Other items featured in the game are health packs, explosives, ammunition, portable blood test-kits and adrenaline injections.

[11] To gain the trust of NPCs, Blake can give them weapons and ammo, heal them, put himself at risk to protect them, or use a blood test kit on himself to prove he is not a Thing.

When an NPC is scared, it affects their performance; soldiers become less accurate, engineers take longer to repair fuse boxes and medics don't heal characters as quickly.

Blake can reduce fear by giving NPCs adrenaline, topping up their ammo, moving away from particular locations, or successfully defeating enemies.

Whilst investigating Outpost 31, Bravo Team soon discover the small spacecraft made by the Blair-Thing and a tape recorder with a message from R.J. MacReady, resigned to their fate.

They then find information detailing how the base has been infiltrated by an extraterrestrial lifeform that is capable of imitating the physical appearance and characteristics of any living organism it assimilates.

Moving on, he enters the "Pyron" sub-facility beneath the Norwegian base, learning of a company called Gen-Inc., who have installed a research team under the command of Dr. Sean Faraday (John Carpenter).

However, he is prevented from doing so by Whitley, who shoots him with a tranquillizer gun, and reveals to Faraday that he has infected himself with the Thing gene, claiming it to be controllable, something of which he is living proof, and therefore demonstrating its capability as a weapon.

Blake awakens in the now abandoned "Strata" research facility, and learns that his cells have a unique resistance to infection by the Thing virus.

After escaping his confinement, he unearths a government conspiracy whereby Gen-Inc. isolated a microbiological form of the Thing called the "Cloud virus", which was intended for use in biological warfare.

This franchise presents an incredible opportunity to draw upon Universal's rich movie history and today's technology to create a one-of-a-kind gaming experience."

Computer Artworks is delighted to be selected by Universal Interactive Studios to bring this cult film to the world of games.

For the pitch, Computer Artworks reskinned a level from Evolva with an Antarctic theme and a Thing-like creature as a boss fight.

"[21] Drawing inspiration from Aliens, the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Half-Life and Area 51 conspiracy theories, Computer Artworks began work on the game in November 2000.

Wanat cited games such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto III, and Max Payne as influences.

We have built on all the elements of survival horror games in the past, but what we wanted to do was get away from the slow "plodding for hours" style of gameplay, which made us more likely to fall asleep than wet our pants from fear.

[18]Originally the game was to be more open world based, with the possibility that each NPC could turn into a Thing at any moment completely randomized.

However, this kind of open-endedness proved impossible to implement, with Curtis, pointing out "It was of course very naïve as it caused huge problems with the squad command menu and dynamically balancing the encounters and resources required for the NPC.

This led to a much criticized aspect of the game; the player can test an NPC to find he is human only for him to change into a Thing mere seconds later.

I think we ended up with a slightly messy compromise with good story elements and a genuinely new mechanic but also some logical inconsistencies which, ironically, became glaringly obvious if you played the game more than once.

In August 2002, Vivendi Universal formed a new publishing division called Black Label Games; a label which Ken Cron (Vivendi Universal Games CEO) stated "will focus on delivering innovative, high-quality titles to satisfy the growing consumer appetite for increasingly sophisticated content."

[27] Eurogamer's Kristan Reed scored the PlayStation 2 version a 5 out of 10, arguing of the trust/fear system "It is nowhere near as much of a neat gameplay innovation as the hype had some people believe [...] As a squad based game it would work far better if you ever had to care a great deal for anyone's survival.

As it is, most of the team seem to split off once a level's over (or turn into aliens at pre-determined moments during it), so you're left merely using each NPC as a means of progression."

"[30] GameSpy's Tom Chick scored the PC version a 3 out of 5, writing "The Thing starts out strong, but it's the sort of game you don't have to feel bad about not finishing.

Of course, you're paying for a full game, so if dollar value is your main criteria, you might be better off renting John Carpenter's movie, reading the original short story, and then having a laugh at the walking carrot in the 1951 version.

"[34] Tom Ham scored both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions a 4 out of 5, writing "not only is the game a solid action-adventure frenzy, it also manages to tell a tale that is truly chilling.

Combined with topnotch graphics, incredible use of sound, and a very cool trust/fear interface, The Thing manages to do what so many movie licensed games have failed to do -- succeed.

The Thing is well-paced, designed with an excellent variety of levels [...] Everything is consistent with the movie, the theme of which has been handled with exquisite care and thought.

The visuals and sound are top-notch and the sense of desperation you feel when you are stuck outside and about to succumb to the elements or being hunted by packs of the foul creatures is very real.

[18] It was nominated for GameSpot's annual "Best Action Adventure Game on Xbox" award, which went to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.