Call of Cthulhu (2018)

This game is most definitely out, it's on Steam. I have played it, it's a pretty solid game which utilizes the actual rules from the tabletop game. Have not yet finished it, but the puzzles in the game are pretty solid, and the detective mode is rather comfy.

Definitely worth the playthrough for any Cthulhu fan, but only good for one time through. Spent full price on it and was only disappointed a little.

Game would have to go on sale ($79.99 CAD as of this posting) for me to buy it. That being said, it'll definitely be on my "To play" list.

So the game finally did go on sale and I jumped at the chance to pick it up. Having not been a fan of either the table top game, the Cthulhu mythos or Lovecraftian lore, I went into this game with no expectations or pre-conceived notions. I feel like if I had been a Cthulhu fan, I might have been able to appreciate this game a bit more than I did; I can certainly recommend it to fans.

 

The animations look really janky, there were a couple of instances where the voices didn't always sync up with the characters' mouths (this was apparent towards the end of the game) and the in-game character models look very "last-gen", the way the game renders characters hair looks like they're attracting swarms of flies. This is in contrast to the cut scene graphics looking far more polished.

 

The puzzles in the game are pretty straight-forward and there are some stealth and shooting elements to the game, although the insta-kill/insta-fail sections involving "The Shambler" can absolutely go fuck themselves. The detective mode is pretty much just find the somewhat highlighted clue and press a button to continue, so nothing overly obtuse there.

 

In terms of the art direction, I hope you like the colour green or the colour green mixed in with a ting of muddy grey. Some areas such as the Mansion, I think are well designed but other than that it's just green tinting everywhere. It's particularly obvious during the game's final hour or so. I will say that the dark, misty environment works well when you're exploring the island. It really gives you a sense of depression and dread taking over the place.

 

The game's level design isn't all that great. It's very indicative of it's relatively smaller budget and resource availability. The levels are pretty well just a bunch of independently developed set pieces with no connectivity to one another.

 

I imagine the game has some replay value to it, given that the game delivers bits of dialogue through dialogue trees and certain interactions with either NPCs or the environment flash a "this will affect your destiny" disclaimer. There may also be clues and information that you may have missed on your first play through. There's also some light RPG mechanics in that you can customize your characters abilities in "Eloquence", "Strength" and "Investigation" just to name a few.

 

Overall, I'd give this game a rating of Hazy.

 

Played it, liked the start very much. Then, as the game progressed, I started liking it less and less. It bunches up a number of Lovecraft stories together and doesn't go to the necessary depth in any of those stories. From about 5-6 hours in, the game starts to feel like a walking simulator more than anything.

 

The game is also very short (8 hours for my first playthrough). Normally that would be bad to me, but for this game I'm just glad its over quickly.

Although I enjoyed it through to the end, the game is a walking simulator with little to no depth. The various RPG mechanics are negligble and the stealth sections are basic. I will say that, I was never sick of doing the same thing over and over as the game kept throwing varied stuff at me. As for the story it is a bit generic, if you've read a Lovecraft story or one inspired by it, you already know what to expect. I will say the atmosphere is excellent and if the story had thrown something unexpected and dusturbing at me I would have loved it. As is, I just enjoyed it and would seldom recommend it at a low price of...I dunno 6€?

Would not recommend. Game is average at best.

I played this for a little bit, and in my opinion this game is awful. awful graphics, awful voice acting, awful direction in general. everything seems cheap and low-budget. the cinematic teaser made it out to be much more grandiose and "AAA" than it really was. to put this into perspective, this Call of Cthulhu doesn't even come close to the atmosphere and tension that was in the game of the same name made in 2006 (!).

This game can be summed up in one word: Dull. There's just no point to it. You know the story isn't going to get anywhere from the beginning - it's a Lovecraft game and they tend to be one trick ponies. The gameplay tries to trick you into believing that you're actually doing something, with simple puzzles and RPG-elements. But they are all window dressings, facades only. 

It's not the worst Call of Cthulu game I've played, but that's not saying much. The story doesn't take time to get to know any of the characters, and has a bunch of poorly fleshed out mechanics. It tries to touch on all the clichés in one, but rushes you through far to quickly to get any sense of resolution. If you're a lovecraft superfan it might be worth it, but for everyone else stear clear.