Clive Barker's Jericho wiki

From Software Informer

Clive Barker’s Jericho
Developer(s)	MercurySteam
Publisher(s)	Codemasters
Designer(s)	Clive Barker Joe Falke
Composer(s)	Cris Velasco
Engine	Proprietary game engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA October 23, 2007 UK November 2, 2007[1]
Genre(s)	Horror First-person shooter Tactical shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18 ESRB: M PEGI: 18+ USK: 18 (rating rejected)
System requirements	Minimum Specification: Windows XP / Vista CPU: Pentium 2.4 GHz or Athlon XP 2400+ RAM: 1 GB Graphics Card: GeForce 6600 / Radeon X1600 DirectX 9 Compatible Sound Card 6 GB Hard Drive Space 2x DVD-ROM Drive Recommended: Windows XP / Vista CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or Athlon 64 X2 RAM: 1 GB Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 or Radeon X1950 XTX Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Sound Card 6 GB Hard Drive Space 2x DVD-ROM Drive
Input methods	Gamepad, Keyboard, Mouse

Clive Barker’s Jericho is a supernatural horror-themed first person shooter video game with author Clive Barker providing the premise of the storyline. The game was released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 and available on GameTap on October 23, 2007. It can also be downloaded via Steam.^[1] A demo for the game was released for the PC on September 26, 2007.^[2] The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 demos were made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store on September 27, 2007. The style of the letter "R" in the title is a reference to the R Rotunda.

[edit] Premise

Certain Apocryphal and Gnostic texts speak of a being created by God, in His own image, before the creation of Adam and Eve; according to legend, this being was abandoned by its own Creator. Called the Firstborn, the creature was a singular being neither male nor female, dark nor light, both beautiful and terrible to behold. God was so disturbed by what He created that He banished it into the Abyss to be forever forsaken, forgotten and unloved. God then started anew and went on to create mankind, giving the species two sexes, intellect, feelings, and love (not to mention a soul). The Firstborn, too powerful for even God to keep from breaking into the mortal world, would make seven attempts to escape, each time taking back a piece of the earth to add to its domain and each time sent back to the Abyss. Fragments of time and space would form layers around this domain, linked to this world in the city Al Khali. These layers would entrap pieces of history within its walls, from the time of the ancient Sumerians to World War II. Over time, other great conquerors and civilizations would arrive to claim the city as their own. Eventually, the city was forgotten and buried by the sands of time. The Department of Occult Warfare was created in the 1930s to combat the supernatural and unexplained. Another purpose was to meet Nazi Germany's own research into the paranormal. One of their most brilliant members, Arnold Leach, was recruited in 1962. However, his unscrupulous behavior and nature would eventually have him expelled. He was marked for assassination, and although the operation appeared to be successful, it seems that he may have survived. The Jericho Squad is sent to Al-Khali to prevent Leach from opening the breach and unleashing the Firstborn upon mankind once again.^[3]

[edit] Gameplay

Jericho's core gameplay consists of leading the game's eponymous seven-man team, allowing control of all team members by jumping to each character during certain points in the game, through various environments that have been warped by the Firstborn while fighting off a variety of twisted creatures. The game also features several "survival events" where the player must press the corresponding buttons or keys shown on screen in order to successfully survive. Additionally, each team member has both a primary and a secondary attack, either in the form of an alternate fire such as a grenade launcher on a rifle, or a secondary weapon such as a knife or pistol that can be dual wielded. While the game is a first person shooter, the ability to control different members of one's squad adds a tactical element; players must determine which squad member is appropriate for each particular job. Not only does each squad member have different strengths and weaknesses, but they also each have a unique ability (or supernatural abilities in some cases). This allows the player freedom in choosing a playing style that suits them throughout much of the game. However, during certain instances, certain characters are unplayable. The squad's supernatural abilities play a prominent role in the game. The character the player originally controls is a medic with the ability to fully heal fallen comrades that are close to death. Other squad members have other powers, such as summoning a fire demon, slowing time, firing a guided bullet, and leeching life from enemies to add it to one's own.

[edit] Plot

The game begins in the present day, the backstory is explained in various dossiers in the extra section of the game and the walkthrough guide: in the present, a top-secret U.S. Special Forces organization, the Department of Occult Warfare (DOW), is a global-spanning agency dedicated to fight the unseen paranormal & demonic forces that besiege humanity on a daily basis, with the general population kept unaware. The top-secret combat arm of this agency are Jericho Squad Teams, a seven-man elite commando unit trained in conventional and occult warfare, and are specially trained, mentally and physically, and equipped with magical & projectile weaponry. These teams are sent on the most dangerous of such missions. One of Jericho's primary directives is to be constantly on the alert for the activation of Operation Godseal; a top-secret need-to-know project that commands a Jericho team to venture into the Pyxis and seal the Breach made in the god-holding seal.

[edit] The Beginning

This sacred duty did not start with the DOW and Jericho, but began far into the past: Originally, when the Firstborn was forsaken by God, God couldn't destroy the Firstborn (due to it being too powerful), so instead he carved a slice of reality into The Box (or Pyxis in Latin), and imprisoned the Firstborn inside the heart of the Box; Pyxis Prima.

