Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

H.P. Lovecraft is like a cult god now. I don't know why. For some reason, for about the last 5 years, he's turned from just a great Horror/Thriller writer to some sort of respectable Internet god, and it's actually quite interesting, because he has actually earned his newfound fame. His works are phenomenal, especially his specifically Horror works, and on the tongue of every horror fan is Cthulhu, one of his most popular creations.

Not to get into too much detail, there was significant swing in the Video Game industry to come up with something unique, and if you want to go into a Horror game, there's no better way to guarantee success if you pick something that you know will be scary. “Stay Alive” the video game? No. A Dawn of the Dead video game? Yeah.... no. In general, there has been no work, be it a book or movie, that has really encompassed something that would make your skin crawl- something scary, yet interesting and deep. That's where H.P. Lovecraft comes in (Even though he's been dead for like 70+ years).

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is basically a rendition of the original story entitled “Call of Cthulhu”. While I said I wouldn't get into too much detail, I will note that this game is actually surprisingly well done in that respect, and from many people who understand the aforementioned short story better than me, it actually somewhat fits to the original story. Set in 1922, the story follows Jack Walters, a Private Detective as he is sent to the town of Innsmouth to find a missing Shop Employee that, for some reason, vanished out of thin air. Of course, this is proceeded by a brief but unique shot into Jack's younger life, as he discovered, in the process of a raid on a bunch of nut cultists, something... unique... in the basement.


The whole story plays out like a very horrific novel. As Jack, you travel into the somewhat disturbing town of Innsmouth, and discover the locals, who are not friendly- actually so much so, they say they don't even know the missing person. How friendly. In any case, from the start of Call of Cthulhu, you know something is wrong- from the dark street corners to the people who make Frankenstein look good, it all feels, just like Silent Hill, like you'd want to take a long shower after visiting this place. Everything has this odd disgusting feel to it, and it slowly reveals to you that the town is not so pure and simply withdrawn, that the town is controlled by a strange order called the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Not to spoil the story, I will say that like any other crazy, carve-satanic-symbols-into-your-forehead cult, they don't sing songs and help the homeless.

The game is actually quite unique in two distinct ways. The first one is generally how the game plays so far as heath and energy go. Believe it or not, even when you are not in what we would consider a “Fighting” part of the game, you can very easily die, or worse- go insane. Instead of putting huge importance in the “Health” aspect of the game, half of Call of Cthulhu's heath system is based into your sanity. Losing your sanity can be very detrimental to the game (From color switches to control hindrances) and is very easy to do. For example, in part of the game, I walked into a room full of massacred bodies by a sick guy who would chop them in pieces and watch them die. The longer I looked at any of the blood or body parts, the more I lost my sanity, and consequently, the harder it was for me to see (To the point where the screen was so blurry I didn't even know how to get out). These effects make the game fun, as you can slowly hear Jack's heartbeat increase and your hands will quiver- it's so realistic and unique I found myself truly engrossed in the engine itself.

The second part that is unique is what developer Bethesda has been parading around, and that is the game does not feature a HUD or any other kind of on screen display. Instead, Bethesda decided to take Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and turn it more real, in that you listen to heartbeat and look around your body for wounds instead of just seeing a numerical value. That's the good side of this game. The bad side is the part where you actually have a gun, because for all intents and purposes, it ends up being rapidly annoying and hard to control. This isn't so bad, because just like the Silent Hill series, the whole game is not based around weaponry, so you have some kind of leeway there.



Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth really excels in one place, and that is the sheer horror you will experience in the game, pending you actually get into it. Like any horror game, this truly requires you to be involved into it- turning off the lights, being alone, no music, no chatting- just you and the game. I did this, and I truly have to say the game is absolutely phenomenal in this respect. The engine likes to “Ramp you up” the scale of horror by presenting disturbing things- from the nasty, pale white villagers who hate your living guts, to slowly getting more and more gory and sickening until, at one point, I fell right out of my seat. Little “Surprises” await those with a stupid curiosity, which makes Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth even scarier. For example, I was bored, and going out the back end of a poorhouse, looking around. I saw a sick person coughing in the corner with a cloak over his/her face. So, being the idiot I was to see if Bethesda did their homework with 3D models, I bent over to see under the mask. I physically recoiled when I saw how nasty and torn up the face was, as well as the yellow eyes peering at me. Sure, it's something somewhat stereotypical, but the more you play this game, the more the REAL you will become involved, and even something like that (or worse, the little girl getting torn into shreds by “Mommy”) will scare the life out of you.

Here's where I have to go on a very quick but important graphics/sound explanation. For those of you playing the XBOX or PS2 version, this game will look like a Nintendo 64 generated it in it's sleep. The characters are stupid and blurry, the environments are bland, and the lighting effects are minimal to nonexistent. This seems to be because Bethesda doesn't know how to cut down a game for console use, and because of that, they ended up taking the good graphics from the PC version and butchering them to just “Run well”. When the XBOX and the PS2 can pump out graphics in games like “Black”, a small horror game can handle it just fine, I chalk it up to laziness. But, for those of you with a PC, you're in luck- Call of Cthulhu actually looks good, everything contributing to the eerie, scary look. Nothing is cheaply made, and while the graphics aren't incredibly detailed (While they are, there isn't much there to look at, so it's like making a doll house instead of a real house), they get the job done, and everything is presented well enough to be neither exemplary nor disappointing.



An annoying thing about this game, the only one I can think of, are the action sequences. The way the game works, it sometimes feels like it's time to make you run or sneak or jump, and that doesn't befit a game that feels more like an adventure game than anything else. Had this game stuck totally to the story and the ambiance, I would have been sold from day one. The action/fighting sequences actually feel like a chore and are quite annoying, and there really is no way to take control over them, so you end up feeling like you must drink sewage to eat cake- put up with some bad to get some good. This isn't a good goal for a video game, but I suppose I can put up with it.

In the long course of the game, I was left with a simple impression- this is a scary, enjoyable game, but it really should have never tried to be as action-filled as it was. Had Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth stuck totally to the story and the general “Feeling” it gave, this game would have been an adventure no-one could pass up, ever. But unfortunately, it seems Bethesda felt obligated to stick a battle engine into it, and it definitely loses a possible perfect ranking because of it. Sorry, H.P. Lovecraft, but it looks like for a totally enjoyable Cthulhu experience, I'll just have to read your stories. Not like you're profiting anyway.

4 star(s) out of 5

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