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Slow, Steady Spiral into Insanity

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: February 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you're a fan of horror stories, then you know that one of the founders of this genre was HP Lovecraft and his Cthulhu stories. Lovecraft was born in 1890 in Rhode Island, and his Cthulhu storyline was based in a seacoast town of Massachusetts of the 1920s. Lovecraft's own father went insane when Lovecraft was 3, and Lovecraft himself had a nervous breakdown in high school. His stories were developed from his own severe nightmares.

This game title has been in development for many years, so the graphics in the end product aren't necessarily cutting edge, especially for the XBox platform. It's important to just accept this up front. The load times are also exceedingly long. Strangely, when we played this on our XBox 360 (in backwards compatability mode of course) the loading screens were super long - but the individual messages that would cycle through would not stay on the screen long enough to read. It was an odd combination.

I found it best not to think of Call of Cthulhu as a traditional horror game like Doom or Half-Life. This game isn't about constant action and harassment. It is much more like a steady epic that unfolds over time. It's not about in-your-face blood and guts, although there is plenty of both. It is more of a psychological gnawing away at you. It's a game that you need to set aside a long weekend, a bottle of wine and turn on the answering machine for. It's immersive.

So how does it play out. You are Jack Walters, a detective called in to help with a cult that has holed up in a gothic house in Massachusetts. Strangely, you have no gun. You and a few cops approach the house, and the cultists shoot your cop pals down. You try to pick up one of the downed cop's guns and the system says "Ewwww a dead body". Hmmmm. You go in and find that the cult is obsessed with you for some reason, and find a few dead cultists. You spot a trap door in one room - and when you open the trap door, you mysteriously can't walk around the room any more - your feet are now unable to step over the tiny ledge that lines the hallway. You go down, and see .... things go dark.

Fast forward to six years later. Now you're a PI, suffering from amnesia from that horrific event. You are sent into a small town to track down a missing "lad". The town is typical New England - dark, dreary, grey, with people who speak in monosyllables. I live here, I know this type of town ;) You're now ferrying items to get clues, doing sneak-avoidance to get into areas, and solving puzzles. You don't even get a weapon for about the first third of the game.

There are interesting twists because of the "going insane" aspect of this story. If you spend too much time in a scary area, your vision goes blurry and you have other issues. You can't always trust what you see. You have to plow through trying to do the best you can, as quickly as you can.

There is a group of horror players who will probably find this game "too slow". Players who are hooked on the constant action of Halo etc. probably won't do well with the long loads and exploring sequences. On the other hand, I really recommend that they stick with this. Fast adrenaline can be a shallow thrill. A slow-building insanity can really get to you.

If I have complaints about the game, it stems from some of my commentary earlier. The game elicits laughter when obviously it wasn't meant to. It seems that 99% of the doors you encounter are mysteriously glued shut. The dialogue is repetitive and sometimes inane. You're being shot at but can't pick up a gun?

That being said, every game has its dumb idiosyncracies. The guy in Grand Theft Auto could take down hordes of drug dealers but would drown in 1" of water. You just have to accept these things as part of the game environment.

I definitely recommend this game for adventure gamers who can handle the mature rating. If you're more of a shoot-em-up, at least rent the game to see if you can get into the flow of things. You might find that you really can enjoy something that has a slower pace.

The Innsmouth Look

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: November 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I've been waiting for this game for several years. I watched in dismay as what was originally going to be a multiplyer PC game shrank into a single player adventure. Finally, I thought it would never come out. That made me sad, as there have been too few Call of Cthulhu computer games (The last great one being Shadow of the Comet). Thankfully, this one was worth the wait.

The Shadow Over Innsmouth was one of HPL's more creepy and claustrophic tales and it is so wonderful to see it translated so well into a game. Seemless plot and some real pulse-pounding moments make this game a must-buy for Lovecraft fans and anyone else who likes the horror genre. Forget Silent Hill and Resident Evil, this is the real deal. Like the pen & pencil game of the same name, this one relies on brain more than brawn but doesn't present any really obtuse puzzles.