[edit] Sumerian Era

With time, the Firstborn reached out with its power and seduced the High Priestess of a Sumerian Order, Ereshkigall, through her dreams with promises of power and forbidden knowledge, and then taught her the rites to make a blood sacrifice strong enough to break the seal over the Box and allow the Firstborn to escape through the Breach (a rip in time that allows access to different layers of reality in the Box) to the mortal world, where it would take it's revenge upon humanity for being God's favorite children. Ereshkigall took an army of 10000 to the Rub-Al-Khali desert and erected the Tower of Babal, a colossal tower that, at the pinnacle, resided the original gateway to Pyxis Prima, and the other original structures that would eventually become Al-Khali. Upon completion, Ereshkigall slaughtered her army, and as their blood ran down the temple's steps, the seal was broken and the Firstborn walked the Earth once again. However, a secret group of seven warrior priests, led by Antadurunnu, were hidden amongst Ereshkigall's army, and, as the rest of his comrades battled to contain the Firstborn and Ereshkigall in Pyxis Prima, Antadurunnu himself bound himself to the Breach and closed the Box. Not only did the force of doing so destroy his body (yet his soul lived on), but the Firstborn took the local area of Earth with it, and added it to the domain of the Box. In doing so, it also takes the inhabitants of that place with it, sealing them along with the Firstborn inside the Box with no possibility of escape. In the Box itself, normal rules of reality do not apply to those trapped inside. Hunger, thirst, sleep etc., all common urges for sustenance disappear, and time itself doesn't move, and day and night do not apply. Everyday, the abominations living in the Box battle those trapped. While death doesn't technically apply, those who are slain are engulfed and consumed by flies in seconds and are soon reborn, and while they retain their normal appearance (at first, but with time they become more and more unrecognizable), they belong to the Firstborn, assimilated to do it's bidding. Before his body was destroyed, however, Antadurunnu used the last of his power to send a telepathic message to his followers in the city of Ur, commanding them to form a brotherhood to defend against those who would seek to free the Firstborn for their own gain, and if necessary send in another group of seven to seal the Breach. This last part is done by Antadurunnu himself, whose soul is linked to the Breach, making him the only one capable to closing it, and his body is reassembled by the group, and destroyed again after performing the rites.

[edit] Roman Era

These incidents have occurred at least three times. The first was in the era of the Roman Empire, where Al-Khali was the furthest known southern province of the now-dying Roman Empire, with postings to this forlorn place effectively exile. The ruler of Al-Khali was Governor Cassus Vicus, a twisted sadist, glutton and a fan of all kinds of bacchanalias, most especially orgies and cannibalism, and used his position at Al-Khali to turn the area into a carnival of decadence and depravity. The shedding of so much blood attracted the Firstborn's attention, and he contacted Vicus through his dreams, and then again through Vicus' clairvoyant slaves. The Firstborn tempted Vicus to open the Breach with a massive feast of blood and cannibalism, in exchange for an eternity of orgies and parties. At this time, however, Centurion Tercius Longinus, the empathic commander of Al-Khali's military garrison, had been reluctantly doing his master's bidding to attack trade caravans if they didn't pay taxes. The group they attacked however, was instead a lone group of extravagantly dressed fortune tellers and wizards descended from Antadurunnu's Sumerian sect; who then, in a single stroke, wiped out all of Tercius' troops save for himself, as their leader; Mahvash, found he was the prophesied seventh member of their group destined to aid in their attempts to stop Vicus from opening the Breach. While the Group of Mahvash (named after their leader) failed to stop Vicus from opening the Breach, they took advantage of the chaos and confusion to get through the Breach and seal it, with Tercius realizing too late that doing so would mean permanent imprisonment. While the Group of Mahvash were all eventually killed after a lifetime of fighting off the creatures in the Box or Vicus' demonic legionnaires, Tercius was tortured and crucified, and upon death was continuously resuscitated. Tercius has since endured his torture for 3000 years, while Vicus got his wish and has enjoyed his orgies and parties non-stop ever since.

