Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The Thing delivers a tense, strategic third-person shooter experience that puts squad management front and center. You command a four‐man team through a sprawling Antarctic research facility, coordinating movements, issuing commands, and toggling through specialized gear. Each soldier has distinct strengths—some excel at close‐quarters combat with flamethrowers, while others provide crucial support with pistols, medkits, or proximity mines.

A core element of the gameplay is identifying infected humans. Friendly survivors scattered throughout the complex might turn out to be alien impostors in disguise, and one wrong move can cost you a teammate. The game forces you to weigh every decision carefully: do you engage at close range with a flame‐thrower, or keep your distance with a pistol to avoid a potential infection? This mechanic injects palpable tension into every firefight, ramping up the stakes as you progress.

Over 20 levels, the pacing alternates between claustrophobic exploration and frantic firefights. Objectives range from escorting survivors to securing equipment, then culminating in high-intensity boss encounters against grotesque Thing mutations. Because you must rely on your entire squad to advance, no single character can be left behind. This requirement encourages balanced playstyles and constant reassessment of your team’s load-out and health, keeping the action both dynamic and unpredictable.

Graphics

The Thing achieves a grim, atmospheric visual style that pays homage to the original John Carpenter classic. Dimly lit corridors, flickering fluorescent lights, and icy winds whipping through open hangars all contribute to a palpable sense of dread. Textures on walls are gritty and worn, suggesting a facility long battered by blizzards and alien incursions.

Character models and creature animations are impressively detailed for its era, especially the grotesque transformations of infected humans. Watching a soldier’s limbs contort into alien appendages feels genuinely unsettling. The designers use practical lighting effects—glowing eyes in dark corners, embers flickering from flamethrowers—to enhance the horror elements without relying on jump scares.

Environmental variety is another highlight. You’ll traverse laboratories lined with test tubes, maintenance tunnels dripping with moisture, and snowbound outposts where visibility drops to near zero. While some textures may feel a little dated by today’s standards, the overall mood and art direction more than compensate, immersing you in a hostile Antarctic nightmare.

Story

Set immediately after the events of the 1982 John Carpenter film, The Thing picks up as a new American contingent arrives to investigate the aftermath at Outpost 31. The narrative effectively expands the movie’s mythology, exploring what remains of the horror that once engulfed the base. Little hints—scrawled journal entries, scattered equipment, and flickering security monitors—offer a sense of continuity for fans.

Though the main plot is relatively straightforward—hunt and destroy every last Thing—the game excels at building suspense through environmental storytelling. Each level peels back another layer of the facility’s secrets, revealing research logs and frantic radio transmissions that chronicle the crew’s descent into paranoia. These details encourage players to explore and piece together the tragic backstory.

Dialogue is sparse but purposeful. When survivors speak, their anxious voices echo through broken hallways, contrasting sharply with the shrieks of nearby monsters. This minimalistic approach keeps the pace tight and the tension high. While there’s no elaborate character development for your squad members, their brief one-liners and panicked radio calls reinforce the feeling that trust is always in short supply.

Overall Experience

The Thing is a masterclass in atmosphere and squad‐based tension. Its combination of resource management, strategic combat, and hide-or-seek paranoia elevates it above many run-and-gun shooters. Every encounter feels meaningful because your choices—whom to trust, which weapon to use, how to approach a potential infected target—carry real consequences.

Some players may find the controls a bit stiff and the squad AI occasionally inconsistent, leading to unintended friendly-fire incidents or limp backup at critical moments. However, these quirks often enhance the chaotic, unpredictable nature of fighting a shapeshifting enemy. Learning to coordinate your team and adapt on the fly becomes deeply satisfying over time.

With 20 challenging levels, high replay value (thanks to randomized infection events), and nail-biting suspense at every turn, The Thing stands as a compelling purchase for fans of horror shooters. It may not reinvent the genre, but it delivers a memorable, adrenaline-fueled journey that feels true to its cinematic roots and keeps you perched on the edge of your seat until the final confrontation.

Retro Replay Score

7.5/10