Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth [Old game playthrough]

[nonamermcgee]

Finally played through this (the PC version). Under rated game, I thought it was pretty great. It still kind of holds up today.

I heard the PC version was much more adventure oriented compared to the console version which I heard where more action oriented. I liked the "stress-meter" adventure style linear game play in this sort of setup.

Loosely based on the story from The Shadow of Innsmouth but pulls in elements from other HP Lovecraft stories.

Verdict:

[MonkeyWrench]

Good call. It's a great game, probably one of my favourite of the last generation and definitely one of the scariest games I've ever played. It had some quite daring design decisions too, such as not giving the player a weapon for the first few hours, but it was worth it as it climaxed in the chase through the town which is one of the most tense gaming moments I've ever experienced. Pity Headfirst went down the pan, I'd expect them to be producing something special right now.

[Roderick]

Oh wow, I just bought this game a few months ago when I remembered how I really liked the atmosphere when it came out and a friend played it. I started it, but never managed to finish it because of Christmas fuckuptime. I'm somewhere in the middle I guess. It has a FANTASTIC setting and sense of dread. A great game.

[James]

Did you play it for the Rebel FM backlog thing?

[kuddles]

Did it actually work fine on your computer? I was under the impression that the PC port was a rush job since the studio was shutting down, which left it practically broken. Something about the game speed being directly related to your processor, so if yours is relatively modern some of the chase sequences are downright impossible.

I was going to find an old XBOX copy since it's backwards compatible, but if the PC version works fine, I'll go with that one.

[MonkeyWrench]

Did you play it for the Rebel FM backlog thing?

Actually that reminds me, I need to listen to that.

[nonamermcgee]

Nah I had started listening to some HP Lovecraft Audio books while working and it reminded me that I wanted to try it out.

I've had no major technical problems with the game that I noticed. It crashed once when I hit the windows key and try to open it back up from the taskbar.

It has that 2004-5 era checkpoint save system which was all the rage. I'm not crazy about that, but I was able to work past it to enjoy the game. I'm actually not a huge fan of "startle+gross" horror games like Dead Space, FEAR, etc etc. They don't really "scare" me and get boring after time.

There is something generally unnerving about this game though, it's just creepy. It's the good kind of "woo that was a little creepy". They don't use the "jump out" tactic very often, so when it does happy it really makes you look twice, usually with a great subtle atmosphere build up that had gone unnoticed.

It has so many little details and polish put into the world design for 2006. Without spoiling anything, but just looking into windows or above or behind you can sometimes reveal things you never would of thought was there.

[DanJW]

Hmm, I didn't play this at the time as I was told it was a bit disappointing. I may have to look into it now. Is it on steam?

I still have an unplayed copy of Prisoner of the Ice around somewhere too (Cthulu mythos point-n-click adventure).

[Roderick]

Even when it's not particularly scary, it's very creepy. Just walking around that misty port town at night with all the people giving you the 'Innsmouth' look and grunting displeasantries at you... deeply unnerving. And awesome.

I agree with Timaste; the level of detail is really pleasant. Little cellar windows can hide many things...

[MonkeyWrench]

I checked some old comments I posted about this elsewhere and it brought back a lot of memories. I totally forgot about the vertigo feature! I think I may have to hunt down a copy.

[James]

Nah I had started listening to some HP Lovecraft Audio books while working and it reminded me that I wanted to try it out.

You're the second person I've come across who's be playing a Backlog game at the same time as them for purely coincidental reasons. Weird.

Well OK, it's not that strange.

[nonamermcgee]

Weird...

I think it's still available on direct2drive. I got mine there awhile back for like $5 or something on sale, but never ended up playing it until just recently (got distracted).

[nonamermcgee]

Holy shit it's like $30 on D2D. GoGamer lists it as $17, but out of stock. Amazon has it for $18.

Still high. Don't think it is available on Steam though (shame)

[syntheticgerbil]

I have had this on Xbox for years, but I have not gotten around to playing it yet.

But I'm not planning to play it anytime soon, always so busy, but can anyone elaborate the differences between the PC and Xbox version? I didn't realize there were gameplay differences. If I own both will I come out with a different enough experience either way?

