i feared the worst. a licensed game, team play and that look that says trouble. but give it a chance and the thing will be there. first thing that showed me that was the incredibly realistic voice acting and an amazing faithfulness to the movie. however its not all peaches and cream. the difficulty cant make up its mind, one minutes its cakewalk easy the next it hair pulling hard and with such an emphasis on team play there isnt much of it. it dosent help that when your not with a team your either fighting enoying crackshot humans or extremly frustating boss battles(which odly dont have any medpacks to pick up after they die.) however if you have the patience the thing will definetly give you a good time!… Expand
  4. TarikT.
    2
    This game really sucks, terrible story good puzzles, but probobaly one of the worst combat systems i have ever come across. Yea the combat system really brings the game down 8 points, basically all you do is shoot the aliens and then use your flame thrower, it may seem cool at first but it actually gets exteremly lame. This is a good rental if you were a fan of the movie the thing, which i must say was sooo dope, i loved the movie. If not you should not waste your money on junk like this.… Expand

See all 8 User Reviews