There are a ton of things I could say in this world and probably the next. I think there are about a hundred words I could use to describe Clive Barker's Jericho as an experience, but I think of all of them, the one that just says it all about the game is "bittersweet." For every positive, there is indeed the negative. There are some great things, and then there is the rest of it.

They no doubt wanted to take advantage of the Xbox 360's lighting and reflective surface features. They just applied all of the reflective surfaces to the blood and guts, and voila. The darkness is so profuse that enemies just look like jumbled masses of incoherent bits, and then they dress your team up the same way. Everyone and everything is just black. I fully understand this is a dark and black game, but even DOOM III, where the whole game was pitch black except for your pin light, had color to it. Unless you can decipher 10,000 hues between black and grey, then that's all your really gonna see - black and grey. Oh, well, excuse me, except for the bright, red entrails everywhere.

Sound in this game is going to get you killed more than anything else. If you can't instantly pick the mostly dark bad guys out of the mostly dark background visually, then some spacial sound would be nice. You can forget about that. Any time there is a monster attack, the sound is exactly the same all around you. If you think that this is an impressive feature, you know, like "there coming from everywhere!", than you are just wrong. It is just plain lazy. Now with that, I have to pay respect to the large amount of dialogue in the game. I didn't say great dialogue, but at least it went off when it was supposed to and applied to the situation. You didn't spend a particularly long time without someone speaking to you. I would even go as far as to tip my hat to some really great mood and mission dialogue.

Welcome to Clive Barker's Jericho and Team Jericho. In the beginning, you assume the role of CPT Devin Ross. As CPT Ross, you will lead a six man team against all the paranormal ills that are brought to bear on your beloved country. Today, you find yourself smack dab in the middle of a storm that shouldn't exist in a place known for its paranormal significance. Before God created Adam and Eve, he tried his hand with the Firstborn. A creature neither light nor dark, male nor female. God was in fear of his creation, so he banished him and began again. Undead and not content to remain outcast, the Firstborn has made six attempts to leave his internment. Every time he breathes the earth and is sucked back down, he takes a piece of our world and of that time with him to the depths. There are those who wish to see the Firstborn claim his rightful place on his earth. It will be your mission to stop them and seal the Firstborn forever.

Each character in your team has a unique weapons talent. Each character is also versed in forms of the occult. You will use each one of their talents and weapon abilities to take out the guardians of the Firstborn. You will have the ability to directly control and freely switch between the characters after the small matter of your own death. Each member's weapons talent lends itself to the standard tactical situations. You have the sniper, the melee expert, the ops, the heavy gunner, the pistoleer and the grenadier. Shouldn't be hard to figure out when to use which on the field of battle.

Besides the obvious weapons play, there are the occult traits to deal with in battle. Healers, psi-kinetics, and demon wielding come in just as handy as nine millimeters. Learn these character traits just like the weapons they carry and take advantage of their talents whenever possible.

Clive Barker's Jericho is not one of those games where the actual design makes things difficult and balanced at the same time. What I mean by that is first, the game's main difficulty comes in the form of target recognition and identification. Yes, I am back to harping on everything just being dark and unfocused for the sake of being dark and unfocused. And, let us not forget the sound issue. There are no great puzzles to solve. Most of the time your idiot teammates just dance around in your line of fire, which is no big deal when you are just basically shooting whatever moves. Try to stay out in front of them to avoid this, though. The boss battles were even more uninspired than the gameplay. Shoot, strafe, reload. Rinse and repeat.

I have spewed on about many things that I dislike about the game, so it is time for me to address many of Clive Barker's Jericho numerous design issues. First, the design was actually very simplistic and straightforward. I think that this is just what it is. I cannot deny the solid play mechanics. You move forward, you shoot, you get attacked, you defend. I think the issue there was it was just boring. I was hoping and expecting something to move me as much as, say F.E.A.R. or the aforementioned DOOM III. Instead what I got was a narrow hallway, shoot anything that moves, mindless romp. My blood pressure never went up out of surprise or fear, just frustration and aggravation. There were the same winding monotone pathways as any other FPS, except I think they just went on longer.

When I shoot something point blank with a high volume weapon like a machine gun, I want to see some effect. I want some knock back even if I am not going to get the satisfaction of actually killing the thing quickly. Give me some particulate flying off of them so you can tell they are being hit as they just run towards you like nothing is tearing through their undead flesh. It is just plain boring to shoot something and not be able to see ANY effect.

As I write this, I realize that I also was trying to move the story along, because I wanted to find out what was happening in the story. It's Clive flippin' Barker! It has a great premise! It is a story-driven game. It was just getting drug down by a mediocre FPS experience. It was sadly predictable as to when to see enemies and bosses.

There is not much left to say about this game. It's a decent story that is going to be lost quickly in time, kind of like well, its story. I see no replay value to the game, even for achievement points on LIVE. I really think that I would have rather have just watched the movie.