Games

Best of 2009 | 08 |07 | 06 | 05
Advanced Search

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Clive Barker's Jericho

EMAIL PRINT xbox360

7.6 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 46 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 42 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >

Game Info

Publisher: Codemasters

Developer: Codemasters

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Horror

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: October 23, 2007

Summary

An unflinching realisation of a Clive Barker nightmare for next-gen console platforms and PC, Clive Barker's Jericho is a supernatural horror concept with story by the master mythmaker, novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker. Jericho deals with the mysterious reappearance of a lost city in a remote desert. When a form of evil that goes right back to the dawn of days resurfaces from there, a Special Forces squad, trained in both conventional warfare and the arcane arts, is sent in. Their mission: Hunt down and destroy the evil that lurks at the heart of the city before it destroys humanity. Jericho is designed as an action horror title that ups the stakes in visuals and phantasmagorical special effects. Mingling the darkest elements of Barker’s horror fiction and films with an ambitious, age-spanning story, aimed at mature gamers, fans of Clive Barker and horror fiction enthusiasts. [Codemasters]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Deeko

Remember this kids, Clive Barker Mercury Steam and Codemasters have formed together to make what is in my mind one of the best shooters this year.

Read Full Review >

GamePro

Its slick style, amazing graphics, and dark atmosphere really make it stand out.

Read Full Review >

Planet Xbox 360

Considering the subject material there are not many other games like it (F.E.A.R.) and the unique character-switching feature helps it pick up a few points. The nice variation in weapons and magical powers also keeps the average gameplay from getting too boring.

Read Full Review >

MS Xbox World

If you are a fan of Clive Barker's works, or in fact a horror fan, then Jericho should be a priority for you.

Read Full Review >

Play Magazine

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]

GameZone

Clive Barker’s Jericho doesn’t provide the same degree of deep and engaging gameplay as Undying, opting instead for a more accessible, mainstream adventure that can be frightening at best, and repetitive at worst. Still, the game has no shortage of action and intensity.

Read Full Review >

GameTap

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.

Read Full Review >

X360 Magazine UK

A flawed classic. Jericho is stylish, with epic battling, unique gameplay dynamics and satisfying weapons. But variable visuals, too many QTEs and a poor ending leave it wanting. [Issue 26, p.88]

TeamXbox

It provides gamers with a creepy, action-packed experience with a solid plot and unique designs. No one should go into Jericho expecting the “Citizen Kane” of gaming, just like no one expects a slasher flick to win an Oscar. Instead, Jericho should be enjoyed for what it is: an interactive horror experience, good for some chills, thrills and a little bit of ye old gore factor thrown in for good measure.

Read Full Review >

GamerNode

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.

Read Full Review >

Official Xbox Magazine

High-concept and high-action from beginning to end, Jericho is far closer to "Gears of War" and "Painkiller" than to "Condemned", but it's darker and gorier than all three combined. [Holiday 2007, p.66]

Read Full Review >

Jolt Online Gaming UK

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.

Read Full Review >

Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

It won't scare you, but Jericho is an enjoyably slick and bloody shoot-'em-up. [Dec 2007, p.75]

AtomicGamer

With no replay value of any kind and no cooperative or multiplayer action at all, Jericho is practically begging me to tell my readers that this game is only worth a rental.

Read Full Review >

IC-Games

Jericho is not a bad game it’s just one that lost its way slightly during development. The ability to jump into other team members bodies and harness their powers is a good idea let down slightly by poor implementation and a claustrophobic level design.

Read Full Review >

Eurogamer

With its unique squad-based focus and the huge combat variety on offer, it breaks plenty of new ground for the genre - and were it not for a few rough edges would have been bordering on essential.

Read Full Review >

Official Xbox Magazine UK

Not nasty enough and not scary at all. [Dec 2007, p.92]

Read Full Review >

Play.tm

Ultimately, considering the overwhelming strength of recent FPS arrivals, Clive Barker's Jericho is likely to sink into the gaming Abyss with God's diabolical Firstborn... never to be seen again.

