Clive Barker's Jericho
Encyclopedia
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 Microsoft Windows
, PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
in 2007.
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 sword 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 psychic healer (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.
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. God was so disturbed by what He created that He banished it into the Abyss
. God then started anew and went on to create mankind
, giving the species two sexes, feelings, and love.
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.
Eventually, a breach is made, and the DOW sends in a Special Forces team called Jericho to seal the breach. Being unable to seal it any other way, they enter the Box to close the breach from within.
Once inside, they must battle the souls of those who have breached the Box in the past; a Nazi officer, a fallen Catholic priest from the Middle Ages
, a depraved Roman
Governor, and six ancient Sumerian priests (Ninlil
and Ki
, Inanna
and Enlil
as well as Nanna
and Utu
, who were the first to banish the Firstborn but ultimately fell victim to its corruption. Jericho is aided by the souls of those who ultimately resealed the breach each time it was broken.
When they finally reach the point at which they can seal the breach, they decide that they should kill the Firstborn rather than try to reseal the breach, as resealing would just result in them being trapped in the Box and endlessly tortured until the breach was opened again. When Jericho passes into the Firstborn’s cavern, they find the Firstborn in the middle of an island on a lake, with Leach tied to a wall. During the final battle between Jericho and the Firstborn, Leach breaks free of his bonds. Angered at the Firstborn’s betrayal, he grabs it and carries it to a tunnel of light, destroying them both.
The cavern soon begins to collapse. Jericho jumps into the water and swims as deep and far as they can. The game ends as they emerge from under the water in a vast ocean under an orange sky.
Major 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, as he may freely switch between them. He serves as the main protagonist
in the game. The player plays the game as Major Devon Ross. His voice actor is 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 HK G36C assault rifle
with a mounted XM26 semi-automatic shotgun
. During the game other beings have used him to translate their language to the Jericho squad. He is killed by the Firstborn along with Cole before Jericho battles the Firstborn. His voice actor is 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, with Delgado in particular making 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 her down by discussing Phi. Her voice actor is 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 minigun
fed by a continuous ammo strip (Hells Keeper) and a custom .50 calibre semi-automatic 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. His voice actor is 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 machine pistol
with a 30-round magazine (Kenjuu) and a legendary nodachi
sword, which is lethal at close range. 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. Her voice actor is Kate Higgins
.
Corporal Simone Cole
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 syndrome
) and claims to be an atheist
despite knowing for a fact that the Firstborn, and therefore God, exists. She hates being touched, and suffers from claustrophobia
and nyctophobia
. Her weapon of choice is an XM8 compact carbine. She is killed along with Jones by the Firstborn before the final battle. Her voice actor is Michele Specht
.
Father Paul Rawlings
A preacher with a troubled past and twin Desert Eagle
s complete with extended 15 round magazines. 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 carries two silver pistols; Faith and Destiny. 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. His voice actor is James Horan
.
Lichthammer (German for "hammer of light") was an officer of the German army (possibly SS
) during World War II. Described, when alive, as an embodiment of Aryan beauty, since young she showed dangerous signs of sadomasochism, which drove her to extremes of depravity during adulthood, especially during the Spanish Civil War
where she gained infamy as an interrogator and torturer, delighting herself with shattering people's minds and then contemplating her victims suffer horrendously (it is mentioned, as an example, that she forced men to gut themselves and mothers to devour their own children alive). When encountered by Jericho, Lichthammer appears as a pale, almost zombie
-like woman clothed with a bondage
-like Nazi uniform and has her chest skinned, her mouth forced open by hooks and lacks an eye, which is covered by an eyepatch. She can teleport herself at will over short distances and, thanks to her already powerful psychic powers, she can easily tap into others' minds, uncovering their innermost torments - she did taunt Church citing her incestuous past and also declared Rawlings a pederast. She was exorcised by Rawlings himself and then killed while pleading Church to spare her life. Her voice actor is Susan Silo
.