Edited March 4, 2009 by syntheticgerbil

[Scratch]

I remember playing this on the PC a while back (picked it up in a bargain bin). Good lord it was hard! I had a tough time finishing the game without having to resort to FAQs and walkthroughs. That doesn't mean the game wasn't good. I had a fun time playing it. A very different and unusual experience.

[nonamermcgee]

Yeah it got REALLY hard as you got closer to the end. I debated cheating but afraid it would ruin it. Half the game has zero combat, then it does, then it ramps up on you like an ex-girlfriend who missed her period.

[DanJW]

Ahhg OK I'm playing the game, and the atmosphere and scary bits I really like (loving the sewers). The puzzles are cool too.

But the stealth and platforming are just making it really hard for me to play for more than 15 mins at a time. The engine is just horrible for that shit. I guess at least the stealth sections are short and if it goes pear-shaped you have a chance of just legging it.

I'm currently stuck at the top of a burning bank. There is a jump to a doorway. I know it is the way I have to go because I got fed up with dying and checked a walkthough. But I just cannot make the jump. I fall and die every. single. time. It's one of those infuriating ragequit moments, one I haven't encountered in a single player game for a long time. Seriously: ahhhhhg!

[DUHH]

Being a humongous fan of Lovecraft(Or to say it more pompously: A fledgling scholar), this game is a kind of guilty pleasure for me.

Though the developers tried very hard to be Lovecraftian, they do fail utterly in most parts. The opening and the first part of the Innsmouth chapter are the only parts that really do capture some of the spirit. Cliché noire dialogue not withstanding.

The parts that fail to capture the spirit are also the parts that fail gameplaywise: The stealth, the action, the bossbattles.

The most dissapointing part isn´t that they don´t manage to capture the unnamable horror that Lovecraft tried to describe, but that they don´t even hint at the fantastical wonder that he so often invoked to counter the horror.

But... massive amounts of warts, rage-quits and all, the game is still quite fun, and throws a lot of references to Lovecrafts stories.

Most of all it makes me wish someone would do an old-school adventure game based on the Shadow Out Of Time. It´s basically the perfect story for it.

[OssK]

Yeah... But in truth, appart from word how do you represent the unthinkable, unimaginable unpicturable that cannot be seen cannot be described and so on and so forth... That's probably why a lot of Lovecraft's mythos can hardly be moved to other supports... Except maybe to munchkin games...

[DUHH]

Well, I suppose you hint, instead of show. And even though the game does an admirable attempt with the Shoggoth, and a wise choice in basing the story on Shadow Over Innsmouth(One of the few Lovecraft stories than don´t feature anything unimaginable), I think it still fails. But then again, Lovecraft himself failed in most of his stories.

Doing Lovecraft in other formats is a formidable challenge, but over the last decades we´ve slowly seen better and better attempts, and I hope people will keep on trying, as I will keep on trying. And CoC: DCotE is an very good attempt, all in all.

But I do think Lovecraft would be better suited to games with less action, and more adventure. Even if the adventures have to resort to Sierra-like instant death to provide most scares.

[OssK]

I think the Lovecraftianest game I ever played was Eternal Darkness, what did you think of it my cultist friend ?

[DUHH]

Eternal Darkness is one of my all time favorite games. Again I would argue against the Lovecratianism of it, but it sure did make the Lovecraft-fan in me giggle like a little school girl on many occasions, and I got my biggest ever Video game scare one time I played it for way to long, being way to stoned, and when I finally had to pause to go to the bathroom the hallucinations didn´t stop. "THIS CAN´T BE HAPPENING!" .

[OssK]

I so shit myself every single time someone knocks on the door or when the statue follows you in the corridor... god I lovhate that game...

[Erkki]

I should play this again. I bought it about the time when it game out, but I got stuck with the chase sequence so I never finished it. I couldn't do it with 20 tries or so, then gave up.

I think Penumbra does a pretty good job of creating a Lovecraftian mood, although I may be mistaken because most of what I know about Lovecraft is from the games based on his work, a couple of his short stories and derivative work (such as A Night in the Lonesome October).

[OssK]

I finished Eternal Darkness twice with a friend, and was halfway through the third iteration of it when my girl started a new game on Baten Kaitos and when she saved it just corrupted the whole memory card and I had to format it... I'm never ever even getting close from Eternal Darkness... ever...

Well it was not the game's fault I know but it was that or not getting close to my girlfriend anymore... I guess I made the obvious choice here...