Call of Cthulhu

[Necros]

I love this game. A great tribute for the Lovecraft fans. It doesn't have great graphics but the design makes me forget about the weaknesses. The gameplay is great, the atmosphere is immersive, the story is good, sounds and music are done very well too. The Hotel escape level was a great experience, it was chosen as one of the best levels of 2006 by GameSpy (if I remember correctly).
I really hope someone else will see oppurtunity in Lovecraft's world, so maybe there will be other (better? :)) games like CoC.

You can find all the necessary info on this website: http://www.callofcthulhu.com/

Key Features:

* Diverse array of levels from quaint towns to alien locations, including Deep One City
* Dynamic Sanity system resulting in hallucinations, panic attacks, vertigo, paranoia, and more!
* Incredibly detailed real-time graphics with atmospheric lighting and dynamic shadows
* Intelligent gameplay involving puzzle solving as well as combat and exploration
* 1920s weaponry and vehicles as well as evil artifacts and alien technology
* Lovecraft's famous monsters and locations

[CaptainSwordchucks]

I actually just bought CoC a few days ago at a Best Buy-- I'd seen it was backwards-compatible for the 360, and so I picked it up for $20. It's a pretty good game so far. I have some quibbles with it, to be honest, but I'll finish the game first and then figure out what my overall verdict is.

[One0Shot]

I have always wanted to play this game but never got around to it. Just one question. Does it have a good satisfying ending? As I stated in another thread I am sick of all these to be continued games. Im looking at you Kotor 2, halo 2, hl2, dreamfall, rainbow six vegas, fear, gow, splinter cell DA, star wars republic commando, and whatever other games I am forgeting cause I know you are out there.

[Freddo]

I've tried buying the PC version of the game a couple of times on ebay but I always get outbidded :(

The PC version went out of print annoyingly fast.

[Pinstripe]

Oh yes, Cthulhu.... Great atmosphere, ****ty leveldesign. Old school design and all that stuff that annoyed the hell out of me. That game should have been released sometime in 1999 or 2000 and it would have been a great hit.

[Necros]

Just one question. Does it have a good satisfying ending?
No, it wasn't finsished like that. They wanted to make sequels but Headfirst shut down shortly after the game's release. :(
Pinstripe, I think they've captured Lovecraft's world very well. The design wa great IMHO and some of the effects looked really good. The engine was outdated, yes, but that doesn't matter much because of the great gameplay. :)

[FrenchTart]

It didn't really grab me to be honest.

I'm not sure if that was any fault of the game or if it's the usual "having your favourite books butchered" feeling that we all get in these situations...

[Pinstripe]

No, it wasn't finsished like that. They wanted to make sequels but Headfirst shut down shortly after the game's release. :(
Pinstripe, I think they've captured Lovecraft's world very well. The design wa great IMHO and some of the effects looked really good. The engine was outdated, yes, but that doesn't matter much because of the great gameplay. :)
Well I think the graphics part was okay. The Art Dirction and use of colors was really excellent, no complaints there.
What really bothered me were the illogical puzzles. I'm really not used to that anymore, so especially at the last third of the game I always got stuck very quickly, which was very frustrating.

[Pinstripe]

I've tried buying the PC version of the game a couple of times on ebay but I always get outbidded :(

The PC version went out of print annoyingly fast.
Well, I've an Original Copy I could sell you very cheaply if you want. PM me if you're interested.

[jackinthebox]

i totally missed the game... dunno why, but i think there were just other games i had to play :rolleyes:

[Ratlos]

You can buy the dvd from play.com, less than 10 quid (~15 euros), free delivery across Europe. I know I did, but haven't had the time to play it yet. Heard that the Xbox version was somewhat unplayable, where as on the PC it was an excellent/good experienve (but had some design flaws).

[Raveness]

I have both good things and bad to say about this game, so I want to make sure you get the right idea: I recommend Call of Cthulhu, Dark Corners of the Earth, but some of that feeling is due to my Lovecraft bias. In spite of the bad things, I liked it, and wished I could simply play it straight through with out pause for rest or real life. It has a great mix of challenging puzzles and action sequences, and there were times when I was so scared I had to remind myself it was just a game. The story is great, world interaction is pretty good, and the lack of any heads-up display adds a new element of realism. The fact that you can only save when near certain "magic" symbols (or when the game autosaves at a key point) was a mixed bag. It made the stakes higher, and the victories sweeter, but sometimes it got really tedious revisiting the same part of a particular sequence because you kept flubbing on the last villain.

