Trained in both conventional warfare and the arcane arts, each Jericho Team member is an expert in different para-psychological disciplines, including clairvoyance, alchemy, blood magic and exorcism.

Clive Barker’s Jericho leads the Jericho Team toward a source of ancient evil so supremely powerful that it has broken through time into our world and is threatening to engulf the Earth. At ground zero lies the Middle Eastern city of Al-Khali, the site of a huge, secret archaeological dig and paranormal research centre, now the heart of a dimensional rift.

Players must navigate Al Khali’s labyrinthine of streets, alleys and structures, moving block by block in search of the rift. As the squad approaches the target, the city now crawling with hellish denizens emerging from the source, the team is forced to rely less and less on traditional weapons and instead on harnessing their combined psychic abilities to defeat the supernatural nemesis no matter how horrific their looks or attacks may be.

World War II

World War II began the era of industrialised, global, modern combat. Millions died. This war, unprecedented in global reach and casualties, was only ended through the deployment of nuclear bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in two devastating strikes.

Recent Department of Occult Warfare paranormal excavations revealed concentrated levels of activity at Al-Khali during the War. The roots of the activity stretch back further.

In the 1930s reports reached the UK Security Service that a German occult society, deeply entwined with the Nazi hierarchy, was investigating paranormal warfare. Initially these documents were dismissed and filed. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War changed everything.

Field reports spoke of strange phenomena during bombardments, projectiles that seemed to change their path in mid-flight to reach hidden positions, interrogation led by unidentified collaborators that obtained information without a word being uttered, and sudden deaths in inexplicable conditions (heart attacks, spontaneous combustion) of high Republican commanders inside their underground refuges. Covert operations revealed that a new German corps established by the German Occultists, the Geheimnisvoll Abwehrmacht, were operating on the Spanish northern front, camouflaged as logistical and intelligence support for the Condor Legion.

The Spanish Civil War was a training ground for the new corps. Extensive research was carried out by the German Occultists to establish how the paranormal could further their war effort. As their new fighting force carried operations in Spain, psychic operatives identified Al-Khali of critical strategic potential.

As soon as WW II broke out, German forces invaded Al-Khali. Local men, women and children were enslaved to carry out excavations. Hundreds died of exhaustion and starvation. After uniformed German forces led and supervised the excavations, the Geheimnisvoll Abwehrmacht, commanded by their finest psychic squadron leader Hanne Lechtermact, was dispatched to Al-Khali to take over the site.

In response, a British commando unit was sent to Al-Khali under the command of Major Pat Buckland. The unit, known as Blackwatch, was established by the Office of Strategic Services under the supervision of famed British Occultist Alleister Crowley. The squad was comprised of veterans hardened on the battlefronts of almost all the wars in the early 20th century. People touched by luck, clairvoyants, occultists and experts in demolition and infiltration. They were the Allies best hope of response as they played catch-up against their German counterparts.

Despite the huge levels of paranormal activity recorded at Al-Khali, what actually occurred there during the war remained a mystery. All contact with the British commando unit was lost soon after their arrival. There are no official known records of Gehimisvoll Abwermacht activity although it is believed they never returned from the desert. The physical excavations at Al-Khali and any
discoveries made at the site were lost.

The Jericho squad is a seven-man strike force for the U.S. Department of Occult Warfare, sent into the Middle Eastern city of Al-Khali to investigate an intense level of paranormal activity. Throughout the game, players will be able to play as, and switch between, the members of the squad – each of them skilled in modern warfare and individual para-psychological disciplines, such as telekinesis, blood magic, exorcism and more.

Licensed by Alchemic Productions, Clive Barker’s Jericho is currently in development at Mercury Steam. The game will utilise the Madrid-based studio’s new proprietary next-generation graphics engine to bring the monsters and demons from the depths of Barker’s imagination to life. The engine marries photo-realistic art with hyper-realistic colour and lighting effects to achieve a uniquely dark and almost surreal visual atmosphere, dropping players into the heart of Clive’s chilling interactive nightmare

Clive Barker’s Jericho is now in development for PS3,Xbox 360 and PC and is schedule to launch late in 2007.