I hope this is the first of many CoC-related computer games for the 21st Century. Howard himself would be proud of the dedication that went into visualizing his creation.

Best horror game yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: October 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Better than any other horror game I have played, this one succeeds at giving the player real chilling moments combined with the truest survival horror yet.

The first person perspective combined with the many lines of dialogue, the total lack of a HUD, and the effective and creepy graphics really put you into the experience of the game. Add to that the cut scenes which are seamlessly blended with the action, so that you can follow the story w/o feeling like you are watching a movie.

The game features good puzzles, which take investigation and not luck to figure out. I had to give some of the puzzles some thought time, but I never had to go looking for the solution online. The combat is brutal and realistic, featuring a great wound system. The Sanity system is very effective in that it adds to the gamers horror experience, and is not simply a gimmick. When you hear your character whisper "There's someone following me", you feel like watching your back.

Add to all this little touches like your character being afraid of heights and the possibility of becoming addicted to the Morphine used in the game and you have a very involving horror game.

The game is a bit on the difficult side at times. But this is as it should be... after all, you must feel like you are fighting to survive. The game is also very dark graphic-wise, and should be played w/ lights out for maximum effect.

If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, you will love this game. Even if you are not a Lovecraft fan, chances are you will love the unique experience this game has to offer. Just wait until you are creeping along a not so sturdy wooden plank, suspended above prowling baddies far below, while you experience vertigo and hope for a quiet spot to sit and stitch up your bleeding arm...

The horror of the unknown

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 14
Date: December 27, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Let's admit it - most modern games baby the player. Helpful hints and arrows, spotlit items, bosses sporting "shoot me here!" spots....even top-notch titles like God of War and Resident Evil 4 fall prey to these unfortunate conventions. As games have become more complex, developers have felt the need to include these hints to keep from alienating players. Understandable, sure, but something gets lost from the immersion factor as a result.

What if someone made a game that tossed all these safety features out the window -- a horror title that abandons players in the literal and figurative darkness, leaving them only paltry clues to decipher? As the players slowly understand what is happening, they are given glimpses into a world-shattering truth that tears at the very fabric of reality, threatening to drive them mad with its ancient revelations! Maybe it's best to close your eyes and ignore what is happening....or perhaps you will discover something beyond your imagination.....

If this sounds good to you, your game has arrived.

Behold U.K.-based Headfirst Productions' oft-delayed, long-awaited title, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and Chaosium's pen-&-paper role-playing game. This is not a title destined to be a Platinum Hit, nor is it one trying to cater to all comers. It is a challenging title that demands much of the player, and not surprisingly, pays off in many ways as a result. The Xbox has a disappointingly small number of horror games (and fewer Xbox-only ones), but Dark Corners fills that void with a flourish. It must be mentioned that you don't need to be familiar with H.P. Lovecraft to appreciate it, although fans will notice numerous nods to the author's influential work.

On the surface, Dark Corners is a somewhat awkward game: it's not that pretty to look at, tends to be buggy, and has clunky controls and combat. Fortunately, these technical issues don't have a major impact on the more important stuff: gameplay, story, and atmosphere. In fact, its shortcomings make the experience that much more haunting and realistic, making the player concentrate on the task at hand rather than gawking at eye-popping animation and effects.

As with most of Lovecraft's universe, the plot is essential, so I won't go into much detail here. You play as Jack Walters, a private investigator who's hired to find a missing person in the New England coastal town of Innsmouth. Things spiral out of control from there, as Jack quickly discovers there's much more to the town than its fishy appearance.

The game is played from the first-person perspective, and there's thankfully no on-screen icons to distract you from the surroundings. Dark Corners is all about living through Jack's eyes, and he quickly learns what you don't see is as important as what you do see. Unfortunately for Jack, what he faces is so unspeakable that it can actually drive him insane enough to commit suicide (a creepy thing to experience in first-person). There is a sanity system in place that is miles more effective than the superficial one used in the Gamecube's Eternal Darkness, and the player must be careful at all times.