The sound effects and music were awesome, graphics gritty even if underwhelming. Environmentals such as rain and fog were also pretty well done, and the levels were intricate and intriguing.

Also intriguing was the less abstract way in which damage and healing are handled (you may find yourself having to treat a broken arm or leg with a splint, for example, and if you leave a major wound untended for too long, you might bleed to death).

Be prepared for some very frustrating (sometimes idiotic) drawbacks. Also, be warned: the weapon and combat engine is rather poor compared to the rest of the game. Bullets sometimes pass through things they should hit, hits don't always do the damage you expect, and all the terrestrial guns are about the same in terms of range vs accuracy/damage. It's not horrible, per say, but you shouldn't buy this game if your main interest lies in the shooting aspect; UT or Quake would probably serve you better there.

For these reasons, the game only got four stars. It's a totally awesome puzzle game with a great horror element, but it looks like the programmers might have slacked off a bit in some areas (a few never even got paid by the now defunct Headfirst Studios).

[RuneMaster70]

I bought it for Xbox, but have had no time to finish it yet. :(

[CrashT]

HUGE Lovecraft fan myself, and I really enjoyed CoC, well as much as I played, I got a little frustrated at a section near the end... in fact the extent of combat in the game is my only real issue with it. Ok it's not polished and on the PC the controls can take some getting used to, but I'll be honest and say I enjoyed it so much I bought it twice (For XBox and later for PC), pity about what happened to Headfirst, they'd been planning a "Beyond The Mountains Of Madness" game which I think woulda been great.

Also as a Lovecraft fan I found a lot of the plot to be pretty obvious, as if you've read The Shadow Of Innsmouth you know what's going to happen before it does. That said there's a great (If tricky) sequence near the start of the game where you have to escape from the Townsfolk which plays out just like the similar sequence in the The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Also the second sequence like that involves a Shoggoth and that was just out and out sweet.

[Silent Film]

I have mixed feelings about various aspects of this game but overall I think it was well worth playing.

I love the way the tension builds up and explodes with the hair-raising chase sequence, which goes down as one of my favourite scenes in any game. And afterwards the stealth section engendered a real sense of fear as you're being hunted with no way of defending yourself. The shooting parts were my least favourite, but it was more due to the length of those sections because I actually quite liked the mechanics, more so than many dedicated FPS's. That you had to manually take aim and reload your weapons meant you had to take a more considered tactical approach. You had to keep track of how many bullets you fired off, and I would dread hearing the click-click of an empty chamber while there were still enemies standing. :D

I didn't think the insanity feature was particularly necessary, it felt like you were being told which parts were meant to be scary, when the game as it were was capable of spooking me out. It broke immersion too, when what may be frightening to the character is not to you the player - heights for example, then it just becomes annoying.

I liked it but I played Condemned almost immediately afterwards and that struck me as being a better game.

[Tellurian]

Yeah, I can only second the notion about Condemned.

Though some neat little bits of Cthulhu were really good. The insanity effects most of all. I didn't like most of the enemy AI and the trial-and-error-ness of many challenges, the Hotel-escape being one of the worse examples.
But overall... Guess I'll re-install it today.

[Hatesink]

What I love most about Dark Corners is that the first part of the game plays like a dynamic adventure game (an example of what adventure games might be today had they evolved at the same rate as every other genre), and for that reason alone is absolutely worth playing. In that respect it's phenomenal.

I thought their rendition of Innsmouth was pretty poor. The atmosphere and design of the town itself (not the people and places it contained, but the representation of the town itself) was really disappointing. Innsmouth, the very place, should have been a character in its own right, but it looked totally uninteresting. One of the least interesting settings I've ever seen in any 3D game, which is really really poor considering it's supposed to be Innsmouth— one of the most atmospheric and twisted places in Lovecraft's universe. Thankfully the people and places populating Innsmouth were much much more interesting.

