aybe Clive Barker should worry more about making good games before he takes Roger Ebert to task about whether video games are an art form. It doesn’t take an overweight film critic to give Jericho two thumbs down.

Jericho’s plot is classic B-move fare, with inane exposition and clichéd dialogue worthy of MST3K razzing. It turns out God dabbled in creation before he unveiled mankind, but didn’t like His handywork. The Firstborn was too grotesquely powerful, so God banished it to the abyss and created the much more acceptable human race. This didn’t sit well with the fledgling being, and it’s been attempting to destroy Earth ever since. Your task as a special forces “warrior magician” is to stop God’s original mistake once and for all using your occult powers and an arsenal of modern weaponry. 

Though it’s hyped as a squad-based shooter, Jericho doesn’t offer tactical gameplay in the traditional sense. You can command your squad of paranormal troopers to move forward or hang back, but either way will likely end with half of your team incapacitated due to their inferior fighting skills. You can, however, switch between the squad members to use their special abilities, which range from standard magic fare like telekinesis to much more appealing skills, like the ability to guide a bullet through multiple enemies. But when you’re not in command of a squad member, don’t expect them to survive a skirmish. The majority of battles revolve just as much around reviving hopeless teammates as they do fighting the fiendish ghouls vying for your soul.

If broken gameplay mechanics and community college acting didn’t weigh down the game, it might actually be worthwhile. Each environment features a macabre twist on a historical period, and they rival Painkiller in their haunting heavy metal video backdrop appearance. Unfortunately, the creepy locales and ultraviolent action don’t translate into a frightening experience. And isn’t that where Clive Barker is supposed to shine?