Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth

[D3ads]

I was going to wait till I'd finished this before starting a discussion, but I'm so impressed by it so far that I'm going ahead now! I bought this awhile ago after having it recommended to me by several people, it's basically a game inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft. It's a first person game but you don't shoot (you do get a gun later on but rarely get to use it), you're a detective who spends time searching for clues and evidence trying to find out what is going on in a small coastal town. There's an inventory and it sort of works a bit like Silent Hill in the way you manage items.

There's no HUD, instead you get on screen warnings (COD2 style) to show that you've taken damage and there's a sanity meter that gets worse when you see a mutilated corpse or you're trapped in a room or something. If you don't calm your character down- he'll kill himself! The atmosphere in this game is amazing, the sound effects are top notch and I actually get a bit scared sometimes, a game hasn't done that to me since the great Shock 2

It was released on the Xbox awhile ago, so some of you may have played it? I don't remember seeing it mentioned here at all so I wondered if anyone else has played it. It's not the best looking game, because it's another of those titles that's been in development for years it looks a little dated (and it's ported from the aforementioned xbox release) but it's well worth picking up, there's some pretty sick stuff going on in this town.

I will post more info and (non spoiler) screenshots as I play through

[Mazy]

Kinda considered getting it a while back, but it just looked too fugly so I didn't bother (Sorry, can't help but be superficial ).

On a different note, you really need to play something more happy ala Katamari or LocoRoco D3, you play way too many depressing games man

[JamesL]

La la la la la la la la Katamari Damacy

Seriously though, I have also heard a lot of good things about this game guess its worth grabbing of eBay for a few quid.

[ReNo]

It's easily worth picking up. I wasn't familiar with any of Lovecraft's work but I decided from previews and screenshots that the game was up my street. Glad I did too, as it was really quite awesome. Though there are sections of the game that are fairly boring or frustrating (some of the stealth sections are hard to judge, leading to trial and error repetition), a handful of set pieces make it well worth buying, particularly at the low prices you'll find it these days. The first chase section is one of the finest "oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!" gaming moments I've ever had, and it manages to rekindle the same degree of panic and fear several other times through the game. The section on the lifeboat, for example. Wow Oh and for those that would prefer to play it on the console, the Xbox version it is compatible with the 360.

Since then I've bought 3 books that contain pretty much all of Lovecraft's work - some really scary tales mixed in with some rather far-out fantasy. Worth reading for any fans of dark and morbid stories, although very few are the "horror" stories that some might expect.

[ShaDoW]

Yeah, played through this game last year or so, loved it. The spooky atmosphere around it is great, but some of the boss fights were utterly annoying. I mainly loved how the weapons were worked out. In games you always have so much ammo and carry five thousand guns with you. In this game you have to worry about ammo, and I remember having to check the clip for how much ammo was left in it (I think it was in this game), bandage yourself, etc... very real life.

Very recommendable!

[Sa74n]

The first chase section is one of the finest "oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!" gaming moments I've ever had, and it manages to rekindle the same degree of panic and fear several other times through the game. The section on the lifeboat, for example. Wow

i wholeheartedly agree.. this is a secret gem and way underestimated. it sure looks dated and the characters look a bit weak but you get used to it soon when you notice how good the atmosphere is. it has very intense moments and some scary bits and it just makes you want to continue - thats where a lot of games fail these days (even gears of war if you ask me)

i definitely recommend this to anyone who likes creepy fps with a focus on adventure and solid storylines.

[D3ads]

This game is crazy, I'm being chased by fish men

[Warby]

damn you guys there are already 30 titles on my checkout list now its 31

[JamesL]

This game is crazy, I'm being chased by fish men

*Ah-hem* Deep ones

(Bit of a closet fan, I've read most of his books)

Some good reading on the Cthulhu mythos species here on wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cthulhu_Mythos_species

[D3ads]

Some piccies:

It doesn't take long before you come across your first truly gruesome sight...

The 'Deep Ones', working as part of the local police force and as fishermen/store owners.

The attention to detail is sometimes crazy, here you can see a cockroach partially creeping out of the dead woman's mouth, this crawls out and runs around her body before crawling back into her mouth again

Cutscenes are pretty well scripted and animated.

At times they are portrayed from the player's view complete with hands, in this example merely picking up a photograph frame.

This little girl reminds somewhat of the children in 'Prey' and there are slight comparisons there as well "onoes.. spoiler.." *dies*

'THAT THANG'S A WOMAN?!!!' The 'Deep One' female model.

Poisoness crabs... run away RUNNN AWAAAY!!

[D3ads]

I can't finish the game, I know I have to run up the chasm past the gate that was sealed when I was captured earlier but I don't have enough time to get up there before the submarine blows the place up, it doesn't help that Jack is as slow as a tortoise :/

[JamesL]

Gamefaqs ftw.