Waking The Great Dreamer

Announced in early 2014 by Focus Home Interactive, Call of Cthulhu has had a few bumps in the road during the course of development. Originally being developed by Frogwares, the game was rarely mentioned until it was announced in 2016 that Cyanide Studio would be taking charge, utilizing Unreal Engine 4.

With the promise of modern production values, stealth mechanics and faithful recreation of the pen-and-paper RPG of the same name, fans of H.P. Lovecraft had plenty of reasons to be excited. Any game releasing so close to Red Dead Redemption 2 risks being overlooked; but fans of Lovecraftian horror should make the time to give this one a try.

Players take on the role of Edward Pierce, a private investigator and veteran of the first world war. Things aren’t going so well for Edward, who drowns his sorrow in whiskey while struggling to find new cases to pay the bills. After waking from a terrifying dream involving mountains of whale guts, a man arrives to ask for Edward’s help. The case he brings in seems to have been closed a little too quickly by the police.

Dialogue Wheels and Skill Trees

At this point, one of the game’s main mechanics is introduced. Conversations play a very important role in Call of Cthulhu. They involve the familiar wheel-of-dialogue which fans of The Elder Scrolls or Mass Effect will immediately recognize. While the choices are varied, the game doesn’t eliminate other responses when one is selected. Unfortunately, this makes conversations feel less like pivotal moments in the story. It’s more like a list of dialogues that can be listened to at the player’s discretion.

Being an RPG, it’s no surprise that players are given the choice to upgrade (or ignore) certain skill trees. The investigation skill, for example, allows Edward to piece together information more easily, as well as pick more advanced locks. Certain skills, such as medicine, can only be upgraded by examining certain objects found while playing.

One thing that quickly becomes clear is that the game favors those who choose a small number of skills and upgrade them extensively. Initially I chose to throw a few points into each possible skill. I soon found myself playing through multiple solutions to a single problem, and only having the necessary skill points to complete one of them.

Creepy With A Side Of Hiccups

Graphically, Call of Cthulhu is very pretty on the surface. However, it falls prey to an affliction that’s all-too-common when games are delayed and change hands during development: many elements feel dated. The animations in particular aren’t up to the standards of this generation. Cutscenes which feature violent actions don’t feel visceral, and NPCs constantly reset after their gesturing animations during dialogue.

While these technical hiccups don’t do the game any favors, the attention to artistic detail makes them forgivable. Darkwater Island is a wonderfully terrifying setting that cultivates a persistent feeling of dread. The locations are varied enough to keep things from looking stale, and the moments when Edward’s madness takes over are tonally on-point.

The game’s sound design is perfectly creepy, from the ambient score to the unnerving chanting of cult members. Hiding in an enclosed space triggers a pounding heartbeat that gradually quickens and drowns out all other sound. On the downside, the quality of voice-over acting varies greatly. Additionally, the transitions between cutscenes and gameplay have a jarring change in the sound of the dialogue that probably relates to the compression used.

A Few Clunkers

While the slow-burn horror remains consistently successful throughout the game, certain gameplay elements are problematic. Some areas allow for ‘reconstruction,’ where Edward sees echos of what happened in the past. This works well as a storytelling device, but the execution is a bit clunky. Glowing points must be activated in order to watch the events unfold, and the next one doesn’t show up until the previous has been discovered. As with the majority of the game’s objectives, this highly linear progression feels out of place in an RPG.

As previously mentioned, the game caters to those who focus on only a few skills. While this makes sense in an RPG, it’s not always clear which path relates to which skill. Without any kind of detailed quest log or destination markers, it’s possible to wander through a series of interactions and discoveries only to find that this isn’t the path meant for your set of skills.

The game’s biggest downfall is undoubtedly the stealth sections. First-person stealth games are rarely as successful as their third-person counterparts, and for good reason. Sneaking past enemies feels more like a leap of faith than intelligent decision-making. The vigilance of the enemy AI also ranges from embarrassingly blind to eagle-eyed precision. The asylum level is a particularly frustrating experience, akin to the android sections in Alien: Isolation.

Good Scares, Imperfect Execution

Those looking for a solid horror experience will be pleased with Call of Cthulhu. While the scares are more psychological than shocking, it’s always nice when a video game successfully takes that route. Looking past the frustrating stealth mechanics and excessively linear objectives, there’s a delightfully spooky game with lots of personality. Fans of classic Silent Hill titles will feel right at home, as will fans of H.P. Lovecraft. Those looking for the next great RPG to add to their collection, however, will not. Call of Cthulhu gets a decently nightmarish 3.5 out of 5.

Want to wake the great dreamer yourself? Call of Cthulhu is available on October 30th, 2018 on Playstation 4, X-Box One and PC for $59.99.

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