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The Thing (VG)

From Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games
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The Thing
Thing2002cover.jpg
Cover art from The Thing (2002)
Release Date: 2002
Developer: Computer Artworks
Publisher: Black Label Games
Series: The Thing
Platforms: Playstation 2
PC
Xbox
Genre: Action-survival horror


The Thing is a 2002 third-person shooter/survival horror video game developed by Computer Artworks and published under the "Black Label Games" banner, a collaboration between Universal Interactive and Konami. It was released for PlayStation 2, Windows and Xbox.

The game is a sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film The Thing, and follows the story of Captain Blake, a member of a U.S. Special Forces team sent to the Antarctic outpost featured in the film to determine what has happened to the research team.

The Thing was a commercial success, selling over one million units worldwide across all platforms, and received generally positive reviews. A sequel was in the early stages of development, but was cancelled when Computer Artworks went into receivership in 2003. The game was endorsed by John Carpenter, who voices a character in an uncredited cameo.

The following weapons appear in the 2002 video game The Thing:


Beretta 92FS

The Pistol is a two-tone Beretta 92FS with a 20-round magazine capacity. Anachronistic, as the Beretta 92F was not produced until 1983, a year after the game's setting, and didn't enter military service until 1985. The characters in reality would have been issued the Colt M1911A1.

Two-Tone Beretta 92FS - 9x19mm
The two-tone Beretta 92FS from The Thing.
An Arctic Marine holding the Pistol.

Machine Gun

The weapon is incorrectly referred to as 'Machine Gun' in-game and in the manual, when it is actually a submachine gun. The Machine Gun's visual design is ambiguous, but it seems to be based (poorly) on the Heckler & Koch MP5SD1. In the game, the Machine Gun has a 50-round magazine capacity, despite its clearly short 15-round magazine.

Heckler & Koch MP5SD1 with 15-round magazine - 9x19mm
The Machine Gun from The Thing.
An Arctic Marine holding the Machine Gun.
Blake and Arctic Marines Pace and Williams battle the Things firing their MP5s.
The Machine Gun as seen on the instruction manual.

Benelli M4 Super 90

The Shotgun appears to be a Benelli M4 Super 90 with a H20 NP3 mariner finish and an incorrect 12-round capacity. Anachronistic, as the Benelli M4 was not produced until 1999. In 1982, U.S. Special Forces would have used a Remington 870.

Benelli M4 Super 90 in H20 NP3 mariner finish - 12 gauge
The Benelli M4 from The Thing.
An Arctic Marine holds the Shotgun.

Sniper Rifle

The Sniper Rifle's design is ambiguous, but it is clearly a semi-automatic sniper rifle with a large magnifying scope, a 6-round detachable box magazine, and a wooden stock. It is possibly and very loosely based on the Heckler & Koch PSG1, albeit with a wooden stock. The Sniper Rifle is first found in the Norwegian Weather Station.

Heckler & Koch PSG-1 Sniper Rifle - 7.62x51mm NATO
The Sniper Rifle in-game. Note that the ammo pick-up magazines are much larger than the one in the rifle.

Grenade Launcher

The Grenade Launcher appears to be based on a mixture of several grenade launchers, including the German Heckler & Koch HK69A1, the South African Milkor Stopper and the Polish Pallad wz. 1983.

Heckler & Koch HK69A1
Milkor Stopper - 38mm
wz.83 Pallad D - 40x47mm
The Grenade Launcher in-game.

M60 Machine Gun

The M60 general-purpose machine gun appears only mounted in military helicopters. It is only usable in first person mode in one sequence, during the final boss fight. In the game, the M60 has infinite ammo and does not overheat.

M60 machine gun with bipod extended - 7.62x51mm NATO
Left-view close-up of the M60 with its ammunition box visible, mounted in a military Bell 206 Jet Ranger helicopter in The Thing (2002).
Panoramic shot of the helicopter with the mounted M60.).
A right-side close-up of the M60.
Blake firing the M60 at the Cloud B4 carrier.

Fictional flamethrower

The flamethrower in The Thing (2002) differs from that of the film versions in that it appears to be based not on the M2A1-7 military flamethrower, but rather on the M240 Incinerator Unit from the film Aliens (1986), sans the M16-style carrying handle. This design, consisting of a compact, handheld flamethrower with an assault rifle configuration and with the fuel canister where the magazine should be, is a rather common design in videogames. M2 flamethrowers like those from the film also appear in official artwork for the game.

M240 Incinerator Unit from the film Aliens.
The flamethrower in The Thing.

Cut Weapons

Heckler & Koch MP5A3

The Machine Gun was originally a more properly modeled Heckler & Koch MP5 in the beta version, before being modified extensively, probably to avoid licensing issues. The beta MP5 closely resembles an MP5A3 and had a 30-round magazine capacity (in the manual image it appears its magazine holds up to 20 rounds). The beta MP5A3 can still be seen in-game on ammo boxes, in the game's trailer, in the soldier class icon in the squad menu, in the game's manual and in the cover's artwork.

Heckler & Koch MP5A3 (Navy model) with Navy trigger group and threaded muzzle - 9x19mm
Beta MP5A3 from the manual.
Beta MP5A3 displayed on the "Machine Gun's" ammo crate in the final game.
Beta MP5A3 from The Thing.

Promotional material

IMI Uzi

In a promotional material flyer for the game, the artwork displays a man aiming an IMI Uzi with its stock removed at another man wielding an M2 Flamethrower.

IMI Uzi with stock removed - 9x19mm
A paranoid man aiming an IMI Uzi with stock removed at an M2 flamethrower-wielding comrade.

M2 Flamethrower

Although never featured in-game, M2 flamethrowers similar to the ones used in the film appear in official artwork for the game.

M2A1-2 Flamethrower like the one used in the 1982 film.
The M2 flamethrower from The Thing 2002's promotional artwork.
A paranoid man aiming an IMI Uzi with stock removed at an M2 flamethrower-wielding comrade.

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