Dark Corners is not a shooter. The game feels something like an evil combination of Shenmue and Thief, with some stealth content, a sprinkling of platforming, a few shooting sequences and Metroid-ish boss puzzles. It doesn't start slowly despite the fact you will not receive any weapons for the first third of the game. The feeling of dread and helplessness Jack feels as a result gives the game a horror aspect unlike anything Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or Fatal Frame can produce (and it's only slightly reduced once you do arm yourself). Jack must use his wits to survive, and the game excels at making the numerous situations and obstacles challenging in a realistic fashion. You'll have to pay a lot of attention to clues you find, the environment, even noises and conversations you hear. You will more than likely get stuck, possibly numerous times, but the solution is always logical and close at hand. Like the manual states, "You're a detective, not a soldier!" Paying attention pays off big time here.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth has been a long time coming, but it's more than worth the wait. Fans of Lovecraft and horror in general will wonder why it took so long for someone to make a game with this kind of effective design. What Headfirst may lack in programming and artistic expertise, they more than make up for with cleverness, challenge, innovation, and atmosphere. The result is one of the best Xbox games of the year, and one of the best horror games ever made.

Something wicked this way comes. . .

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: November 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

There's something brilliantly terrifying about an evil that is so powerful that mankind ultimately stands no chance of defeating it, and yet so sly and so subtle that it could walk up to you and shake your hand without you being any the wiser.

Welcome to the Cthullu mythos.

H.P. Lovecraft's seminal world of myth and madness has been criminally underused, especially in the video game industry. Aside from echoes of his style found in horror titles like Silent Hill or (even moreso) Eternal Darkness, most of the survival horror genre tends to toward the more plebian and campy nature of the Resident Evil games. However, Cthullu gurus now finally have a game straight from the source to sate their horror appetite with Call of Cthullu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

And hey, it's actually pretty darn good too.

Dark Corners of the Earth is primarily a first-person action/adventure game, mixing mind-bendingly fun puzzles, spine tingling suspense/horror, and skin-crawling action for a unique and (if it's your bad) very entertaining gaming experience. The story, an adaptation of Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Insmouth, is a very well-paced, well-presented, and overall engrossing tale of one man's struggle against terror and insanity. Speaking of which, insanity has visible effects in the game, much like Eternal Darkness's Sanity Meter. The more horrifying things you witness, the more slippery your grasp on reality becomes.

Which will make you start physically looking over your shoulder when the creepy really starts to get to you, mostly because this game's middle name is "immersion." The first-person perspective puts you in the middle of everything, providing the kind of constant "in the world" feel that games like Half-Life 2 excel at. However, Dark Corners goes the extra mile, providing a "HUDless" screen, further pushing the player into the game's whispering and macabre world. Along with the game's stylized graphics (which do a solid job overall) and tremendous use of sound (for music as well as both for voices and. . . well, other stuff; you'll find out), the game has enough enticing scares to have you soiling your britches within the first hour of play.

Which isn't to say that the actual game is perfect. While the graphics are very solid, the textures also suffer from some sameness and lack of detail in places, especially compared to some of the XBOX's premier lookers like Half-Life 2 and Chaos Theory. Additionally, there are times When manipulating objects for the game's myriad of puzzles proves a little problematic (let's face it, consoles still don't quite have that aspect of adventure games down pat).

However, even with these minor shortcomings, the game is easily one of the most unique and enjoyable horror experiences available on consoles. It's not the kind of fast-paced brain candy scare/action adrenaline rush that you'll find in titles like Resident Evil 4, but if you're looking for a dark, smart tale of terror dripping with atmosphere, you couldn't go wrong with this one.