Bishop Maltheus St. Claire
Maltheus was a bishop
during the Middle Ages
, a man whose faith slowly drove him to extremes due to his fear of not being fit for eternal life after his corporeal death - apparently, he was guilty of gluttony
, among other sins. He first learned of the Firstborn while searching for a way to save his soul in the scriptures of the Vatican
, and thought erroneously that such a being, so similar to God, could have indeed been the salvation he was so desperately searching. Convinced that Al-Khali was the Garden of Eden
, he then succeeded in gaining approval from Pope Innocent III in assembling an army made up from children
he recruited across Europe - with their Christian-supported innocence, he argued, they would have been invincible and safe from the Saracens. He went so far that he declared to the Pope that the Mediterranean itself would have spread itself to let the army pass. This did not happen, and only after months Maltheus and his army, made up of children unprepared to the carnage they were sent to, were able to set sail to the Holy Land
- a grueling voyage that saw many ships sinking, and others ending up in ports where the children were sold as slaves. In the end, the army, already weakened by the voyage, made it to Al-Khali, where it was massacred by the Saracens, the slaughter opening the rift that engulfed in the Box Maltheus and the crusaders. The bishop did not die in the carnage with the children, and instead sought refuge in the chapel of the crusader's fortress, Les Innocentes, where he was later sealed when the spectres of the children came back to him to exact revenge. Ironically, Maltheus became what he feared he would have never managed to be - eternal, though merely a ghost, constantly trying to exorcise the souls of the children, believing everything to be a test God imposed on him to pardon his corporeal sins. A spectral figure, Maltheus is encountered by Jericho in the inner chapel where he has resided ever since he was sealed, initially greeting them with an offer of absolution, but turning hostile when mocked by a derisive comment from Jones. For most of the fight he is invincible, being protected by a shield, and can use the dead children as pawns to attack the squad. Mainly, he has a powerful spell known as Black Rose, where he engulf himself in large, black rose petals and then unleashes them in a massive explosion, killing everything in range instantly, after which he is briefly vulnerable to damage. When defeated, he tried to gather the children one last time, though they instead attacked him and killed him, finally obtaining rest for their souls.
Governor Cassus Vicus
A former tribune of ancient Rome
, Cassus Vicus was a man infamous for his excesses, which included but were not limited to senseless slaughter, violent orgies
, murder and rape and, worst of all, cannibalism
. After being surprised while devouring human flesh, he was initially sentenced to death, though he was spared such a fate by Emperor Caligula
, who instead sent him to Al-Khali, then the easternmost province of the Roman Empire
, as its governor - it is also suggested that Caligula thought Vicus as a direct competitor to his own, notorious excesses. Initially he felt insulted by the exile, though he soon rejoiced in the complete freedom he was granted, elevating his already terrible crimes to new extremes of obscenity. The Firstborn noticed his barbarity, and contacted Vicus with ominous dreams, which the governor interpreted as augurs sent to him by the god Jupiter
himself. Already thinking of himself as a living deity, Vicus eagerly embraced the eternity of torment that befell Al-Khali when it was engulged in the Box, and since then has turned his dominion into a nightmare, whose massive amounts of rotting flesh, feces-filled pools and crucified victims stand in stark contrast with typical Roman architecture
. When encountered by Jericho, Governor Vicus greets them personally, appearing as an enormously overweight, bald and naked man with a large incision in its bloated abdomen and with blood seeping from his mouth and eyes. He traps the squad and feeds them to his massive coliseum, though he later confronts them personally when they manage to overcome his pit fighters, fighting from chains embedded in his flesh while using the orifice in his abdomen as a siphon to shower Jericho with large sprays of toxic blood and excrement. He is killed, his corpse used to open the final gate to Sumer. His voice actor is Michael Bell.
Arnold Leach
Once part of the same organization as Jericho, Arnold Leach was a prominent summoner and occultist, though his craving for power and his paranoia over his possible fate - that of a heretic
used by witch hunters to, ironically, hunt witches - led him astray and made him a madman. He founded a sect, the Brotherhood of the Dark Rapture, with which make atrocious ritual murders, sparing no one from newborns to the elderly, with each massacre gaining more and more negative energy to fuel his quest of freeing the Firstborn. He was believed to have died in a massacre that occurred in Dallas, though he made it clear that he survived when, with his cultists, assaulted the Al-Khali outpost and, in a suicidal orgy, killed himself along with his acolytes, so as to be absorbed by the Box and become what he is when he present himself to Jericho, a fearsome flying demon. Leach kills Ross, uses his influence to hinder Jericho's progress during the Crusades
, and then briefly appear at the base of the tower of Babel
, not to be seen again until the final fight with the Firstborn, where he is nailed at a wall, taunted for his foolish quest for power by the same entity he strove to free. After Jericho defeats the Firstborn, it is Leach who, angered by the creature's betrayal, finishes it off by dragging it in a portal of light, killing itself along with the Firstborn. One of the two antagonist
s during the time of the game. His voice actor is Jim Cummings
.