I thought the pronunciation of some of the Lovecraftian terms was a minor-heresy, and the characters looked a little too cartoony (as though they were reproduced from looking at illustrations in a CoC role-playing campaign book). Having said that, there were two particular character models that were absolutely remarkable (actually quite breathtaking) and that have to be seen to be believed. One of them can be seen during the escape from the hotel, and it can absolutely stop you in your tracks (I had to re-start just so that I could stop and get a better look at it).

Ultimately I love the first few levels, basically because it plays like a dynamic adventure game (arguably how modern adventure games should be), and for that reason it'll always have a place in my collection, but on subsequent play-throughs I'll probably only play up to the scene around the navigation table in the ship (just call it "Escape from Innsmouth", and consider it completed at that point).

From that point onwards it just gets frustrating (and a little boring) The terribly hard battle against the deep ones with underpowered weapons is just annoying, the Rhem style pipe puzzle is frustrating and seems tacked-on and unnecessary, the battle against Dagon is just too excruciatingly frustrating for words. How many synonyms are there for frustrating? You'd need them all.

Edit: I liked the weaponry. It wasn't your standard run'n'gun affair. There was a learning curve for the weapons, but it made them feel a lot more valuable, and made the gun-play much more rewarding.

[Silent Film]

Dammit! Now I'll have to go back and escape from the hotel to see what this character is. :p

Hatesink, if you haven't already then I recommend you to take a look at Penumbra (http://www.penumbra-overture.com/game.htm). I think it is quite successful in capturing that adventure game feel and wrapping it in a first-person survival horror.

[witch]

Huge Lovecraft fan, loved Dark Corners but I could never finish it since it glitched on me in the fish refinery. Does the PC version have any game stopping glitches like that? if not I'm gonna try and pick it up again.

On another note, there's supposed to be a movie coming out, ack the trailer was awful; pretty sure it wasn't fan made either.

[Hatesink]

Dammit! Now I'll have to go back and escape from the hotel to see what this character is. :pDid you not spot her the first time!? She totally blew me away.

Hatesink, if you haven't already then I recommend you to take a look at Penumbra (http://www.penumbra-overture.com/game.htm). I think it is quite successful in capturing that adventure game feel and wrapping it in a first-person survival horror.I just played through the demo, and it's definitely got the potential to be an excellent adventure game. Did you play the demo?

I found the interaction system a little clunky— jabbing with the hammer, switching to 'interact' mode and manipulating the various objects is a little difficult to do (it's all very fiddly and laborious) and the open door icon on the hatch isn't accessible enough— I think I was lucky I saw it. Apart from the technical difficulties, the overall idea looks pretty excellent. I think I'll definitely be picking up a copy as soon as it's available boxed.

[Silent Film]

I think in many ways the way interaction is handled fits the pace of the game - it wouldn't quite feel the same if it was done the more traditional way by pressing a use key with the rest done automatically, but I agree it can feel clunky and it needs refining.

I played the demo quite a while back, when it was still a student tech demo. Naturally they're making improvements for the commercial release, though I'm not sure whether the current demo reflects its current state so I might have to re-download it and play again.

[Silent Film]

Did you not spot her the first time!? She totally blew me away.

It's a while since I played and I can't remember, I think I was too busy laying bricks during that escape scene. ;)

[Hatesink]

I think in many ways the way interaction is handled fits the pace of the game - it wouldn't quite feel the same if it was done the more traditional way by pressing a use key with the rest done automatically, but I agree it can feel clunky and it needs refining.I agree. I like the design of the interface a lot, if not the execution (it definitely needs work). It's without a doubt an adventure game— with the interaction mode, it's following the expected trends (exhibited by Myst, and by the early Dreamcatcher adventure Quicktime "VR" modes).

I think, all things being equal, it would probably be easier to start with something like the quake engine, but what they're doing is definitely much much more authentic for an adventure game. I think they're really breaking ground. If they can get the hardcore adventure gamers to play it (which might not be a given since it has combat and a jump button), it could signal a new 'evolutionary step' for the classic adventure.