Great concept, sloppy execution

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 14 / 20
Date: February 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I really wanted to like this game. Any game based on an H.P. Lovecraft tale must be spooky, creative and tons of fun, right? I think any educated gamer with a respectable sense of survival horror would have to ultimately say "no" after playing Call Of Cthulhu. It pains me to speak ill of this game as you can tell the developers tried their utmost to give CoC an eerie atmosphere, tense moments, challenging puzzles and fierce enemies. The only one of these aspects they succeeded on is the puzzle part as you will find it an extreme challenge to not throw your controller through the TV screen. It's not even because the puzzles are so hard, it's more to do with the fact that the puzzles are boring and after trying the same tired old "jump the chasm, pull the lever, beat the timer" nonsense, you find yourself losing interest very quickly. Which leads me to the next major annoyance. When you die, and you WILL die, the deaths tend to happen (obviously) at a time where monsters are lurking, guns are blazing and puzzles are stumping and coincidentally, most of these moments in the game come right after a cut scene. Why does this make a difference, you ask? Because you can't push a button to skip the cut scenes! There were at least five instances where I died multiple times right after a cut scene and had to sit through these four or five minute interludes EVERY SINGLE TIME. That's just sloppy development in my book and it seriously hinders the gameplay experience. My other major gripe is the "insanity" of the character (a blatant rip-off of Eternal Darkness, a game which pulled this off FAR more effectively). In Eternal Darkness, your insanity would manifest itself with lucid and horrific hallucinations and you truly didn't know what was happening. It was freaky and a rare new experience. In CoC, your "insanity" makes itself evident with the screen getting blurry and your character moving as slow as molasses. It gets so blurry at times that you literally can't see a single thing. How is this fun? Keep in mind, while you're blurry-eyed and vulnerable, this doesn't stop the enemy from attacking you so it ends up being a prolonged death where you just sit and stare at a blurry screen, not knowing what the hell is going on. Lame!
And what's with the fishmen? Were they pulled right out of Resident Evil or what? Those of you familiar with the "creatures" from R.E. will scoff at these human frogmen jumping at you and easily being mowed down with a well-aimed shotgun.
The main problem I have with CoC is that it can't decide what it wants to be. I loved the first part of the game where your survival depends on stealth and cunning, not bullets and jumping (I'm a big fan of Thief so I guess that might tell you something). When the game opens, it sets a great mood and tone that ends up dwindling into a Tomb Raider type shoot, jump and lever-pull festival that eventually turns into a jaw-breaking yawn. It really has no new concepts whatsoever. It pulls ideas directly from Thief, Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness but really bringing nothing of its own to the table. More importantly, this game really doesn't create a forboding atmosphere and couldn't be less scary by the time you get to the middle of the game. That's where its creativity should be abounding, not sagging.
Go rent Eternal Darkness and Thief instead. They're both far superior and honestly, Call Of Cthulhu (the game, not the story) wouldn't exist without them.

Immersive atmosphere, solid game play, and Cthulhu. What more do you need?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: October 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game! It drips atmosphere, and is scary/nerve wracking as hell. While not a traditional shooter, the First Person perspective adds a significant layer to the immersive feel. There's a chase scene early on that is just amazing.

The game also stays true to the source material, sometimes directly, sometimes with little nods and winks. Readers of Lovecraft will see tidbits of various stories intertwined, thought the game is ultimately about someone who is ignorant of the mythos, and learns as he goes, so knowing the material is not needed to enjoy the game.

Much has been written about the HUDless system, sanity system, and the health system - so I wont go into those, other than to say it all works together very well.

The puzzles are decent (so far), and while there are some `get A for B' puzzles, they all make sense and add to the plot. I haven't felt like I was running an errand simply for something to do. It's all part of the investigation, and is believable.

The graphics have a stylistic feel to them, which hints at the time period (scratchy, and grainy), the voice acting is very good.

Lovecraftian fun

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: July 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Those who ever dreamed of experiencing the dark and fantastic world of Lovecraft will rejoice that Call of Cthulhu is a game that fairly captures that world.

Much like the writer's long list of stories, in this game you start as a normal human being whose life takes a subtle, but very absolute descent into madness. You assume the role of Jack Walter, a 1920s Private Detective who is summoned to a house by the local authorities of Arkham. The house is the dwelling of an infamous cult that has gone too far in their religious practice and are unwilling to cooperate with the authorities until they talk to you.