[edit] Medieval Era

The next time the Firstborn tried to escape, in the era of the Crusades, the Firstborn instead was contacted. It was done by Bishop Maltheus St. Claire, a Christian church official who was fearful and dangerously paranoid for his eternal life, as he suffered from leprosy (which in those days was considered a sign that God had cursed whoever was afflicted by it), and his continuously harsher penances weren't helping. Seeking aid in the Vatican Library in Rome, Maltheus immersed himself in the study of forbidden texts and scriptures, and eventually found references to the Legend of the Firstborn. Believing a being so like God would save him from eternal damnation, Maltheus realized the only way to gain his favor was to free him. To this end, Maltheus went before Pope Innocent III, and, claiming to have found the location of the Garden of Eden at Al-Khali, convinced him to authorize a Crusade to retake it from the hands of the Saracen "Infidels". Maltheus also went so far as to convince the Pope that the crusader army would be composed of children, that, while they lacked military training or strength, the innocence of good Christian children would protect them from Saracen weapons. After almost a years' journey, in which the holy army encountered many hardships and perils, Maltheus dragged thousands of children all the way to Al-Khali. The local crusaders of the great fortress of Les Innocents refused to partake in such insanity, and the children themselves, weak, starving and convinced they would be killed, pleaded to be saved, but Maltheus demanded battle. The Saracens pleaded with the children to surrender, but they refused at Maltheus' order. The battle that ensued was little more than a massacre, one of the worst of the entire Crusades. The crusaders at Les Innocents gathered up the bodies of the children and buried them in the crypt beneath the castle, while Maltheus also went into the nearby chapel to expedite his sins. As it turned out, the Breach was opened by the deaths of the children, and the entire local area was sucked in when a secret group of Knights Templar warrior priests, led by the telekinetic Sir Richard De Gray, having arrived too late to stop Maltheus' insane plans, instead went into the Box and, after many difficulties, sealed the Firstborn once again. Maltheus believed what he was seeing was the end of the world, so, when he suddenly heard noises from beneath the chapel, coming from the crypt, Maltheus, having become forlorn and devastated over sending all those children to their deaths, believed what he was seeing was a miracle, that Almighty God, in his benevolence, was returning his children, and coming for him. When Maltheus ran down to the crypt to receive his warriors of Christ with open arms, he instead found his children, while indeed were being resurrected, but instead were spirits twisted and full of hatred, not only because of the effects of the Box, but also towards the adults who let them die...especially Maltheus. Maltheus was then brutally killed by the children, his screams going on for days, and the Templars sealing him in the crypt and leaving him to his fate. Maltheus did indeed resurrect, now with divine power and protection, and believed that he was subjected to yet another one of God's tests to enter paradise; to exorcise the children, who he now believed agents of the Devil. To this day he has been exorcising wave after wave of children spirits, not losing his determination for a single moment as his eternal life was at stake, not understanding, or unable to see, that, not only is he eternal (though not in the way he thought), but trapped in purgatory for his sins.

[edit] WWII Era

Al-Khali was effectively abandoned after this, and was buried under the desert's sands, until the age of World War 2, where an elite army unit of German soldiers trained in psychic warfare, acting on the advice found in the Templar's books and following the organizations' code, invaded and garrisoned Al-Khali, enslaving the local population and driving them to make psychic excavations of the area, in an effort to find the Temple of Babal. The leader of this unit was Psychic Commander Hanne Lichthammer, who while the vision of beauty, was also extremely cold and enjoyed torture utilizing her psychic abilities and was a sadist in every way. The Germans hoped to find the Temple and utilize the Breach's energies to fuel the war effort. News of Lichthammer's efforts in Al-Khali reached the British Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the DOW's former-parent organization. The OSS sent an elite group of British veterans, personally trained by renowned occult expert Aleister Crowley, and crafted into a commando squad unit trained in occult and conventional warfare (tactics used to train Jericho Squads after their formation). Under the command of Psychic and highly-decorated & infamous Major Patrick "Pat" Buckland, the commando team; codenamed "Blackwatch", set off for Al-Khali. It is not clear what occurred shortly after Blackwatch's arrival. It can be assumed that, either the psychic excavations reached a point the Breach was opened accidentally, with the deaths of many slaves due to starvation, heat and exhaustion fueling the paranormal activity to the point it would break the seal, or that Lichthammer's own psychic abilities gained the Firstborn's attention as the excavations went deeper. Whatever the case, the storm created by the Breach's opening appeared and sucked all into the Box, and covered up any trace of the excavations. Blackwatch, with the aid of De Gray, sealed the Box, and so the Germans were left at the mercy of the Firstborn, with all being assimilated by the Firstborn and transformed into demonic soldiers mind-controlled by Lichthammer, who now appeared as demonic as she was in personality, and her psychic abilities and her knowledge of the Box expanding greatly.