On the flip-side— if they're targeting existing arcade/action-adventure gamers I'm not sure they're going to have such a hit on their hands. But ultimately it shows a huge amount of potential and I really hope they do really well and release further, more well-crafted sequels, and create a new archetype for the classic adventure genre. After all, it's about time. :o

I played the demo quite a while back, when it was still a student tech demo. Naturally they're making improvements for the commercial release, though I'm not sure whether the current demo reflects its current state so I might have to re-download it and play again.I hope it's a lot more honed, and a lot slicker, since the way it plays now might be something of a deterrent.

Also— it seems to have a few pacing and story-script issues. It kind of throws you straight in at the deep end, quite a way into the story. I would have liked to have collected the letter, been called to an executer's office, boarded the boat (chartered the boat even) etc. Plus I would have liked to have seen more of the boat before being dumped on the ice-field. Even so, it's an interesting title, if only because of what it could potentially do for the classic adventure game.

[Hatesink]

Am I the only one here who thinks someone should make a sequel to Call of Cthulhu?

Maybe that's Irrational's secret project. :p ;)

(of course if it were I'd be totally totally stoked)

[witch]

I would love another one, even though I couldn't;t finish the first, there's so much potential there from Lovecraft's world.

[Silent Film]

On the flip-side— if they're targeting existing arcade/action-adventure gamers I'm not sure they're going to have such a hit on their hands. But ultimately it shows a huge amount of potential and I really hope they do really well and release further, more well-crafted sequels, and create a new archetype for the classic adventure genre. After all, it's about time. :o

I can imagine a hardcore FPS gamer picking it up mistakenly expecting a FPS and becoming frustrated with it. Even when I played it took me a while to adjust - early on you have to open a vent, and being a seasoned FPS gamer my first approach was to use explosives when the real answer involved finding a conventional tool to open it, or something. Although on a side note it would be nice to see some emergent gameplay elements - I mean explosives really should be enough to open vents.

[Raveness]

Am I the only one here who thinks someone should make a sequel to Call of Cthulhu?

Maybe that's Irrational's secret project. :p ;)

(of course if it were I'd be totally totally stoked)
If set in the Antarctic, following the narrative of At the Mountains of Madness. Probably the next best short story Howard did that had richness in visual interpretation and setting.

Another good story to base a game from is Whisperer in Darkness. Steampunk cybernetics from Pluto FTW :D

[splicer]

a sequel to cthulu was made"destinys end"but development was canned at at around 80% when the developer went bust-it looked ok-ish,cooperative survival horror,a teaser trailer was released.its great to read that many of you enjoyed the same aspects of the game as i did,i did think the combat was a bit on the clunky side,some of the puzzles a bit too obscure,but overall a very well balanced game,my fave bit is when hiding down in the sewers,and the bad guy above shouts"are you down ther outsider?" oh yes,here i am! cooee!-doh!

[Hatesink]

I had no idea. Surely someone could pick it up.

I'd rather play the unfinished Destiny's End than most of the games currently on the market.

http://games.teamxbox.com/xbox/1159/Call-of-Cthulhu-Destinys-End/

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1159/1118089526.jpg
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1159/1118089527.jpg
Very Scooby Doo ;)

[Hatesink]

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1159/1118089528.jpg
Or should that be Fatal Frame :confused:
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1159/1116001812.jpg
Or maybe even Resident Evil? :p

(Personally I love that mechanic)

[Raveness]

CoC: Destiny's End was a COOP based survival horror that Headfirst was going to develop. Unfortunately, the production studio went tits-up even before they were finished the PC port of Dark Corners of the Earth. There was some pretty horrible mismanagement occuring there, and a few developers didn't even get paid in the end. Bethesda didn't seem interested in backing up the developers foundation with any modicum of support. Damn Pete Hines and his Oblivion obsession :mad:

Kudos to one developer, HoodedClaw, for actually staying around to single-handedly finish the PC port, and double kudos to Raveness, a resolute member of the community whom kept the release-date whiners off his back.