You are committed to an asylum after your body was recovered from the house, being diagnosed with schizophrenia. Six years later, you abruptly recover from your mental absence and are released from the asylum's care. Having no memory of the events that occurred within that household or of your hospitalization, you try to discover for yourself what caused your sudden illness by delving into books which you yourself purchased while you were not yourself. But the answers you seek sure enough find you when you receive a mysterious phone call by a Mr. Anderson, who wants you to investigate a missing person's case in the infamous seaport town of Innsmouth.

This fateful telephone call is what starts you on a long and dangerous ride into earth's remotest history and darkest corners, where you will meet the Things from that history and see firsthand what Lovecraft so often referred to as, "the unimaginable."

One of the greatest aspects to the game is its number of unique locations and settings. The Occult house. The town of Innsmouth. A refinery. The Marsh dwelling. Devil's Reef. And eventually the underwater city where the prison of the flying Polyps reside (people who have read the stories would know what I am talking about). You even embark on a sea voyage on a US Military ship.

Stealth is used when you are weaponless, and you often times are, while at the same time you can take a more direct approach once you have obtained numerous guns, including a Tommy Gun. People have complained about difficulty aiming in this game since there is no crosshair to assist you, but I found the absence of a crosshair and a lifeline obstructing my vision actually made the game more immersive and believable.

Another feature, or a mistake depending on who you read from, is the Insanity Meter. The more pressure or horrific events you encounter affects Jack's mental stability, as it would anyone. The way the game attempts to portray mental instability is by blurring your vision, waving the screen, magnifying objects, heavy panting, mumbling to yourself and slowing down all physical motion. A great idea, but even a permissive player will object to the way a mentally unstable Jack Walter can affect game play. The panting and mumbling to yourself in panic is good, but I don't think your vision should be impaired or your actions slowed. Perhaps if he screamed, or even laughed in his moments of extreme peril...will surely get the message across that he is being driven completely insane. And another thing extremely disturbing about this whole concept is after you have escaped the horrors one moment, the next moment you seem totally calm and ordinary. You go from an uncontrolled state of frantic mumbling and panting to a normal state of composure, just because you activated a talk sequence with another character in the game.

Some parts of the game have an unlimited supply of enemies, namely the refinery, which makes elaborate puzzle solving and a thorough search of large levels tedious. I would have also liked to see my fallen enemies to remain fallen, not just disappear.

Graphics are moderate.

But the biggest fault the game has is with its countless glitches. After some online research I've come to learn that these glitches are prevalent in both the Xbox and the Computer version. Most are activated when you do not do game puzzles in a correct sequence and are fixed simply by reloading your last save. But there is one glitch that may require you to restart the game. I encountered it on the chapter, "A Dangerous Voyage." What it dose is freeze up the moment you reach a certain point in the chapter. I asked technical support on the game's official website for a remedy to the problem and of course they did not reply. The only sure way to avoid this glitch is to not save on the chapter until you have successfully entered the Captain's quarters. If you should encounter the glitch before the Captain's Quarters is infiltrated, you are inclined to reload your last save in the previous chapter and fight your way back up to that point. If ever you save on the corrupted chapter before surpassing the glitch, you will literally have to restart the game or reload a secondary save file, because reloading a saved game on that corrupted chapter will not correct the glitch, because the save file itself is corrupted! What I did is save a game right after the Captain's Quarters have been infiltrated on a separate file should I encounter that glitch again during another play through.

However much the game's numerous faults interrupt the experience, the Lovecraftian authenticity that this game has managed to savor cannot be denied and therefore remains to be one of greatest horror games ever made and I look forward to playing the two more expected to follow.

"Primal myth and modern illusion joined in their assumption that mankind is only one--if not least--of the highly evolved and dominant races of this planet's long and largely unknown career. Things of inconceivable shape, they implied, had reared towers to the sky and delved into every secret of nature before the first amphibian forbear of man had crawled out of the hot sea three hundred million years ago."