[edit] Present Era

The Firstborn's final attempt at freedom began when the Firstborn contacted a highly prominent agent of the DOW; General Arnold Leach. After seducing Leach with many promises of untapped power and forbidden knowledge, Leach eventually went renegade after being expelled from the DOW and his termination secretly authorized. After faking his death (amidst causing a paranormal outbreak in a Dallas shopping center that took many lives, including several DOW operatives, before the outbreak was contained), Leach founded and led the "Brotherhood of the Dark Rapture" (BDR), a fringe religious death sect bent on worshipping and freeing the Firstborn. Possessing careful insight, patience and planning, Leach directed his followers to perform many ritualistic acts across the world; killing infant babies, blowing up schools, terrorist attacks, mass sacrificial murders etc., all gathering up massive amounts of negative karma. After 20 years underground, Leach gives up subtlety and his BDR followers finally successfully gain entrance to the ruins of Al-Khali, attacking the local DOW research facility & command centre; Outpost Vigil. Upon taking the data necessary to find the intersection of leylines in the field of paranormal activity; Leach and his followers commit mass ritual suicide; with the dying Leach activating a "Trantric Spell", or "Karma Bomb" a particular skill which accumulates karma to release it all at once in a single envocation. The psychic explosion and resulting shockwave opens the Breach, and is felt all over the world. DOW Agent Muriel Green, the lead investigator & facility head of Outpost Vigil, having survived the attack on the base, raises the alarm, and Operation Godseal is put into effect. Jericho Team 23, under the command of Captain Devin Ross, is sent to Al-Khali to neutralize Leach and BDR forces and undo whatever damage they have caused to the seal. Although the local Swiss Guard garrison believes the storm around Al-Khali is impenetrable, Jericho finds an entrance, and gains entrance to the lost city of Al-Khali. Upon entry, Jericho senses something disturbing about their environment; how the day has suddenly turned to night, how the local atmosphere feels (according to Ross and Jones) "empty" and "dead", all communications with the outside world are cutoff. These feelings are confirmed when they find three BDR cultists, who, having been resurrected by the Firstborn, are now twisted abominations even more dangerous than before. The team does battle with the cultists at multiple points. To stop Green from interfering, Leach orders his followers to attack and re-invade Outpost Vigil, effectively gutting the base and brutally murdering Green. Jericho, as a result, must find a way to seal the breach without her assistance, and the only way, according to Rawlings, is per terms of Operation Godseal: go into the Box and seal it from the inside. The team agrees to do this, and eventually Jericho reaches the location of Leach's blood sacrifice and the first Breach, but, having been spied on by Leach as they neared the altar, are attacked by BDR cultists with the ability to fly. Upon dispatching them, Ross is drawn to the altar by some unknown force, and finds the Breach opening...only to be surprised and attacked by Leach himself. Leach, upon his re-birth, had been twisted and turned into some form of monster, similar to a flying cultist, but retained telepathic abilities, and is far stronger and faster than other creatures. He retains his individuality, however, and remains committed to trying to free the Firstborn. Leach proceeds, at the Firstborn's order, to pull Ross into the air, repeatedly slash him across the chest with his extremely long & sharp talons, and then drop him from a steep height, the fall breaking off Ross' right arm and left leg. Despite the aid of his teammates; Ross dies within seconds, though his soul takes refuge in the bodies of his teammates. Jericho escapes pursuing BDR forces through the Breach, where Ross convinces the others it is really him, and he interacts with each member of his team by possessing each of them, at different areas of the game. The team find themselves inside the WWII era, and soon come into confrontation with Lichthammer. After some battles with her demonic soldiers, Jericho encounters Buckland and the other surviving members of Blackwatch, and are taught more about the Box and the Firstborn. Eventually the two teams split their numbers; with Blackwatch and most of Jericho leading a diversionary attack on the area where the Breach is, Rawlings, Church and Cole break into Lichthammer's compound and Church uses her blood magic to restrain and capture her. After exorcising Lichthammer, it is found that every person who led the effort to free the Firstborn contains the key to opening the next Breach in their blood. To this end, Jericho and Blackwatch reunite at the Brandenburg Gate, where the Breach must open, defeating Lichthammer's army in the process. Church is directed to perform a sanguimancy ritual, involving spilling Lichthammer's blood, to open the Breach. Lichthammer, having used her psychic abilities to unearth disturbing secrets of certain Jericho members in an effort to stop them, desperately begs Church to spare her life. Lichthammer, however, makes the mistake of addressing Church as "Wilhelmina", a name Church despises as her father (who, according to Lichthammers' invasion of their minds, repeatedly raped his daughter while Church was still in the care of her parents) was the only one to use it. Church slashes Lichthammer's throat and kicks her off the Gate to her death, the shower of her blood opening the Breach. After a farewell from Blackwatch, Jericho enters the Breach. Jericho arrives in the time of the Crusades, and, acting on Blackwatch's advice, head for Les Innocents, now a desiccated and ruined haunted castle, to seek the Templar's