[Freddo]

Whoo, been looking hard for this game, and tried winning ebay auctions several times, and today I found it in the bargin bin in a local store :cool:

[Raveness]

Whoo, been looking hard for this game, and tried winning ebay auctions several times, and today I found it in the bargin bin in a local store :cool:

Wait a minute, wait a minute. You're telling me that yourself, a longtime Cthulhu board alumnus, has still yet to play the *greatest Lovecraft game to-date? For shame, Freddo :( There were plenty of opportunities when Kaleem was offering the red pills to anyone who would take them.



*Note: There hasn't been enough to offer decent competition to DCotE

[Freddo]

I know! I don't have any good excuse for it, except I was rather occupied at the time and had other games waiting to be played. When I tried to buy it a few months later it looked like it was out of stock everywhere. So I tried ebay a few times, but lost. Heck, I even considered buying an Xbox for it cause I see the Xbox version everywhere, but not the PC version. But yesterday I got lucky! :D

[splicer]

Ive just started playing this again,and I'm still noticing neat little touches-I dont recommend playing it on the 360 though,as the framerate leaves a lot to be desired..stick with the original xbox and youve got a flawed diamond.A minor classic.;)

[ProjeKt Werewolf]

Oh yes, Cthulhu.... Great atmosphere, ****ty leveldesign. Old school design and all that stuff that annoyed the hell out of me. That game should have been released sometime in 1999 or 2000 and it would have been a great hit.



I agree. It as a bit too linear and straightforwards at times....used to play the RPG and i love the writings of Lovecraft though.

[darthkiwi]

A "flawed diamond" is exactly what it is!

I don't agree that it's the greatest Lovecraft game ever: that title must go to Eternal Darkness, which captured the feel of an omnipresent, omniscient terror better than DCotE, even though it wasn't based directly on the mythos.

But to be honest, DCotE is my favourite shooter, which is odd given that it's flawed. But I just find the story, immersion, and gunplay to be so nice that I love it to pieces. It shows the sorry state of FPSs in general that an idealistic but imperfect game is, in my eyes, far better than both Half-Lifes put together. Hopefully, Bx should be able to top DCotE in my fave shooter list.

[matches81]

I really liked DCotE and had lots of fun and "throw mouse away in panic" moments with it, which is a damn good thing for a game to achieve, especially when the graphics are outdated.
That said I didn't like it too much that you actually were fighting pretty powerful beings for the Lovecraft world. To me that was a bit weird, I always thought the protagonist should instantly drop to the ground and curl up whimpering and babbling nonsense when confronted with such beings. But then again, it was a video game and, matching the somewhat old-school game design, huge boss enemies were bound to happen. I absolutely loved the hotel escape and the shoggoth escape, although both could have been a tad more forgiving (had to do them several times, which robbed a bit of atmosphere for me).
Overall a really great game with some flaws and sometimes brillant scenes.

[Sno]

This was a great game, i absolutely loved it.

Very tragic that most folks just passed it by.

[GRYPHON_THEDOG]

The atmosphere in COC was as thick as the first two Thief titles and if I'm not mistaken the voice actor for Garrett and the protagonist in COC are the same person..

Very nice audio and story, slightly dated but well executed graphics.. It's a linear tale so there won't be many surprises in playing it again but I'm sure I will on the insane level..

Some people may be put off they will have to play for a day or so before they get any weapons.. The boat missions were nail biters, especially fighting the giant lizard thing. It was a very satisfying game with a few minor glitches..

[Big Daddy 101]

It's so sad that lovecraft fans will not be able to play Destiny's End as it had so much promise. Why is it that money always has to get in the way of such things? :(

[Xerxes III]

I can't say I'm a fan of Lovecraft, but I do own this game and have been a fan of older horror games like Horrorsoft's Personal Nightmare, Elvira I and II, Waxworks.

I played CoC up until there was some quick escape through the city with someone driving a truck and you in the back firing at what must have been 50 bad guys. It was shortly after rescuing that guy from the jail. The hotel escape scene was pretty intense, but like others here have said... the bullets look like they are hitting targets but not really. Maybe the game was supposed to put you in a position of having very little to defend yourself with.. that was my take on it.

Interestingly enough though, this game didn't seem to have any copy protection whatsoever. I installed it without any key, then put my game discs away and it plays right off the hdd.

Peace