Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (pc: 2006): Reviews

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Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth


7.5

based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 36 votes
Read user comments
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GameSpot Hints & Cheats

Call of Cthulhu -- Dark Corners of the Earth is a first-person horror game that combines intense action and adventure elements. You will draw upon your skills in exploration, investigation, and combat while faced with the seemingly impossible task of battling evil incarnate. Other than fighting, you have the ability to interact freely with characters and the gaming environment. To increase the sense of immersion, there is no interface or 'HUD' on screen at any time during normal gameplay. Instead, more intuitive methods are available for you to assess your condition, ammunition levels, and other relevant information. The combat within the game is extremely realistic, with a detailed damage and healing system that breaks down the healing process into conditions and treatments - rather than having the typical FPS 'health packs' lying around everywhere. The game also allows you to stamp your own style onto the proceedings via an advanced AI system that can react to your method of play. [Bethesda Softworks]

PUBLISHER:	Bethesda Softworks / 2K Games
DEVELOPER:	Headfirst Productions
GENRE(S):	First-Person Action, Adventure, Survival Horror
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:	M (Mature)
RELEASE DATE:	April 24, 2006

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Pelit (Finland)

Thanks to PC controls, shooting is no longer a source of constant irritation and the game can really shine. CoC in an excellent horror adventure. Fear and loss of sanity can really be seen and felt. The game is faithful to Cthulhu mythos, full of memorable scenes and has the only ending there can be. [Apr 2006]

Cheat Code Central

A fun game that is full of twists, turns and incredibly wonderful scary surprises. It's got a great atmosphere which is sustained by dark and grainy graphics, chilling sound effects and an incredibly improbable storyline that is treated properly as to suspend reality from creeping in and ruining your experience.

PC Gamer UK

Despite the obvious flaws, the many subtler achievements make this compelling. You'll find better shooting elsewhere, but if you fancy getting more than bullet holes for once, this is for you. [May 2006, p.84]

PC Format

When a game is this gripping, who cares about a slightly cranky engine? [May 2006, p.91]

Four Fat Chicks

The overall quality of the game far outweighs every one of its shortcomings. In my humble opinion, this game represents a labor of love from people who wanted to pay homage to Lovecraft.

GameSpot

A thick, unsettling atmosphere fills this ambitious first-person action adventure, which makes up for some frustrating moments and dated graphics with plenty of chills, variety, and originality.

GameZone

If you’re looking for a true survival-horror title that will literally force you to try and survive in the face of horror, a game that will leave you on the edge of your seat more than once, and a game that provides a solid story with some gore and disturbing images, this is one you should definitely check out.

IGN

The game wants to challenge you more entertain you.

Game Over Online

If you’re a Lovecraft fan, you’ll want Dark Corners of the Earth because it’s great service to a fanbase that’s rarely treated this well. Any of the game’s problems can be overlooked considering what’s being given in return.

Gamer 2.0

An undeniable effort. It can be fulfilling and mightily rewarding, but there are too many frustrating moments to say it’s a classic.

ActionTrip

The distinctive setting and novel gameplay mechanics are definitely the strongest points of this title. It's a unique experience, to be sure.

PC Zone UK

Dark Corners is at its best when you can immerse yourself in the story and get to work solving the biting mysteries on offer. Unfortunately, by the end of the game everything succumbs to a bit of FPS butchery, putting you in shotgun shootouts rather than mysterious crime scenes.

GameSpy

Despite the occasional missteps, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a more than fitting tribute to its literary inspiration. It's also a great way for fans of real horror to give themselves the heebie-jeebies for a dozen hours or so. Just don't play it late at night, alone.

Computer Games Online RO

Since we’re in need of good games right now, I’d rather be playing an original episodic game than one of the sequels flooding the market these days.

Computer Games Magazine

If you can stomach the difficulty and the middle-of-the-road graphics, Dark Corners of the Earth offers a lot of suspense-filled gameplay in the 10 or so hours it takes to complete the adventure. [Sept. 2006, p.70]

GameShark

Despite offering an assortment of weapons and a nifty “iron sights” aiming system to boot, Call of Cthulhu is clearly not a combat-oriented game.

PC Gamer

Fans of the Cthulhu Mythos may go straight to heaven with such a faithful adaptation of Lovecraft's spine-chilling years. Others may find that Call of Cthulhu drives them to the mountains of madness. [July 2006, p.55]

The average user rating for this game is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 36 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Maarten V. gave it an8:
awesome game. The story is filled with twists and turns and generally a lot of weird shit. Theres no hud wich makes things even nicer and theres this sanity thing wich is a very unique touch to the gameplay. It takes quite long before the action starts and you cant skip the cinematics wich could get annoying. Also the engine is well shaky, it just takes an alt-tab to crash the game. I lost count of how many times i crashed but i kept on playing it and playing it. The story makes up for the imperfections cause its just so surreal and you really want to see it trough to the end.

Moss the Boss gave it a7:
Good ambiance and mood all over. Story is well based on Lovecraft's literature with interesting additions. Voice acting and dialogs are good and reinforce the atmosphere and time setting in the early 20's. Concept is quite unique blending 3 or 4 major genres, and it is one of a very scant group of games based on the Cthulhu mythos. The "however" is that, at least once along the game, all of these genres perform ifalteringly when compared to the average of games using as their core one these styles. Puzzles unintuitive or strangely easy (you are done and do not realize it); shooter erratic and with an infinite amount of respawns; stealth with unreadable patrols to almost render this nice possibility unfeseable; etc. Anyway in most cases the game pulls through and no matter how frustrating it could become, and how close to real insanity it may push you towards, you very soon forget and forgive, since it has the virtue of truly making you curious of what is yonder the next, very dark, corner.