advice and aid. The team reaches the entrance of the castle, though Rawlings, Cole and Jones are sent to the castle's catacombs after falling from the drawbridge when it is destroyed by a BDR flying cultists' attack. Delgado, Church and Black are then greeted by De Gray, who ushers them inside. However, De Gray suddenly betrays the team by sealing them in the castle's catacombs, just before they reach the entrance to the castle's main areas. It is revealed that, after the Box closed, De Gray and his men believed God would open the gates of Heaven to them, though this naturally did not occur. After initial disorientation, the Templars realized they were trapped. After centuries of fighting without rest, against the local heretical populations drawn into the Box alongside them, the creatures of the Box, and eventually each other, with claims of blasphemy and heresy driving them to torture, imprison, and eventually slay each other. This advanced to madness, and the remaining Templars disfiguring and demonizing themselves as penances to God. De Gray, however, possessed the strength to maintain his faith, though his judgment became non-existent. Leach discovered this, and deceived De Gray and his remaining men into thinking Leach was a member of the Holy Seraphim; the Archangel Gabriel, and their dedication and sacrifice to their lord will grant them their great reward; a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. As such, at Leach's order, De Gray trapped them in the catacombs, with Leach hoping the demonic children would be the end of them. Leach then continues his journey further into the Box, while De Gray departs to rally his men to fight Jericho. Seeking another way to escape, the Jericho members go through the castle's catacombs, fighting off the dangers infesting the castle's underground. Suddenly, Black heard crying sounds from behind a weak wall, and so they went through using her telekinesis. Not only did they find a way to escape through the sewers, but also found Brother William De Auxerre; one of the Templar Knights who was the first to lose his faith (though not the first to go completely crazy, although William was the only one brave enough to admit it), and as such was turned on by his fellow knights and, after torture and imprisonment, was abandoned in his cell. William maintains his lucidity, and recounts the tale of Maltheus to the Jericho members, who resolve to save their friends. After fighting off the Templars, and eventually making their way through the children's crypt, the Jericho members rejoin the rest of the team. Jericho then enters the castle's chapel and confronts Maltheus, who after a few choice words, is outraged a group of heretics have dared to defile the holy place (which itself is also the home of Maltheus' own coffin). Maltheus summons the children to fight them, but, while they do so, they also attack Maltheus himself. Jericho notices this, and while Maltheus uses his divine powers to drive the children back and inflict heavy injuries on Jericho, his protection goes down for a few seconds every time, allowing Jericho to punch through his barrier of divine protection and eventually fatally injure Maltheus. In a final desperate act, Maltheus re-summons the children to destroy Jericho, but, with his powers broken, the children instead turn on him and tear him apart. The flies consume and take Maltheus away forever, while the children free themselves from their curse, their souls giving up their twisted nature, and depart for Heaven. The Breach opens over Maltheus' coffin, and Jericho enters through it. Jericho arrives in the time of the Romans. On the road to Vicus' palace, Jericho finds Longinus, who interfaces with Jones to communicate with them. While the connection between them is unstable and eventually breaks down; Longinus does give the team directions to find Vicus, while at the same time, makes them understand certain reasons behind the Firstborn's behaviour; that it only hates mankind because they received something the Firstborn was meant to have but was instead bestowed upon mankind when the Firstborn was left unfinished and abandoned in the Box, something that mankind take for granted and as such despises mankind for it; a soul. After breaking into Vicus' palace through the bath houses, Jericho is trapped in the underground catacombs of the palace's Colosseum-like arena by Vicus, now horrendously overweight and as gluttonous as ever but retaining psychic abilities courtesy of his consumption of Mahvash. Jericho fights through Vicus' soldiers and pets, and ultimately kills the depraved Governor himself, with Black using her telekinesis to maneuver Vicus' body into position and let his body be consumed by the opening of the Breach. Jericho enters through it. Jericho's last time jump takes them to the time of the Sumerians, with them arriving at the entrance of the Tower of Babal. Antadurunnu's spirit then interfaces with Jones, welcoming his "brothers" (Antadurunnu recognizes Jericho is the latest incarnation of the brotherhood he started, and they share the same sacred duty). Antadurunnu explains that, following the first sealing of the Box, Ereshkigall, enraged by their "betrayal", used the Firstborn's power to corrupt and demonize Antadurunnu's comrades and turn them into her servants; commanding them each to guard a piece of Antadurunnu's body. To regain Antadurunnu's body and allow him to seal the Breach, Jericho, while initially scattered throughout the Tower by teleportation beams, hunt down, fight and slay each of the corrupted Sumerian priests and send each piece of Antadurunnu, kept in gold urns, to the Tower's pinnacle, where Antadurunnu reassembles his body. Upon reuniting with him on the Tower's pinnacle, Antadurunnu, his body fully assembled and functioning, assures the worried and scared Jericho members about what will happen to them after he successfully binds himself