I don’t usually cover game news since it’s not my primary interest, but f*ck me with a spoon if this news doesn’t deserve some love. Clive Barker is heavily involved in the development of a new game after the death of his last console project DEMONIK.
It’s called JERICHO, and unlike previous vidgame efforts featuring his name, Barker is involved from the start this time. Very good news for the strength of story throughout. It also makes me want to start a piggy bank now for the dough I’m gonna have to drop on a next-gen console for this one fricking game!
Basic concept goes like this: The elaborate story is based on the perilous quest to reach the innermost chamber of a mysterious place called Jericho, wherein lurks evil incarnate. Players join a special forces squad trained in conventional warfare and arcane arts to save humanity.
Sounds pretty cool, right? But wait, it gets better…much better:
According to Barker, “I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but … somewhere in northern Africa there is a walled city which is not just a walled city but walls within walls within walls … like Russian dolls, spaces within each other, and trapped inside each space is a slice of time where the warriors of good have gone against ultimate evil and have lost.
It becomes a more primal experience as well, because the means of combat become more crude and the people become in a way simpler. I think the player is going to get quite a series of spectacles because they get closer to something that makes the devil look like Pollyanna.”
Dammit, now they done made me mess my pants!
In other Barker news it’s worth noting that he’s now up to 3,000 handwritten pages on THE SCARLET GOSPELS in which we get to have much more fun with Pinhead. This is gonna be a good day.