By: Black Widow Games

Lead designer: Neil Manke

Mod for: Half-Life

Released: May 2001

Time to complete: 4 – 5 hours

Availability:

Not available for download yet, but it’s included with the current issue of PC Gamer. Should be available for download after June 15.

They Hunger 3: Rude Awakening

For fans of They Hunger, the third installment has been much anticipated. Any series that reaches trilogy status must be doing something right – look at Star Wars, Star Trek, Sierra’s Quest games, or Harry Potter. Hitting the magic number "3" is pivotal. Once a series reaches three it can either go on to even more episodes or cement itself forever in history as the "such-and-such" trilogy. (e.g. Evil Dead trilogy.) Since it’s doubtful that a They Hunger 4 will ever be produced, They Hunger 3: Rude Awakening (TH3) round-outs a trilogy that will live on in gaming history.

TH3 starts immediately after the events in TH2. At the end of TH2, it seemed that the whole situation – the zombies, the undead cops, a crazy sheriff – was a really, really bad dream. It ended with the institute on fire then darkness and a female voice saying, "Wake up." But things were just warming up, going from really, really bad to "I’m-so-scared-I-think-my-heart-just-exploded" bad. After a brief nightmare sequence, you wake up in a hospital. It’s anyone’s guess as to how you got there, but it becomes very clear that things aren’t normal. The place seems deserted. That is, until you start to hear a baby crying.

Obviously, the people at Black Widow Games understand how to evoke fear. When watching The Blair Witch Project, I remember that the most terrifying moment was when you could hear the faint cries of a baby. The mix of sound and darkness, combined to send chills up my back. More than a few times this happened while playing TH3. The mix of level, lighting, sound, and character design have been combined to create a single player experience that will have you glancing over your shoulder as you play.

Your basic objective is to 1) stay alive and 2) find some way to get the hell out of the area. TH3 is firmly rooted in the They Hunger history. You’ll have to battle through areas visited in the previous episodes (especially cool is the burned out institute), which adds continuity to the trilogy. But there are many new areas to fight through as well. There’s a whole section that takes place in the outlying agricultural area that introduces zombified bulls. And chickens. (I can see the ad now, "KFC now serving undead chicken parts!") Moving things along is a "the undead shall rule the Earth" plot, which is explained in a series of cutscenes. Of course, the military (finally) drops in to complicate the situation. The military guys think you’re a zombie, so they shoot on sight, shouting things like, "Die zombie!" But it becomes evident that the military is going to be overrun, so it falls upon your shoulders to save the world from domination by the undead. The zombies take many forms, including nurses, police men, military personnel, farm animals, farmers, aquatic creatures, and skeleton demons and their children. Not to mention the packs of wolves that have a tendency to bound out of the darkness at the moment you think the area is clear.

To aid in your noble quest of blasting zombies is a good roster of weapons. The shovel, umbrella, and wrench are back as melee weapons. New additions include the flame-thrower (ripped right from TFC), the chain-gun (another TFC favorite), dynamite (flick those Bics!), and a portable health pack. (The chain-gun lends to the overall "cool" feel of the final confrontation.)

A downside to TH3 is the amount of backtracking that is required. Some areas are thick with zombies and getting through them is challenging and having to fight my way through an area again gave rise to slight annoyance. Besides this there are few times, I asked, "Where the hell do I go now?" One instance, I arrived in a train station loading dock but could not figure out where to go next. There was a large box to one side with a couple of items inside, but since my ammo was at a healthy level I ignored it. Exhausting all other avenues, I entered the box. WHAM! Things started to happen, and I found myself between the first clash of the military and zombies. Otherwise, transitions between areas (and the overall level design) are very good.

Sound design is top notch. There is plenty of ambient groans and moans, but nothing is so effective at making you jump as the sound of breaking glass and the crying baby. The voice acting is decidedly amateurish, but just look at the acting in Plan 9 From Outer Space and people still talk about it. And there’s an amusing little country-western diddy that accompanies the credits called, "You are What I Eat." The lyrics are violent and gory – but in a fun way.

Even though the Half-Life engine shows its age compared with current titles, it also runs like a dream. Even with a zombie bull bearing down on you while you fight off wolves, there’s no jerky motion. And things still manage to look great. The Half-Life engine may be breathing its last but it not dead yet.

The final question: Is They Hunger 3 worth installing and playing to the end? The answer is an unreserved "Yes!" It’s single-player fun and horror at its best.

Reviewed by Omni

Having trouble with the end battle? Black Widow has released a patch that makes things a little easier.