The Firstborn
An abomination predating mankind, the Firstborn was created by God in a failed attempt to make a soul for Man to be imbued. Disturbed and horrified by His creation, He cast it away, banishing it in another dimension whose location corresponded to that of Al-Khali - a literal wound in the earth that constantly seeped evil. Described in certain texts as a being whose coming would herald plague and destruction, the Firstborn is a singularity on its own, neither male nor female, both beautiful and terrible, a creature that the game portrays as a little child with black-greyish skin, completely bald, and with white eyes, that speaks in a multitude of voices, both masculines and feminines, that constantly change. As he did with others before, the Firstborn appeared to Captain Ross in his dreams, informing him of the impending crisis at Al-Khali and begging for help, sporadically appearing through the game as a sort of guide to the player. Only in his prison the creature reveals itself to be evil, as it lured Jericho to it just to absorb their powers and thus become powerful enough to break through his confinement. The Firstborn kills both Cole and Jones, then trying to use the squad's powers against itself, though he is defeated in the end, dragged to oblivion by Arnold Leach, the other antagonist, after being weakened by Jericho.
and 63%, 63% and 60% respectively at Metacritic
. While some reviewers praised the squad based system, elaborate storyline, and Clive Barker's dark style, others criticized character AI, lack of scares, linear gameplay, abrupt ending, and difficulty with certain game mechanics.
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" while Gamespot
noted its "gorgeously creepy visuals and sound." 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."
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" 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.
After being denied a rating in Germany Jericho's uncut version has now received an 18+ rating for the X360, PS3 and PC versions.
In 2010, UGO
included the game as the #6 in the article The 11 Weirdest Game Endings.
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
-themed first person shooter video game with author Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
providing the premise of the storyline. The game was released for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
in 2007.
Gameplay
Jericho's core gameplayGameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
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 sword 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 psychic healer (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.
Premise
Certain depictions and ancient scriptures dictate a being created by GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
in His own image before the creation of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
; according to legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, this being was abandoned by its own Creator. Called the Firstborn. God was so disturbed by what He created that He banished it into the Abyss
Abyss (religion)
Abyss refers to a bottomless pit, to the underworld, to the deepest ocean floor, or to hell.The English word "abyss" derives from the late Latin abyssimus through French abisme , hence the poetic form "abysm", with examples dating to 1616 and earlier to rhyme with "time"...
. God then started anew and went on to create mankind
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, giving the species two sexes, feelings, and love.
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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. 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
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
Warfare was created in the 1930s to combat the supernatural and unexplained. Another purpose was to meet Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
'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
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, 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.
Plot
The game begins with General Arnold Leach, a high-ranking member of a secret U.S. organization called the Department of Occult Warfare (DOW), being contacted by the Firstborn, a being that was imprisoned by God at the beginning of time in a patch of reality called the Box. The Firstborn convinces Leach to help it escape from the Box. Leach leaves the DOW, and spends the next twenty years committing acts of great evil to build up evil energy to cause a breach in the Box.Eventually, a breach is made, and the DOW sends in a Special Forces team called Jericho to seal the breach. Being unable to seal it any other way, they enter the Box to close the breach from within.
Once inside, they must battle the souls of those who have breached the Box in the past; a Nazi officer, a fallen Catholic priest from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, a depraved Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Governor, and six ancient Sumerian priests (Ninlil
Ninlil
In Sumerian religion, Ninlil , also called Sud, in Assyrian called Mullitu, is the consort goddess of Enlil. Her parentage is variously described. Most commonly she is called the daughter of Haia and Nunbarsegunu...
and Ki
KI
Ki or KI may refer to:* .ki, the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code top level domain for Kiribati*Ki., an abbreviation for the Book of Kings in Judaeo-Christian religious texts* Ki * Ki , a Japanese syllabic character...
