Happy Birthday Clive Barker!
David Gelmini
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It may seem hard to believe, but the man whom Stephen King described as “the future of horror” has now been in this world for six and a half decades. That’s right… Clive Barker turns 65 today.
All of us here at Dread Central would like to wish this great man a very happy birthday!
Festivities are also well under way. Nicholas Vince, who played the Chatterer Cenobite in the first two Hellraiser movies, asked the audience to shout out a huge greeting to Clive at a 30th anniversary screening at London’s prestigious Prince Charles Cinema.
To celebrate the birthday of the genre legend in our own way, we decided to take look back at some of his least-talked about endeavors. You see, in addition to conquering the worlds of film and literature, Barker has also left his gruesome mark in the medium of video games.
Firstly, he wrote the aptly titled Clive Barker’s Undying, which was released on PC back in 2001. In addition to writing duties, Barker himself got to flex his acting chops by voicing the character Ambrose Covenant.
Developed and published by EA (I get so damn pissed off when people say that Dead Space was their first survival horror game), Undying was a first-person shooter with a focus on exploration. It is set in 1923, with WWI veteran and occult investigator Patrick Galloway trying to uncover the supernatural mysteries surrounding the enormous Covenant Estate, leading him to discover that an entity known as the Undying King is attempting to force his way into our world. I won’t go into too much detais about the plot, but you can enjoy a compilation of all the game’s cutscenes below.
Due to low sales, Undying never made its way to consoles, and that’s a damn shame. If you feel like re-visiting this forgotten gem, a digital PC version is available on GOG.Com for £4.69.
After Undying, we didn’t get another Clive Barker video game until the release of Jericho in 2007. It was published by Codemasters (making it one of their few non-racing games) and developed by MercurySteam, who would go on to hit the big time with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Metroid: Samus Returns. More linear and action-oriented than Undying, Jericho had you taking control of an elite task force known as the Department of Occult Warfare on a mission to prevent an ancient being known as the Firstborn from laying waste to the Earth.
Whilst the story was fantastic, I will admit that gameplay-wise, Jericho had its flaws (the confined areas gave you little room to maneuver, which was a problem when the enemies would literally explode), but otherwise, it was still a mostly enjoyable game.
Once again, you can enjoy a compilation of Jericho’s cutscenes below.
I’m sad to say that Jericho is not currently available on digital storefronts, although you can probably pick up a secondhand copy for a more than reasonable price.
Lastly, in case you needed any further proof that Barker is a true master of horror, I present a video of him defending the genre from a confrontational and often outright downright rude audience.
Once more, happy birthday to a true legend!
Categorized:Horror Gaming News