My favorite quotation among the many I come to like from his stories.

How do you pronounce that?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I recently bought this game used, after trading in my copy of the -less-than-two-weeks-old copy of Astonishia Story for PSP (don't f***ing buy that tripe; wait for Valkyrie Profile), I picked this up. I have been intrigued by the premise for a while, but was timid due to the overwhelming number of lackluster titles currently available. Feeling like taking a chance, I decided to bite the bullet.

Overall, this game is pretty okay. It's not outstanding in any sense, but it does the trick. I'm only 21% of the way through the game, and have already picked out a couple of gripes.

First off, it's touted as a first person shooter. I'm almost a quarter of the way through a game, and have yet to find a gun or any form of melee weapon. That's not to say that there haven't been tense moments in the game, but if there's not much shooting, why call it a shooter? This title would have been much better had the developers adopted more of a third-person perspective a la Silent Hill or Resident Evil.

Second off, and the biggest gripe thus far, THE CONTROLS SUCK. Again, if it was a third-person view, it would be a metric buttload easier to judge some of the jumps you have to make. In one particular chase scene you have to hop out of windows, onto balconies, and across alleyways in order to avoid hatchet- and shotgun-wielding bloodthirsty cultists. I plummeted to my demise numerous times before I finally passed that particular chapter.

It's not all bad however. Call Of Cthulhu is definitely atmospheric enough to hold the stigma of a survival-horror game. It's dark and brooding, and the character design I have encountered thus far has only made the in-game world that much more creepy. The storyline is at least intriguing enough to keep one interested...

Overall, I'm glad I took the chance with this game. I have a ways to go, but I'm glad.

MASSIVE SANITY HIT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Based on author H.P. Lovecrafts many works involving the town of Innsmouth and the sea god Dagon, Bethesda struck right on target with Dark Corners of the Earth.
The game contains many different gameplay elements, manifest through different parts of the game. from stealth to investigation to shooter to an indescribable scramble for safety, this game delivers fright and fun.
My favourite aspect of the game was its "extreme first person" in other words, you NEVER leave the first person perspective, there are NO indicators or even a heads up display (no aiming reticle, health bar, sanity metre, ammo indicator, etc.) this viewpoint offers an initial challenge when it comes to aiming, but with practice it is easy to overcome.
The game is highlighted with mind-wracking puzzles, intense action sequences, a wonderful storyline, and (of course) plenty of horrifying themes and imagery. Outrunning the innsmouth townfolk was one of my favourite gaming moments.
This game also uses a feature Eternal Darkness fanss will be familiar with- dynamic sanity affects. As you progress, you're player will be exposed to horrible images and situations that will test his (and your) sanity. As you lose sanity your vision will blur, weapons will misfire, you'll hear voices, etc. Eventually you will commit suicide. (that scared the hell out of me the first time it happened!)
The health system is hard to master, but you'll get the hang of it eventually. you're player is displayed with any injuries h has sustained, and you much choose which to heal, and which to leave open. different types of damage make this fairly strategic. minor bleeding will slow you down, enough major bleeding will kill you, broken bones create bad mobility, etc.
The games plot is extremely good, and the cinematics are executed very well, again never leaving first person
IMPORTANT: another review claims that you cannot skip cinematics, apparently this person hit every button exept BACK, it will skip cinimatics.
The shooter element isn't very dominant (i was at 43% completion before i even obtained a gun) but that helps add to the horror element, and should not be viewed as a fault. the only fault i can think of is difficulty. every situation has a very logical method to complete the task (except for the final battle) but sometimes the method is a little hard to notice, or easy to overlook. just keep looking, youll figure it out eventually.
The game is well detailed and well designed and remember***
PAY ATTENTION TO EVERYTHING even trivial dialogue can serve a purpose! the game DOES NOT carry you through the puzzles, just keep your eyes and ears open and you should be ok (and the loading screen hints are VERY useful)
Overall this game is VERY good. and is a must have for any horror or cthulhu fan. i hope you find this useful

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