, Inanna
Inanna
Inanna, also spelled Inana is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare....
and Enlil
Enlil
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
as well as Nanna
Nanna
-Mythology:* Nanna or Sin , god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen* Nanna , goddess and wife of the god Baldr in Norse mythology-People:* Nanna , a Scandinavian female name...
and Utu
Utu
Utu is the Sun god in Sumerian mythology, the son of the moon god Nanna and the goddess Ningal. His brother and sisters are Ishkur and Inanna and Erishkigal....
, who were the first to banish the Firstborn but ultimately fell victim to its corruption. Jericho is aided by the souls of those who ultimately resealed the breach each time it was broken.
When they finally reach the point at which they can seal the breach, they decide that they should kill the Firstborn rather than try to reseal the breach, as resealing would just result in them being trapped in the Box and endlessly tortured until the breach was opened again. When Jericho passes into the Firstborn’s cavern, they find the Firstborn in the middle of an island on a lake, with Leach tied to a wall. During the final battle between Jericho and the Firstborn, Leach breaks free of his bonds. Angered at the Firstborn’s betrayal, he grabs it and carries it to a tunnel of light, destroying them both.
The cavern soon begins to collapse. Jericho jumps into the water and swims as deep and far as they can. The game ends as they emerge from under the water in a vast ocean under an orange sky.
The Jericho Squad
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, as he may freely switch between them. He serves as the main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in the game. The player plays the game as Major Devon Ross. His voice actor is Steven Blum
Steven Blum
Steven Jay Blum is an American voice actor known primarily for his work in anime dubs and video games, using his distinctive deep voice. Among his credits include the voice of Spike Spiegel of the anime series Cowboy Bebop and Mugen of the anime series Samurai Champloo...
.
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 HK G36C assault rifle
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
with a mounted XM26 semi-automatic shotgun
Semi-automatic shotgun
A semi-automatic shotgun is a form of shotgun that is able to fire a cartridge after every trigger squeeze, without any manual chambering of another round being required...
. During the game other beings have used him to translate their language to the Jericho squad. He is killed by the Firstborn along with Cole before Jericho battles the Firstborn. His voice actor is Jamieson Price
Jamieson Price
Jamieson Kent Price is an American voice actor.Price was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is most well known for his deep and booming voice and can be heard in numerous anime shows and video games. He is also known as Taylor Henry and James Lyon...
.
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
Marksman
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision, or a sharpshooter shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at long range targets...
in the US Army. She carries a sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
called Flash Thought which also has an under-barrel grenade launcher
Grenade launcher
A grenade launcher or grenade discharger is a weapon that launches a grenade with more accuracy, higher velocity, and to greater distances than a soldier could throw it by hand....
. Her psychokinetic powers allow her to guide her bullets into multiple targets (Ghost Bullet). Her teammates pick on her somewhat, with Delgado in particular making 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 her down by discussing Phi. Her voice actor is Cindy Robinson
Cindy Robinson
Cindy Robinson is an American stage actress and voice actress. Cindy has performed on Broadway as Hannah Bentley and covering Julie Jordan in Carousel; Wendy and covering Peter Pan in Peter Pan; Snow White, while covering Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Cinderella in Into the Woods.She is...
.
Sergeant Frank Delgado
Sgt. Frank Delgado is of Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
and Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
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
Ababinili
From Native American mythology, Ababinili is the spirit of fire and manifest in fire and the sun. He is the giver of life, light, and warmth.-A Chicksaw Legend:...
, 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
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
government. Accordingly, Delgado favors high-caliber firearms to compensate for his reduced dexterity. He carries a 7.62 mm minigun
Minigun
The Minigun is a 7.62 mm, multi-barrel heavy machine gun with a high rate of fire , employing Gatling-style rotating barrels with an external power source...
fed by a continuous ammo strip (Hells Keeper) and a custom .50 calibre semi-automatic 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. His voice actor is 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
Snake handling
Snake handling or serpent handling is a religious ritual in a small number of Pentecostal churches in the U.S., usually characterized as rural and Holiness. The practice began in the early 20th century in Appalachia, spreading to mostly coal mining towns. The practice plays only a small part of...
fundamentalists in rural Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
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
Ninjutsu
or may be:*the arts associated with espionage and assassination in feudal Japan, see Ninja*modern schools of martial arts claiming to be based in these traditions, see Modern Schools of Ninjutsu*fictional depictions, see Ninja in popular culture...