Read Full Review >

Extreme Gamer

Jericho is clever enough for a good time with a FPS, however as anything else Jericho should trade in this blood gushing festival of carnage for jelly donuts.

Read Full Review >

GameSpot

Poor level design poisons Jericho's awesome but unrealized potential.

Read Full Review >

Xbox World Australia

The game combines a tired formula of spawning wave after wave of mindless enemies in the same room with you with the clumsily-executed 'squad-based' combat, which is enough to stave off any fan of the genre aside from stout Barker fans in it for the intriguing but sadly unrealised plot.

Read Full Review >

Game Chronicles

Clive Barker’s Jericho will likely appeal to a certain group of gamers just from the implied pedigree, but the truth is that the uninspired gameplay, linear levels, horrid AI, and merely average presentation values keep this game from ever gripping you like any of Clive’s movies.

Read Full Review >

Console Monster

If the developers had given this game another six to eight months in development, the game could have been a solid shooter; unfortunately it ends up just being an average one.

Read Full Review >

Da Gameboyz

Overall, Clive Barker's Jericho is somewhat of a disappointment. I was hoping for another great horror game just in time for the Halloween season but this was not the case as the storyline and character design is not enough to save this game which is flawed on many different levels.

Read Full Review >

Worth Playing

Jericho is a title with great ideas. The squad-switching mechanic works very well, the various magic abilities are mostly sound and the plot is potentially very interesting. However, great ideas don't make up for shoddy execution, and Jericho just isn't a $60 game. It's far too short and easy, and the complete lack of any post-game content is almost unforgivable.

Read Full Review >

360 Gamer Magazine UK

Jericho works really hard to build up a tense and involving game environment, but then can’t quite deliver the game to match. Confusing at the points where it needs to be clear and, only sporadically showing glimpses of what should have been, Jericho is a perfectly reasonable experience, but hardly essential.

GameSpy

Jericho's gameplay comes off as a decidedly "lather, rinse, repeat" affair where you enter a new area, kill the monsters that spawn and run at you and then move onto the next area and perform the monotonous experience all over again.

Read Full Review >

Game Informer

If broken gameplay mechanics and community college acting didn’t weigh down the game, it might actually be worthwhile.

Read Full Review >

VideoGamer

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.

Read Full Review >

Cheat Code Central

Jericho doesn't really bring anything new to the gaming world.

Read Full Review >

NZGamer

In Jericho there was the potential for an atmospheric game packed with terror, wonder and invention. Unfortunately, all we get is a very standard shooter with a number of annoying failings, sitting atop an undoubtedly original premise.

Read Full Review >

AceGamez

Beneath the mangled exterior of clumsy control methods and weak characterisation there is a great idea here and had the game been given a few months longer in development it could have had these annoyances ironed out.

Read Full Review >

GameTrailers

Jericho is way too ambitious and it hurts on every side. While not broken, it’s poorly designed and dull, from spawning enemies making the tactical play irrelevant, to a horror story that, despite its charm and intricacies, just isn’t scary. Jericho may be art, but not all art is good.

Read Full Review >

IGN

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.

Read Full Review >

Talk Xbox

Clive Barker's Jericho is the type of game that would have made an impact a decade ago. Its onslaught of enemies is far more reminiscent of old-school shooters like Quake, and if that's your bag then you should be able to at least marginally enjoy what Jericho brings to the table.

Read Full Review >

Gamer 2.0

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.

Read Full Review >

Kombo

Clive Barker's Jericho is a mish-mash of great concepts and stupid design choices.

Read Full Review >

Edge Magazine

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]

GameDaily

Publisher Codemasters didn't complement Barker's original story with an enjoyable video game.

Read Full Review >

NTSC-uk

Deep down, Jericho clearly has the right idea. However, the implementation - which feels half-hearted at times - really lets it down.

Read Full Review >

Boomtown

A story that took you into twisted, deranged, decrepit worlds that just yearned for some fantastic art direction and varied, interesting level design - you didn’t get any.

Read Full Review >

GameShark

Everything it tries to do, it fails—from the beginning to the abrupt and anti-climactic ending.