to the Breach, closing it: Jericho will enter a collective consciousness upon the closing of the Box, a dreamless sleep where they will join in the comfort of all those that came before them, with their peace only broken when evil men again seek the Firstborn. Antadurunnu leaves to seal the widening Breach. As Antadurunnu begins the ritual to seal the Breach, Jericho's members exchange farewells with each other; some professional (Rawlings and Jones exchanging hand-shakes over serving together), while mostly personal (Delgado holding Church, who is frightened and wants to be held by her lover, Ross admitting to Black that he isn't scared about what will happen to him, believing whatever happens to his soul must be better than his current status, and Rawlings apologizing to Cole for dragging her down with them and offering to pray with her, with Cole accepting his apologies and gently refusing to pray, as she is an atheist). Suddenly, Delgado declares Antadurunnu is lying: he believes that there is no collective consciousness, that, upon seeing their predecessors; Blackwatch, Templars, Longinus and the Sumerian Priests, suffering an eternity of torture and madness in purgatory, and that if the Box is closed, Jericho will suffer the same fate. Instead, Delgado options to break the cycle of the Box being opened and then closed again over-and-over, and instead confront and kill the Firstborn itself to end the threat it poses to mankind. Rawlings is the only one to oppose Delgado, and the two men draw weapons on each other, the former so Delgado won't do anything to endanger all of mankind, while the latter accuses Rawlings knows and accepts they must suffer eternity in the Box for mankind's sake (something that has been implied throughout the game; displayed when Rawlings expressed deeper knowledge of the Box and its dangers than his teammates, Rawlings knew about Godseal, and some characters theorised Rawlings was employing some measure of deception against them). In the end, Ross ends the matter by pulling rank and expressing his belief that Delgado could be right. Telepathically restraining Rawlings, Jericho confronts Antadurunnu, interrupting the ritual. Antadurunnu warns that, if they betray him, everything they love in the world is lost. Delgado, coming to a stop mere inches away from Antadurunnu, counters that everything he loves is right here, and then pulls his pistol out and shoots Antadurunnu through the head, killing him. Delgado leads the team through the Breach to Pyxis Prima, with Rawlings agreeing to aid them in their seemingly futile effort to kill the Firstborn. Jericho arrives underwater, and swim to reach a huge underground chasm; Pyxis Prima. It is here, Jericho faces the Firstborn; who is revealed to be actually the mysterious child-being enshrouded in mist and subtly guiding the team over the course of their journey in numerous encounters, sometimes giving aid, but always appearing just before conflict with the Box's monsters ensues. The Firstborn declares that the individual magical abilities Jericho's members possess will finally allow him to gain the strength to break free of his imprisonment in the Box, having gathered strength from many who sought to contain him. The latest is Leach himself, who the Firstborn has now tied to a wall, seeing no use for him. Ross keeps the Firstborn talking, allowing Cole to scan and detect the Firstborn's weaknesses. As Cole is about to mention who Ross should possess to defeat the Firstborn, the Firstborn fires magical energy bolts at Cole and Jones (the former because she knew his weakness, and the latter because he has since gained an insight into the Firstborn's mind by being allowed to use his astral projection ability on him at different areas of the game. These two characters also do not have any offensive powers that the firstborn can possess and use against the team), causing both of their bodies to explode and kill them. Ross then commands the others to fire. The final battle to contain the Firstborn begins, with the Firstborn channeling the team's respective magical abilities against them (as Cole predicted and warned Ross of before her death). At the height of the battle, Church (having a divine nature or destiny, implied so over the course of the game and detailed in dossiers, despite her terrible past) uses her blood magic to seriously weaken the Firstborn (revealing it was Church who Cole was about to indicate as the only one possible who could weaken the Firstborn), and then repeatedly slashes him across the chest and sends him spinning to the ground. Leach is then able to break free, and has realized he was nothing more than a pawn for the Firstborn. Intending to end what he has started, and attempting to redeem himself (or so says he), Leach secured the Firstborn in his talons and flies into a tunnel of light, destroying them both (or so it seems). The chasm then begins to collapse, and Ross directs his remaining teammates to head back into the water and swim deep. Jericho does this, and they swim to safety from the collapsing cavern, and (from Church's point of view), Ross and the others emerge in the middle of a vast ocean under an orange sky, and the game ends. It is currently unknown what will become of the team; whether they are still trapped in another part of Pyxis Prima, or were released from the Box and are stranded at sea. The answers will come in the confirmed sequel. At the moment, the ending it is extremely open-ended, and so far no solid proof of what will happen in the potential sequel exists. Besides, since they "only" were the sixth of the seven prophesised league of seven chosen warriors, it is not even known if their hypothetic survival in the upcoming sequel is of any importance, as introducing the "final" and seventh squad would seem more logical - not to mention the current Jericho seven-men squad has been reduced to a maximum of five.