, she serves Jericho as a scout and assassin. She carries a rapid-fire machine pistol
Machine pistol
A machine pistol is a handgun-style, often magazine-fed and self-loading firearm, capable of fully automatic or burst fire, and normally chambered for pistol cartridges. The term is a literal translation of Maschinenpistole, the German term for a hand-held automatic weapon...
with a 30-round magazine (Kenjuu) and a legendary nodachi
Nodachi
A nodachi is a large two-handed Japanese sword. Some have suggested that the meaning of "nodachi" is roughly the same as ōdachi meaning "large/great sword". A confusion between the terms has nearly synonymized "nodachi" with the very large "ōdachi"...
sword, which is lethal at close range. Due to her past, she suffers from paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
and schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, and lives in fear of her cult tracking her down. She also has ophidiophobia
Ophidiophobia
Ophidiophobia or ophiophobia is a particular type of specific phobia, the abnormal fear of snakes. Fear of snakes is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles and/or amphibians...
, 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. Her voice actor is Kate Higgins
Kate Higgins
Catherine Davis "Kate" Higgins is an American voice actress, singer, and jazz pianist. She was born in Charlottesville, Virginia grew up in Auburn, Alabama, and currently lives in Los Angeles. She is best known as the English voice of Sakura Haruno on the hit anime series Naruto, Talho Yūki from...
.
Corporal Simone Cole
The daughter of two Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
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
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
(possibly Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
) and claims to be an atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
despite knowing for a fact that the Firstborn, and therefore God, exists. She hates being touched, and suffers from claustrophobia
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
and nyctophobia
Nyctophobia
Nyctophobia is a phobia characterized by a severe fear of the darkness. It is triggered by the brain’s disfigured perception of what would or could happen when in a dark environment....
. Her weapon of choice is an XM8 compact carbine. She is killed along with Jones by the Firstborn before the final battle. Her voice actor is Michele Specht
Michele Specht
Michele Specht is an American actress, comedian and voice actor. She is perhaps best known for playing Katie in the VH1 series I Hate My 30's.-Early life:Specht grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado...
.
Father Paul Rawlings
A preacher with a troubled past and twin Desert Eagle
Desert Eagle
The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the U.S. and by IMI in Israel; the pistol is manufactured primarily in Israel by IMI...
s complete with extended 15 round magazines. 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 carries two silver pistols; Faith and Destiny. He is the oldest active member of the squad, and he is a veteran of war from his experiences in Iraq and Vietnam
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. 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. His voice actor is James Horan
James Horan (actor)
James Horan is an American character actor who has appeared in many television programs and films. He has starred in several soap operas, including Guiding Light as Det...
.
Villains
Hanne LichthammerLichthammer (German for "hammer of light") was an officer of the German army (possibly SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
) during World War II. Described, when alive, as an embodiment of Aryan beauty, since young she showed dangerous signs of sadomasochism, which drove her to extremes of depravity during adulthood, especially during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
where she gained infamy as an interrogator and torturer, delighting herself with shattering people's minds and then contemplating her victims suffer horrendously (it is mentioned, as an example, that she forced men to gut themselves and mothers to devour their own children alive). When encountered by Jericho, Lichthammer appears as a pale, almost zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-like woman clothed with a bondage
Bondage
Bondage may refer to:*Debt bondage, a modern form of slavery in which people are bound by debt, rather than legal ownership*Bondage , the practice of tying people up for pleasure*Self-bondage, the practice of tying oneself up for pleasure...
-like Nazi uniform and has her chest skinned, her mouth forced open by hooks and lacks an eye, which is covered by an eyepatch. She can teleport herself at will over short distances and, thanks to her already powerful psychic powers, she can easily tap into others' minds, uncovering their innermost torments - she did taunt Church citing her incestuous past and also declared Rawlings a pederast. She was exorcised by Rawlings himself and then killed while pleading Church to spare her life. Her voice actor is Susan Silo
Susan Silo
Susan Silo is an American actress and voice actress.-Early life and career:She was born in New York City, New York. Her acting career started in television on an episode of The Jack Benny Show. Silo also co-starred with Larry Blyden, Dawn Nickerson, and Diahn Williams in the NBC sitcom Harry's...
