Clive Barker's Jericho Xbox 360

Jericho brings a touch of horror to the Rainbow-six style squad-based shooter genre. And who better to give it that touch than the revered poor man's H P Lovecraft, Clive Barker. Clive is the man behind pinny headed horror 'classic' Hellraiser. In this game, you are Captain Devin Ross - one of a squad of seven Covert Occult Warriors (COWs - moo!) each of whom has para-psychological abilities such as clairvoyance or magic powers. As the game begins, with a quick cod-occult dream sequence and a typically Barker-esque picture of some rent flesh and a swarm of flies, your squad is dropped straight into the action as you enter the town of Al Khali and break into an ancient tomb. From here you are plunged into a familiar world of Rainbow Six style creeping and shooting against a horde of demonic opponents that have risen from the abyss via a dimensional rift. As the game progresses, you are taken by the dimensional rift through a series of locations that span space and time, though only time passed. This rift hasn't managed to master future time travel yet, maybe in the sequel. Or maybe Clive doesn't want tarring with the sci-fi author tag. In each different location and time, you continue the battle against the denizens of the abyss but as the battle progresses, your opponents get tougher. So you'll need to rely more and more on your psychic abilities, as traditional weapons become less effective. In order to exploit the talents of all the team, you can switch between different squad members, and use their special skills. But beware, overuse of special powers will weaken your player, and make them more vulnerable, or less able to use their powers in future. The FPS is a classic game style, and the squad-based variant adds a little variety to all that shooting and strafing. Add to this the psychic aspect of the game, and you have something that approaches an original concept. Clive Barker's special horror twist adds interest for those who do not find his style too turgid and adolescent: the rest may be happ