[edit] Main Characters

The game's Jericho squad (l-r): Simone Cole, Abbey Black (crouching), Xavier Jones, Frank Delgado, Billie Church and Paul Rawlings.

[edit] The Jericho Squad

Captain Devin Ross Formerly extremely skeptical towards all paranormal and psychic phenomenon, Jericho Squad Leader and accomplished war veteran Devin Ross was transferred to the Department of Occult Warfare after his own psychic abilities manifested during a botched raid on a Taliban safe house several years previously. As a psychic healer, Ross is able to revive fallen teammates, provided he is able to maintain visual contact. Near the start of the game he is killed by Arnold Leach, a former Jericho member turned demon, but his spirit lives on in the bodies of his teammates. (Voice Actor: Steven Blum) Captain Xavier Jones Little is known about Jones, and he seems to like it that way. Second in command, Xavier Jones is more of a bookworm than a fighting man, having spent most of his career at the DOW in an office before recently joining the combat division. He is skilled in astral projection and empathy, and the Jericho Squad look to him as some kind of enforcer, seen at one point after some team infighting, when he is ordered to "arrest that man." He carries a Patrioteer which is an HKG36C assault rifle with an XM26 semi-automatic mounted shotgun. During the game other beings have used him to translate their language to the Jericho squad. (Voice Actor: Jamieson Price) Lt. Abigail Black A telekinetic sniper, Black tends to keep to herself. The only daughter of an avid Alaskan-born outdoorsman and hunter, Abigail Black persevered through a childhood of poverty and abuse to become one of the top marksmen in the US Army. She carries a sniper rifle called Flash Thought which also has an under-barrel grenade launcher. Her psychokinetic powers allow her to guide her bullets into multiple targets (Ghost Bullet). Her teammates pick on her somewhat due to her seaming to be a lesbian, with Delgado in particular making many jokes regarding her sexuality. Black also seems to understand Simone Cole better than the rest of her team, as demonstrated by her ability to calm the her down by discussing Phi. (Voice Actor: Cindy Robinson) Sergeant Frank Delgado Sgt. Frank Delgado is of Mestizo and Chickasaw descent, his powers owing to a life-long pursuit of alchemy and shamanic wisdom. Delgado has only one useful arm on a mission--his right is encased within a protective shell containing Ababinili, a parasitic flame spirit of which Delgado was able to summon and earn the cooperation of after offering his arm as a sacrifice. His recruitment saved him from execution at the hands of the Chinese government. Accordingly, Delgado favors high-caliber firearms to compensate for his reduced dexterity. He carries a 7.62-mm mini-gun fed by a continuous ammo strip (Hells Keeper) and a .50-calibre semi-automatic custom pistol with 6-round magazines (Pain). Delgado is a very hot-tempered individual who has little respect for authority, and often clashes with Rawlings. He is dating Church at the time of the game. (Voice Actor: Armando Valdes-Kennedy) Sergeant Wilhelmina 'Billie' Church Church is a blood mage who serves as a point man for Jericho Squad. She can cast a blood ward and a fire ward to keep enemies at bay. Raised by snake handling fundamentalists in rural Tennessee and haunted by a terrible past (in which she was abused by her cult, raped by her father and then later taken in by the state, who put her in an asylum, where she attempted suicide many times), Church became somewhat introverted, taking up training in stealthy arts. Now skilled in ninjutsu, she serves Jericho as a scout and assassin. She carries a rapid-fire sub machine pistol with a 30-round magazine (Kenjuu) and a legendary Katana, which is lethal at close range (Nodachi). Due to her past, she suffers from paranoia and schizophrenia, and lives in fear of her cult tracking her down. She also has Ophidiophobia, a fear of snakes, also likely due to her past. However, since undertaking intense therapy sessions, she is now very extroverted and a lot more confident than when she was first taken in by the Department of Occult Warfare. She is dating Delgado at the time of the game. (Voice Actor: Kate Higgins) Corporal Simone Cole Cole is a programmer/numerologist, which affects everything she does. Cole’s gifts are purely intellect based – she has no psychic powers other than an incredible level of intelligence that allows her to work extremely complex mathematic problems in her head. The daughter of two Silicon Valley programmers, Cpl. Simone Cole is a genius and "reality hacker". Her vast intellect allows her to manipulate space and time using advanced mathematical principles, using this to maintain communications, scan areas for temporal distortions, and generally keep the team in touch and aware of their general surroundings, though her techno-babble often confuses them. Her time manipulation powers (by way of a wrist-mounted supercomputer) are used to explain the in-game checkpoint system, as well as explain how the team keeps their ammunition supplies high (she "rewinds" time in their ammo belts back to the point when they were full). She has mild autism (possibly Asperger's), is an atheist, hates being touched, and suffers from claustrophobia and nyctophobia. Her weapon of choice is an XM8 Compact Carbine. (Voice Actor: Michele Specht) Father Paul Rawlings A preacher with a troubled past and twin Desert Eagles complete with extended 15 round magazines (Faith and Destiny). Serving as a chaplain in the military, he knows a great deal of history of the Jericho Squad and the hidden nature of their mission. He can heal members of the squad from great distances using Ghost Heal and can drain enemies health and distribute it among the squad by summoning Vlad's Curse. He is the oldest active member of the squad, and he is a veteran of war from his experiences in Iraq and Vietnam. He has a strong personality and sometimes assumes command briefly when it is clear he has more knowledge of the situation than Ross. His personality sometimes leads to him clashing with other members of the squad, particularly the hot-tempered Delgado. (Voice Actor: James Horan)

[edit] Villains

Hanne Lichthammer Lichthammer (German for "hammer of light") was an officer of the Schutzstaffel during World War II. A sadomasochist in the extreme, as well as a powerful psychic, she was ordered to capture Al-Khali, where she was sucked in the Box along with her men by the Firstborn and transformed into a hideous monstrosity, a parody of her former self twisted in such a way to accommodate her perversions: she appears as a zombie-like woman with her torso and lower jaw skinned, her lips ripped open, the skin on the back of her head shredded into strips, covered in blood, and clothed in an S&M-style SS uniform. She also wears an eyepatch, having lost her left eye thanks to an attack from Blackwatch (it is never made clear if this happened before or after her transformation, however). Lichthammer is able to teleport at will and use her powerful telepathy to gain control of other bodies and delve into the minds of others exposing their innermost demons, fears and memories. In the end she is captured and exorcised by Rawlings, and ultimately killed by Church, who slices her throat open and kicks her from a great height. Hanne Lichthammer bears some resemblance to BloodRayne's butcheress. (Voice Actor: Susan Silo) Bishop Maltheus St. Claire Maltheus is as cruel as he is insane. Maltheus assembled an army of children with the Pope's consent, claiming their innocence would protect them from harm. He moved to Al-Khali, which through visions, he saw as the Garden of Eden, and had his newly formed army erect a great fortress. The children were in turn slaughtered by Saladin's armies, and Maltheus fled to the safety of his chapel. The souls of the children haunted the fortress still, their hatred turning them into abominations by the Firstborn, craving revenge against the foul Maltheus. The bishop is found by Jericho as a ghostly priest clad in ceremonial robes, who firstly welcomes them as "children" and offers them redemption for their sins, becoming hostile after some irreverent comment as response. Maltheus is all but invulnerable for most of the fight, creating shockwaves of energy while chanting in Latin, and shielding himself in a powerful cocoon of black petals that doubles as a long range weapon (he's damageable for a short time only after this attack). After his defeat the bishop attempts to summon the children he led to slaughter to his aid, but they show him no mercy and instead tear him apart, freeing themselves from their torment after the death of Maltheus.

Father Paul Rawlings defending himself against one of the creatures in Jericho.