.
Bishop Maltheus St. Claire
Maltheus was a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, a man whose faith slowly drove him to extremes due to his fear of not being fit for eternal life after his corporeal death - apparently, he was guilty of gluttony
Gluttony
Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...
, among other sins. He first learned of the Firstborn while searching for a way to save his soul in the scriptures of the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, and thought erroneously that such a being, so similar to God, could have indeed been the salvation he was so desperately searching. Convinced that Al-Khali was the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, he then succeeded in gaining approval from Pope Innocent III in assembling an army made up from children
Children's Crusade
The Children's Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events which happened in 1212 that combine some or all of these elements: visions by a French or German boy; an intention to peacefully convert Muslims in the Holy Land to Christianity; bands of children marching to...
he recruited across Europe - with their Christian-supported innocence, he argued, they would have been invincible and safe from the Saracens. He went so far that he declared to the Pope that the Mediterranean itself would have spread itself to let the army pass. This did not happen, and only after months Maltheus and his army, made up of children unprepared to the carnage they were sent to, were able to set sail to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
- a grueling voyage that saw many ships sinking, and others ending up in ports where the children were sold as slaves. In the end, the army, already weakened by the voyage, made it to Al-Khali, where it was massacred by the Saracens, the slaughter opening the rift that engulfed in the Box Maltheus and the crusaders. The bishop did not die in the carnage with the children, and instead sought refuge in the chapel of the crusader's fortress, Les Innocentes, where he was later sealed when the spectres of the children came back to him to exact revenge. Ironically, Maltheus became what he feared he would have never managed to be - eternal, though merely a ghost, constantly trying to exorcise the souls of the children, believing everything to be a test God imposed on him to pardon his corporeal sins. A spectral figure, Maltheus is encountered by Jericho in the inner chapel where he has resided ever since he was sealed, initially greeting them with an offer of absolution, but turning hostile when mocked by a derisive comment from Jones. For most of the fight he is invincible, being protected by a shield, and can use the dead children as pawns to attack the squad. Mainly, he has a powerful spell known as Black Rose, where he engulf himself in large, black rose petals and then unleashes them in a massive explosion, killing everything in range instantly, after which he is briefly vulnerable to damage. When defeated, he tried to gather the children one last time, though they instead attacked him and killed him, finally obtaining rest for their souls.
Governor Cassus Vicus
A former tribune of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, Cassus Vicus was a man infamous for his excesses, which included but were not limited to senseless slaughter, violent orgies
Orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party where guests engage in promiscuous or multifarious sexual activity or group sex. An orgy is similar to debauchery, which refers to excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures....
, murder and rape and, worst of all, cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
. After being surprised while devouring human flesh, he was initially sentenced to death, though he was spared such a fate by Emperor Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, who instead sent him to Al-Khali, then the easternmost province of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, as its governor - it is also suggested that Caligula thought Vicus as a direct competitor to his own, notorious excesses. Initially he felt insulted by the exile, though he soon rejoiced in the complete freedom he was granted, elevating his already terrible crimes to new extremes of obscenity. The Firstborn noticed his barbarity, and contacted Vicus with ominous dreams, which the governor interpreted as augurs sent to him by the god Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
himself. Already thinking of himself as a living deity, Vicus eagerly embraced the eternity of torment that befell Al-Khali when it was engulged in the Box, and since then has turned his dominion into a nightmare, whose massive amounts of rotting flesh, feces-filled pools and crucified victims stand in stark contrast with typical Roman architecture
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
. When encountered by Jericho, Governor Vicus greets them personally, appearing as an enormously overweight, bald and naked man with a large incision in its bloated abdomen and with blood seeping from his mouth and eyes. He traps the squad and feeds them to his massive coliseum, though he later confronts them personally when they manage to overcome his pit fighters, fighting from chains embedded in his flesh while using the orifice in his abdomen as a siphon to shower Jericho with large sprays of toxic blood and excrement. He is killed, his corpse used to open the final gate to Sumer. His voice actor is Michael Bell.
