Developer: Headfirst Productions
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: FPS
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 24 Oct 05

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Overview

I have to say that although this year has not been an extremely successful one for the video game industry, there are still games that have been coming out that try to be different from the rest of the pack. That is definitely very true for Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth for Xbox, a game take turns the cult favorite H.P. Lovecraft lore into a first person horror adventure. So can the team over at Headfirst Productions succeed in bringing it to life? Read our full review to find out!

Gameplay

One of the things that I should probably get out into the open right away is that there are a lot of scary video games that come out onto the market all the time, and most of the time games don't manage to scare me. Although movies usually can do the trick, video games have yet to really manage to just scare me. Sure there was Silent Hill that I found a bit eerie, but for the most part I don't usually find things scary. Well I have to admit that although Call of Cthulhu is not necessarily a "horror" title, it is actually one of the scarier games I have played this year.

Basically the whole premise behind Call of Cthulhu is that you take the role of Jack Walters, your typical adventurer who has gone off investigating. Well he ends up in this crazy town that has some really weird things happening. Being that the story is really one of the key driving points of the game, I won't give away anything. Suffice to say that the story does a fantastic job of keeping you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the game. I have to say that I was honestly scared at several points throughout the game.

So what exactly does the game play like, you might be wondering? Well it is not a point and click adventure game ala Broken Sword, but it is more like a FPS, minus the guns. One thing that some may feel a bit different about is that there is literally no menus or anything on the screen. Most games use some sort of health meter, but there isn't any in this game, as I believe the developers wanted to try and keep this game feeling as fluid and real as possible. Another weird idea that the game brings in is that you will literally not have a gun for the majority of the game, and although this may sound like gaming suicide, it actually is a welcome surprise.

What Call of Cthulhu does the best is combine these adventure-style elements with stealth and some puzzles in the mix as well, so you can expect a lot of variety in the whole experience. There are a lot of times where you will need to sneak around take out of enemies, and although this game is no Splinter Cell, it really uses its scary environment to make things interesting throughout. I have to say that the puzzles in the game are also pretty good, with a nice variety and a good deal of challenge.

When you finally do get some guns in the game, I have to say that the overall satisfaction of using the gun is extremely high. Even if the mechanics are not flawless, going from having literally nothing to have a firearm is an interesting transition, and one that really continues to help the game move along. I like that the developers did not rush to bring in the firearm, but instead kept you waiting and this in turn really helped the "wow factor" of using it.

Call of Cthulhu is really one of the few games this year that went out of its way to impress me. Sure the gameplay did have a few problems in the controls and cameras, but nothing major. The overall feel is just plain good stuff, it has a lot of variety, and manages to incorporate a very interesting and scary into the mix.

Graphics

If you are trying to create a scary game, you really have to get the presentation just right, and this is where the developers definitely succeeded. Now the visuals are not perfect and there are some problems that I found with some glitches here and there, but the game for the most part looks great. The environments are heavily detailed and contain plenty of dark colors and in my opinion just really keep the mood of the game very scary. The character models are in the positive category as well as they have a nice array of detail and the enemies come in plenty different shapes and sizes. In the end there are some minor problems that hold the presentation back from being great, but this is still a solid looking game nonetheless.

Fun Factor

I should re-title this category to "Horror" or "Scary" factor, but in essence I suppose that is what fun factor really entails. Call of Cthulhu is one of the more unique games to come out this year and that is because it takes the very limited genre of the first person adventure and really does a nice job with it. Sure I think the game can go over the top at times, but this game as made to be a thrilling experience and for the most part it succeeded. The gameplay also succeeds with a very diverse set of things to do.

Overall

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is once again one of the more impressive unique game of 2005. It is not a perfect game, but it is one that is an enjoyable yet scary game that I found to be very interesting. The game had a good deal of variety and for those of you who are fans of scary adventure games then I would highly recommend you checking out this game as it has all the makings of what your looking for.

Gameplay
8.0

Graphics
8.0

Fun Factor
8.0

Overall
8.0

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