Governor Cassus Vicus Governour Cassus Vicus is an obscene pervert that has gorged himself in violent orgies and cannibalism. Exiled to the lost city of Al-Khali for his heinous crimes, Vicus erected a palace, temples, and a vast Colosseum to house his sick ritual games. The temples were not to praise the lost pagan gods of old, but rather to Vicus himself. Vicus turned even more monstrous than before, his very stomach became an orifice, unleashing a violent spray of dark blood and faeces upon his foes. Jericho sought him out, overcoming his champions in the Colosseum and facing the abomination himself. Vicus, too obese to move himself, is strapped to a metallic contraption of chains that pierce his shoulders and suspend him in the air. The machine is manned by an enormous disfigured gladiator of old. After a long battle, Vicus is finally overcome by his wounds, and his corpse is left to dangle by the chains, his bowels and innards falling from his chest in a waterfall of gore. Black then uses her telekinesis to push Vicus into the middle of the rail construction to create a portal to the next time slice. Whilst one of the most disturbing and gory characters of the game, Vicus is also the one with the most sense of decorum, to the point of a face-to-face chat with Jericho as a form of welcome. This shows that he is indeed able to walk and tend to himself, but has very poor sight and every step he makes is difficult due to his massive size. Also, one could notice that Vicus' obese body bears some similarity to that of a horrendously twisted and fat human baby. (Voice Actor: Michael Bell) Arnold Leach Leach was once a dedicated member of society, but dark visions sent to him by the Firstborn led him to the ruins of Al-Khali. His humanity gone, Leach became a monstrous abomination, a winged demon with his eyes being forcefully held open by straps weaving through his eyelids and scalp, and with a large metal frame piercing his back and shoulders. Leach and Ross show a true hatred for each other, Leach being his arch-nemesis. It is indeed Leach himself who kills Ross, leaving him nothing more than a soul. Leach serves the Firstborn and has gathered a vast number of disciples to aid him in his quest to free his master. At the end of the game, Leach realizes he was merely a pawn of the Firstborn and attempts to redeem himself by sacrificing himself and obliterating the Firstborn. Apart from his abilities as a demon, it is unknown what his powers as a human were but it's shown that he is a psychic/telepath and that his abilities involve luck or teleportation/opening gates. (Voice Actor: Jim Cummings) The Firstborn An abomination of God, His first attempt to create man was a failure. He gave it great power but entombed it at the beginning of time in Al-Khali. The Firstborn deceives the Jericho team into believing it was but an innocent child, tainting Ross' visions and dreams. The Firstborn appears as a black child with white eyes, but its true form is never revealed. When confronted, the Firstborn uses Jericho's own powers against them, killing both Cole and Jones in the process. After being slashed vigorously to near death by Billie, Leach turns on his old master, and presumably destroys himself and the evil of the Firstborn. The voice of the Firstborn is a number of different male and female voices speaking all at once.

[edit] Time Slices

One of the scenes in the Roman time slice.

In the game, the squad moves through various 'layers' of time: Al-Khali, Present day - The ruins of an ancient Middle Eastern city. World War II, 1942 A.D. – A city already destroyed because of the war itself and Nazi occupation. Here Jericho come face to face with Lichthammer, the leader of demonic German forces. The Crusades, 1213 A.D. - Classic Arabia when crusaders have influenced architecture with massive, aggressive structures built directly on old walls and buildings. The Romans, 38 A.D. - During Roman times, Al Khali was the domain of governor Cassus Vicus. Vicus, a notorious obese pervert and cannibal, was effectively exiled from Rome by Caligula and given Al-Khali as a distant outpost. Sumeria, 3000 B.C. - In pursuit of Arnold Leach, Jericho must reach the top of the tower of Babel. Between Jericho and its objective lie an army of stone statues of Sumerian Demons which come to life intent on destroying the squad. Later, Jericho enters the original domain of the Firstborn - a massive chasm lined with the imposing faces of demons - and a place where Jericho find their very powers turned against them.

[edit] Reception

Upon release, the game received mixed reviews with an average critic rating of 66% for the Xbox 360 version, 61% for the PS3 and 64% for the PC at Game Rankings and 64%, 61% and 63% respectively at Metacritic. While some reviewers praised the squad based system, elaborate storyline, and Clive Barker's dark style, others criticized character AI, linear gameplay, and difficulty with certain game mechanics.^[4] On the game's style, Eurogamer stated that "Clive Barker's contribution to the concept and narrative direction of the game will certainly help get the attention of horror fans"^[5] while Gamespot noted its "Gorgeously creepy visuals and sound."^[6] Official Xbox Magazine praised the choice of characters, being "endless fun to switch tactics and experiment with different combinations of powers and weapons for crowd control."^[7] However, reviewers complained about the in-game mechanics. Among their criticisms were the poor AI, whereby teammates would die often, requiring the player to heal them regularly. IGN stated "If the Jericho members' intelligence level wasn't enough of a nuisance for you, there's the actual shooting itself"^[8] with Game Informer concluding "If broken gameplay mechanics and community college acting didn’t weigh down the game, it might actually be worthwhile." Jolt Gaming commented that the maps were too linear and close.^[9] After being denied a rating in Germany^[10] Jericho's uncut version has now received an 18+ rating^[11] for the X360, PS3 and PC versions.

[edit] Sequel

Rumours about a sequel to Jericho were confirmed when Clive Barker had announced his intention to make a sequel to the game. In an interview, Clive let slip that plot details include "an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean with exactly 666 children in its hold", and will reveal the fate of the remaining Jericho members, especially Ross, following the death of the Firstborn.

[edit] References