Kent B. gave it a9:
The game follows the Lovecraft style very well. The main character is influenced by the things he sees, and he gets (annoyingly sometimes) dizzy, hears voices, etc., as he "loses sanity". Find a quiet place to hide and you calm back down, so its generally not a problem, per se. The developers kept the screen clean, so there is no HUD or crosshair. You aim weapons with the metal sites that have become more popular recently (e.g., STALKER, COD4). The plot pulls from many different Lovecraft stories, but perhaps follows the Shadow over Insmouth most closely. If you are looking for a game that has a story to it, I highly recommend this one.

The Magical Hippie Killer gave it a3:
This game was not very well thought out at all. First off, the sanity level was completely useless most of the time. At first it was entertaining, but then you realize that most of the shocking imagery that you must avoid to keep your sanity detracts from the over all feeling of horror. You find yourself walking by corpses, not looking at them, and that actually makes the whole scenario seem not as intense, not that I am a sicko and like to stare at mutilated corpses. I just feel that instead of the screen going crazy and the character killing himself, I feel that I myself would feel freaked out enough. Not to mention, this character has every single phobia in the book. He is afraid of heights, which is annoying because there are some parts where you need to look down to figure out on how to get back down to ground level. He has claustrophobia, which is a pain because you have to travel through vents. Had this been toned down in some areas and peaked in some areas, it would have been more enjoyable and freaky, rather then terribly annoying. The game is also easier to play on the x-box, being that the aiming is much easier. On the computer, the aiming is much harder, and very annoying. The ironsights aiming in other games, such as Red Orchestra, are far superior. It seemed as if I was playtesting a basic, earlier version of the game, in which all the bugs were not worked out yet. Trying to shift your aim slightly is near impossible, not to mention you cannot aim to great when leaning around corners, something that is possible, and I have done it while playing paintball. It can be done. The stealth would be better if you could move faster, instead of crawling slowly, and the stealth is near impossible at points because the game is so linear that you find yourself trying to hide while you and an enemy are both in a very tight hallway. It is much easier to overcome the whole idea of not killing every creature in a survival horror, which makes you not feel as fearful, being that you just blew away everything you are supposed to be afraid of (Food for Thought: Wouldn't killing everything affect your sanity more then looking down a ladder that goes down about ten feet? Wouldn't that kind of make you a gun toting psychopath? Especially if you beat them to death with Gordan Freeman's crowbar?) Many people complain that the NPC's are morons, and not the greatest fighters, even when armed, but this actually makes sense, don't you think? This is not some well trained army that you are fighting, just a bunch of idiot hicks. However, I did not think there be would be much gunfighting, more like shooting hordes of insane monsters with needle teeth and curved claws. And now, THE DAMN WALKING!!! What the hell?! There are man times where all you can do is hope that you are lucky and that you be able to run, ahem, WALK out of that collapsing building or away from the monster that can kill you with one hit. I could not beat the game until I read on how to hack the game and turn up the movement speed. Seriously, I think that is the only way to beat this game. The no HUD thing is pretty cool, as well as the health system (medkits only contain medical supplies such as splints, stitches, bandages, morphine, etc. which must be applied to a specific wound; your arm gets cut, bandage of stitch it, broken leg, limp to a safe spot and use a splint), but the game is far from realistic. First, why the hell can you not pick up guns from dead enemies?! How many times can I break my arm in a day?! I thought the damage through the whole game would accumulate or something, but now, once stick a splint on a broken limb, it magically is fixed and good as new, which is ridiculous. And back to the game be linear: it is annoying, and if you manage to do something very small yet outside the script, the whole game just freaks out. The game is loaded with an insane amount of other bugs, which can severely limit your experience. If this was a mod, I would be very surprised and more approving that a small independent team managed to make this on almost no budget. However, this was supposed to be a professional and well made game, and it simply wasn't. This is a game for people who are not associated with any of Lovercraft's work (because even so-so fans would s*** themselves at some of the more insane happenings later in the game) and want to have more of a semi interactive horror movie experience. That's how I think of it, as a movie, not a game at all.

Bruno gave it a10:
Best horror game, and best video game based on book story ever made. 10/10.

Espltd gave it a2:
DISSAPOINTING with a capital D When I found out Bethesda had an action survival horror type game out I jumped on this. I was immediately encouraged by the look and eerie feel of everything the lighting ,sound, intriguing story, all seemed to work real well. Then I waited and kept waiting for some action to start.... waited some more... through horrendously long cinematics. Then ohh cool some action starts but wait.... I have no way to defend myself, not even my bare fists. oh well I ll just run from the fishmen for know I m sure I ll find a knife or stick or something soon..... I gave up when I was a third of the way through the game still without any means to make all this running and hiding more fun, though at least they load you up on bullets for the oh so non existent guns. All I can imagine is that some fairly talented game designers worked on the graphic / story portion, and a crack team of baboons was put in charge of the actual gamplay / control portion of it all. Don t get me wrong I enjoy a solid story immersed within a game, it definitely makes a game worth playing. But when it makes the thing so linear I feel more like I m watching a movie than playing a game... well thats just not enjoyable. Far and above worst game I've ever played!

NeptuneUK gave it an8:
Fantastic game, lots of interesting gameplay elements and intelligent puzzles set it aside standard first person games. My only gripes with the game is the way the enemy corpses fade away quickly and then constantly respawn until you pass the area. This spoils the otherwise fantastic immersiveness of the rest of the game!