Arnold Leach
Once part of the same organization as Jericho, Arnold Leach was a prominent summoner and occultist, though his craving for power and his paranoia over his possible fate - that of a heretic
Heretic
A heretic is a person who commits heresy.In literature:* Heretic, an autobiography of Peter Cameron* Heretic , the third volume in The Grail Quest series by Bernard CornwellIn music:...
used by witch hunters to, ironically, hunt witches - led him astray and made him a madman. He founded a sect, the Brotherhood of the Dark Rapture, with which make atrocious ritual murders, sparing no one from newborns to the elderly, with each massacre gaining more and more negative energy to fuel his quest of freeing the Firstborn. He was believed to have died in a massacre that occurred in Dallas, though he made it clear that he survived when, with his cultists, assaulted the Al-Khali outpost and, in a suicidal orgy, killed himself along with his acolytes, so as to be absorbed by the Box and become what he is when he present himself to Jericho, a fearsome flying demon. Leach kills Ross, uses his influence to hinder Jericho's progress during the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
, and then briefly appear at the base of the tower of Babel
Babel
Babel is the name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon.Babel may also refer to:-People:*Isaak Babel, Soviet journalist, playwright, and short story writer*Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer*Markus Babbel, German footballer-Places:...
, not to be seen again until the final fight with the Firstborn, where he is nailed at a wall, taunted for his foolish quest for power by the same entity he strove to free. After Jericho defeats the Firstborn, it is Leach who, angered by the creature's betrayal, finishes it off by dragging it in a portal of light, killing itself along with the Firstborn. One of the two antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
s during the time of the game. His voice actor is Jim Cummings
Jim Cummings
James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...
.
The Firstborn
An abomination predating mankind, the Firstborn was created by God in a failed attempt to make a soul for Man to be imbued. Disturbed and horrified by His creation, He cast it away, banishing it in another dimension whose location corresponded to that of Al-Khali - a literal wound in the earth that constantly seeped evil. Described in certain texts as a being whose coming would herald plague and destruction, the Firstborn is a singularity on its own, neither male nor female, both beautiful and terrible, a creature that the game portrays as a little child with black-greyish skin, completely bald, and with white eyes, that speaks in a multitude of voices, both masculines and feminines, that constantly change. As he did with others before, the Firstborn appeared to Captain Ross in his dreams, informing him of the impending crisis at Al-Khali and begging for help, sporadically appearing through the game as a sort of guide to the player. Only in his prison the creature reveals itself to be evil, as it lured Jericho to it just to absorb their powers and thus become powerful enough to break through his confinement. The Firstborn kills both Cole and Jones, then trying to use the squad's powers against itself, though he is defeated in the end, dragged to oblivion by Arnold Leach, the other antagonist, after being weakened by Jericho.
Time slices
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 BabelTower of BabelThe Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
. 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.
Reception
Upon release, the game received mixed reviews with an average critic rating of 66.18% for the Xbox 360 version, 65.40% for the PC and 61.31% for the PS3 at Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
and 63%, 63% and 60% respectively at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. While some reviewers praised the squad based system, elaborate storyline, and Clive Barker's dark style, others criticized character AI, lack of scares, linear gameplay, abrupt ending, and difficulty with certain game mechanics.
On the game's style, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
stated that "Clive Barker's contribution to the concept and narrative direction of the game will certainly help get the attention of horror fans" while Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
noted its "gorgeously creepy visuals and sound." Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine
Official Xbox Magazine is a monthly video game magazine which started in November 2001 around the launch of the original Xbox. A preview issue was released for E3 2001, with another preview issue for November 2001. The magazine is bundled with a disc that includes game demos, preview videos and...
praised the choice of characters, being "endless fun to switch tactics and experiment with different combinations of powers and weapons for crowd control."
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" with Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
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.
After being denied a rating in Germany Jericho's uncut version has now received an 18+ rating for the X360, PS3 and PC versions.
In 2010, UGO
UGO
UGO Entertainment, Inc. is a website providing coverage of online media in entertainment targeting males age 18–34. The company is currently based in New York, New York, United States. On July 24, 2007 it was announced that Hearst Corporation would acquire UGO Entertainment...
included the game as the #6 in the article The 11 Weirdest Game Endings.