Read Full Review >

Game Revolution

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.

Read Full Review >

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Jericho is a mess of a shooter with nonexistant A.I., frustrating timed events, vague puzzles, and PS1-style load times. [Dec 2007, p.107]

G4 TV

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.

Read Full Review >

1UP

Also worthy of note: the stupid, unforgiving, scripted button-tapping events (think God of War, only terrible). The only reason these do not throw me into a fit of vein-bursting rage is that you can retry them infinitely.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 42 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jamie E gave it a9:
Honestly this is one of the best games I've played of late, found in the bargain bucket for under $10. The storyline is well scripted and the characters have tons of personality. The gameplay is hugely satisfying, the criticism of repetitiveness are undeserved - name me a single first person shooter which doesn't involve killing respawning enemies over and over again (including the grossly overrated MW2)? Ignore the big reviewers like IGN who score games on the basis of hype rather than quality and you'll get a real bargain with this one.

Kevin C gave it a3:
All of the people giving this game good ratings are either delusional or have the worst taste in games ever. This game was a complete repetitive slog through generic environments, horrible teammate A.I., and a boring story. At about the halfway point, you're stuck in a hallway with one type of enemy coming from up the stairs followed by one coming from the left, and after killing both this repeats itself, I kid you not, for 20 full minutes. I assumed either there was a spawn point to cross or I hit a bug, but no, all the walkthroughs mention this point. This is just one example of the atrocious time-wasting garbage this game is, and it's where I called it quits.

John P. gave it an8:
You want a game with an incredible storyline, innovative game play, and several different ways to attack something? Try Clive Barker's Jericho. This title is amazing with the graphics and the six person change up. Its nice to be able to use all the different kinds of guns you want without the unrealistic aspect of carrying them all by yourself. The story line is gripping and kind of scary too. The only issues with this game are the button-hits and the slow progression through the plot. Overall, great game.

Red I. gave it a9:
Great game... already playing it for the second time to get all the achievements. Great monster and stage desgin (which is mostly great on Rome) and breath taking action. On my account it's got as great action as the best first person shooters, but then again it does have a lot of points in which it lacked some effort. Take for example the ending... there are few games which have a worse ending than this one. The button sequences weren't that great and not at all a challenge (if those wouldn't have existed at all it wouldn't have mattered... which is not the case for resident evil 4 or god of war). The graphics.... uhm well I really can't see why everyone says it was such a bad job, when you see a monster covered up with blood and guts and you can tell theres some lower intestine in between then I can say there was a really great job in graphics.

Joe B gave it a3:
The story is ridiculous, it seems like a rip off of Doom 3, its too dark, your team is useless, there is no horror aspect, just teenage violence. THE LEVEL DESIGN IS ATROCIOUS, I have to admit, this was the killing blow in the game, ridiculously tight linear arenas with samey enemies and your team are immature as hell. Jericho is a fail in my eyes. If you want an eery shooter with a great story, try Bioshock.

T C gave it an8:
I have played Halo 3 and went through it but in spite of great graphics, sound and AI I didn't feel adrenaline rush at all playing it. Multiplayer in also boring in here. So I sold it but Jericho is still with me. Probably Jericho is not so well developed as HL 3 but it has something that previous one doesn't have at all. It gives me creeps with blood, bodies, rivers of blood etc, It gives frantic firefitghts when all your mates are cornered or dead, gives 6 characters with completely different style to play, great story, good gaming engine (I love when your character makes such small moves like real person in interaction scenes and when aiming cross is moving off the target when you are hit). Game is too short of course and there is only single player campaign in here,.Unfortunately weak sales and poor reviews will probably make impossible to publish next adventure of Jericho team as it was primarily intended. This is not FPS for everybody but If you are FPS fan you can rent it to go through. I think you will enjoy it.

Shawn S. gave it a9:
Incredible game. Don't listen to anybody who says otherwise. Try it and you'll see. One of the best 360 shooters for sure.

Games

Sony

Microsoft

Nintendo

Other Platforms

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Clive Barker's Jericho

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases