Focus Home Interactive’s reputation for creating daring tie-ins to lapsed license continues. This time we’re taking a peek into the unknowable with Call of Cthulhu, which is based more off of the pen-and-paper RPG of the same name than the original work written by notable author H.P. Lovecraft, who once referred to people of colour as a "beast filled with vice". Call of Cthulhu is another attempt to wash away Lovecraft’s inherent racism and establish a legacy of cosmic horror but without the early 1900s prejudice.
With that said, adapting a work by H.P. Lovecraft – whose horror is so often incited by fear of the “other” – you can’t help but be reminded of where this game came from, its origins, and its attempts to divorce itself from a toxic legacy. There’s not even really a debate to be had around the uncomfortable nature of Lovecraft’s writing when viewed through the lens of modern society, and the developers of Call of Cthulhu have to reckon with that fact.
Call of Cthulhu takes place just after World War One, where you take up the role of Edward Pierce, a war veteran who wrestles with nightmares, drinks like someone is going to take it away from him and self-medicates a little too much, too. At the beginning of the game, Pierce is tasked with finding out exactly what happened in a mysterious fire on the fictitious island of Darkwater. From this initial setup, Call of Cthulhu shows its hand as a game where you have to explore and investigate your surroundings, peering deeper into the mysteries of Darkwater, and talking to its many inhabitants.
The atmosphere that this breeds is darkly oppressive, with the game’s dank and dreary palette further serving this gothic tale of cosmic horror. It manages to build tension easily, and a few hours into the game, you’re quickly wanting to know more about Darkwater and the monsters just creeping beneath the surface. For those who are familiar with the works of Lovecraft, this setup quickly unravels. This is no fault of the game itself, but instead, one that arises with the sheer saturation of Lovecraftian horror games that we’ve played in recent years. Soon the story beats become rote, and you start to know exactly what the unknowable is.
Exploring as Pierce is great, and you’re able to assign points to traditional tabletop RPG stats such as Psychology, Eloquence, Strength and more. As you dive deeper into Call of Cthulhu, you’re able to level these up and unlock more options within the game. However, the usage of these is based around percentages which then, in turn, use a behind-the-scenes dice roll, which can feel frustrating at times.
The first-person exploration feels solid enough, and throughout Call of Cthulhu, you’re presented with a wealth of choices and options. The game is operating as its prime when you’re walking around as Pierce, but we can’t help but feel that certain missions give you more limited choices in certain scenarios, and the numerous forced stealth sections are a detriment – as they tend to be to any game they’re placed in. When paired with some frustrating puzzle-design, the unknowable madness of Darkwater may as well have been the act of playing through Call of Cthulhu all along.
It’s a mild complaint about an otherwise competent game where your detective and P.I. skills are put to the test in an interesting environment and setting. As we said previously, the environment is thick with atmosphere, and fans of the genre will find everything they’re looking for while playing Call of Cthulhu. However, there are some technical issues that the game suffers with, too.
Just as Pierce stares into the abyss, we stared at our own personal abyss, which was our face’s reflection on the Nintendo Switch screen while stuck on one of Call of Cthulhu’s many lengthy loading screens. Paired with flat, basic visuals where textures can appear to be muddy, it’s pretty safe to say that Call of Cthulhu is very much in the same ballpark as games such as Elex and the Sherlock Holmes series when it comes to polish and presentation – which is to say, the game might attempt to deliver a certain look and feel with ambition, but falters somewhat on a technical level.
There are some pretty significant framerate issues within Call of Cthulhu when inspecting objects and exploring large areas. It’s glaringly obvious where the game falters, and while undocked the experience is playable, it’s hard to really enjoy things through the flat textures and low overall performance. That said, it does look reasonably impressive when you remember the hardware that it’s running on.
Conclusion
Call of Cthulhu manages to deliver a game that’s ripe with atmosphere but is built upon tried-and-true tropes of the genre that never really manage to evolve beyond the scope of what’s already been seen and heard before. Paired with some technical hiccups, we can say that Call of Cthulhu is only really for truly dedicated fans of Lovecraft; everyone else is advised to look elsewhere for their entertainment.
Comments 47
There's a lot of these ugly looking bad horror games out there these days.
This one was never on my radar as something that looked particularly interesting so this really doesn't surprise me.
Don't worry, the PC one was never that great, either. It ain't a Switch problem, it's a developer problem.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth was pretty good, but I haven’t heard much positive about this one. The Sinking City looks worthwhile once it gets to the 15-20 dollar range.
I was really looking forward to this one... Will wait for a sale, then, as I'm a Lovecraft diehard fan and I really want to try this and Sinking City.
@Paraka The Switch is undoubtedly the home of the lazy port.
Maybe The big N will start giving us more in house titles since they don’t develop for the 3DS anymore.
Pretty good attempt to address the inherent racism of Lovecraft’s work. I assume this is why most works aren’t straight adaptations but are instead ‘inspired’ such as Bloodborne and The Sinking City. Probably the way to do it, all things considered. The game looks pretty shoddy but it’s Focus, and I don’t expect a lot from them.
I hate that people place the racism card on lovecraft like it was rampant. It's wasn't. He had his moment but by no means was its constant or problematic. The game on xbone was cool if basic. Some good ideas and visuals at times but clunky controls held it back
@NotTelevision Hell yes. At that price I would jump all over it.
Oh no, was hoping this would turn out good. Glad i waited for the review though.
Maybe I’ll give The Sinking City a spin instead to fhtagn around a bit with Cthulhu in good old R’lyeh.
@E_maniac you hate that people play the "racism card: on Lovecraft? He feared and hated every other culture of the world. His mythos was born of it. It was his creative muse. He has plenty of peers who through no bad intentions pandered to racist stereotypes but weren't actually racist people but with Lovecraft it is an incontrovertible fact. I'll grant you spending a lengthy opening discussing this on a review of a video game based on a table top game based on his creations is egregious but so is to claim Lovecraft isn't racist. Before you get angry, nobody is saying ban him and writers from many cultures around the world have taken inspiration from the worlds he created but from him being furious after walking through time square to his parodies of contemporary poets, his racism was on display and on the record. He took his own inspiration from his deep seated fear of the other and as we all know fear breeds loathing.
I didn’t know about this game until I saw ads for this game popping up everywhere on this site. Huh.
I was looking forward to this, but was already scared, because the original releases were also reviewed with bad grades. Also due to performance issues. Blast. Still want a new Eternal Darkness game and was so hopong this would be it. Darnit.
As far as tabletop horror gaming goes, I really hope a developer partners with Wizards of the Coast someday to produce a Betrayal at House on the Hill video game. They could even set it up such that multiplayer on multiple Switches gave each player a custom look at the board, to aid in hiding the activities of the traitor.
And no, playing it in Tabletop Simulator is not the same thing. Stupid clunky interface.
@E_maniac Lovecraft,apparently,hated everything and everyone. Including life as such.
Many of these types of games I would've played if they were available in the drought-filled days of the Wii U, but I'm playing too many better experiences on Switch. We're spoilt for choice.
Just re-release Eternal Darkness already Nintendo.
I was so hoping it’d have gotten a better score, I need a new good cosmic horror game for Halloween guess Ill just play Eternal Darkness Sanity’s Requiem again.
I still want this game ever though it’s mediocre. I miss mediocre and mid tier games that were all over the place during gem 7 and 6. Any current gen game that can stop my mid tier game itch is a win in my books, no matter if they’re slightly under average, mediocre, okay, above average or just good.
Well we are a few hours in to this and really enjoying it. Huge fan of the original Xbox game and so far engrossed in the world, even though it could do with a lick of paint visually. Only issue really has been the load times, but after Little Nightmares we've kinda gotten used to it if it happens. IGN have this an 8+ on other platforms and loved the atmosphere and story. So far I'm scoring 7-8. If you like horror or have an interest in Cthulhu then give it a go.
"Just as Pierce stares into the abyss, we stared at our own personal abyss, which was our face’s reflection on the Nintendo Switch screen while stuck on one of Call of Cthulhu’s many lengthy loading screens."
Brilliantly-written article. Also, you just taught me about how terrible Lovecraft was a person.
I was hoping this would be good. I despise racism but love HPL.
@YorkshireNed dead on. I still enjoy his work and mythos but I’m under no illusion he was a misanthropic racist.
"H.P. Lovecraft, who once referred to people of colour as a "beast filled with vice"."
Give me a break with the virtue-signalling. You could read 99 % of Lovecraft's fiction and never even know what his personal views were — and these views were common among educated people in his days.
Compare how his views didn't impact his work with how today's writers — who don't have 1 % of his talent — can't help inject their political, trendy views into everything they write — this review being a good example of this annoying trend.
"Virtue signaling", "injecting politics..." Yeesh.
If you're alright with it, just say so, but stop hiding behind your dog whistles and pretending it's the rest of the world's problem that you lack empathy.
"Doesn't do anything that we've not seen before."
Made by Nintendo: 10/10
Made by other: 5/10
"Call of Cthulhu is another attempt to wash away Lovecraft’s inherent racism" Was this necessary? People came for a review on Call Of Cthulu, not you talking about how racist and evil Lovecraft was.
Everyone in this world has something evil in them, no one is a saint. Look inside your own closets everyone before you rip someone apart.
Cue the outrage over a racist being called a racist.
If a game is taking place back in older times, it wouldn't make sense to have a PC filled world. That would be stupid, lol. It isn't accurate. If Lovecraft was racist, then sounds like they are just being true to the narrative. Doesn't mean the company is racist, lol.
Racism is wrong, I agree, but in games? Eh....it's a little harder to fight against. What if a company wants to make a racist char, for people to intentionally hate?
You got problems with GTA too NintendoLife? That has murder, beating up strippers, running over old people, really anything.
It's just a game. Calm yo tits.
@YorkshireNed I'm not denying or doubting Lovecraft was racist, the years he operated especially in New England at the time very much conformed to his world view, not saying it is correct for a second by the way. I also don't doubt the cthulhu mythos was based on his fears, insecurities and loathing of , well just about everyone really, but what i am saying is, it didn't directly get referenced in his work anyway near as much as people like to say. I am aware of a few of his overtly racist poems and letters but to my recollection outside of The Horror Of Red Hook i do not believe it is referenced much, if at all.
Not sure why nintendolife decided to devote so much column space to talk about it when it doesn't affect the game in any way and rarely makes the views expressed in his stories
Beginning a review by whining about racism. Yes this review gets a 2/10.
@YorkshireNed I also hate when people "play the racism card on Lovecraft", because I find it both tiresome and pointless.
Many people who do so, seem to be just parroting the "online consensus" about Lovecraft without having ever read his works to come to their own conclusions. It seems like whenever Lovecraft's name is mentioned, some people feel the irrepressible urge to remind everybody that this man who lived and died many decades ago was racist. Of course he was, and he probably was more racist than many people of his time. So what? It's not like by buying books, movies or games inspired by his work, you're giving him money to promote his toxic beliefs or donate to the KKK or whatever.
And does his work "promote racism"? If you enjoy it, does it somehow mean that you're a racist? No, I think neither of those statements is true.
Yes, Lovecraft's work as a horror writer was based on his own fears, fear of the unknown, fear of the other. But reducing that to "fear of people of other races" would be an extremely simplistic fallacy. You don't have to fear people of other races to engage with Lovecraft's work and it won't magically turn you into a racist.
As far as promoting racists viewpoints go, I'd argue that Lovecraft's horror work is among the most innocuous. When this site has reviewed games based on the works of Ian Fleming, I don't remember any mentions to how the game attempted to "wash away" Fleming’s inherent racism and sexism.
Fleming's James Bond is a hero, even if a broken one. An escapist wish fulfillment fantasy with a racist subtext (and occasionally, racist text). I think that such a kind of story would do much more to spread racist viewpoints than Lovecraft's ever could.
There's very little that could be considered wish fulfillment in Lovecraft's horror, and many of his protagonists are doomed from the start. I don't think they promote racist views; but rather provide readers with a safe venue to tackle their own fears.
That's why I find this constant harping on his racism so tiresome and pointless.
@YorkshireNed I came for game review and met leftist trash -_-
Is there racism in this game or are we just afraid that someone will boycott the site if you do not mention Lovecraft hated everyone? This new culture of trying to find the horrible in everything is getting out of hand.
Why the multiple paragraphs on just slamming CoC because of Lovecraft? As a person intimately familiar with the tabletop game (I Keeper for it) it's barely associated with Lovecraft. Sandy Petersen rewrote most of the theme for his own view. You can parrot racism and stuff like that but none of that is even present in the RPGs.
@X68000 - They've been averaging just under a new game release a month. Name another company that has been able to do that. They already moved those teams to focus on Switch and it already shows. Releasing more can essentially cripple their own sales of previous games. Fire Emblem Warriors and Daemon X Machina have suffered being so close to Mario Odyssey and Link's Awakening respecively.
Activision and EA are essentially "bigger" and they haven't pulled out that many in recent years.
And neither of those things are the reason, nor excuse, as to why someone made a "lazy" port of a bad game. That's entirely on the specific developers. You're just finding an excuse to slam Nintendo, likely cause you have not had your favorite games release each week.
@Kochambra - Also worth noting that protesting against Lovecraft no doesn't punish Lovecraft. The whole idea and world now belong to the "us" as a community. A homosexual trans black person can use that same mythos to make their own game that also tackles the mind's journey of self acceptance just as much as Blizzard made the cosmic horrors into the biggest MMOs out there. And neither can essentially be stopped from existing, but exist in their own entity.
I am about 1/3 of the way through the game, I've enjoyed it thus far, it's not perfect but it's better than paying $60 for a game that isn't even close to being this good which happens a lot more than I would like. If you like a good story and aren't scared off by a few hiccups this will do just fine. My generation started the gaming craze, it's a far cry from pong kiddos.
@shaneoh I can think of a lot of cases of NL doing that, although I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the negative review. I considered buying this on the PS4, but the reviews for that system were pretty mediocre. I can't imagine it got any better during its transition to Switch.
@E_maniac I would definitely agree it is rarely referenced in his main body of work. I don't think people generally view the main mythos work as racist, just the man himself. If anyone tries to claim the stories themselves are all racist then they've not read them.
@Kochambra Please believe me, I sincerely dont believe reading Lovecraft makes you racist or could make you racist. I am a huge fan of his work and read my original omnibus until it broke up. I have no problem separating art from artist. However, it does make me cringe immensely to see people try and claim Lovecraft isnt racist. I think the man himself would probably have cringed to see people claim he wasn't. He had some strong beliefs and he wasn't ashamed of them. There's no ambiguity in it. Of course, as I said originally, it doesn't really merit being the opening points of a review of a video game based on a table top game based on his worlds but it is what it is.
@igroz777 Well, you certainly felt it inspiring enough to create a new profile and greet me. Hello!
Lovecraft-bashing is lazy. We know he was a racist. So what? Different times. I rather judge an artist by his art and not by his political views. We should probably burn bibles and other religious texts too because those are ripe with even worse stuff compared to modern views. About the game: never had high hopes unfortunately.
@alecseus Thats more inclusive than the ultra-leftist PCs manage to pull of today. So yay?
@YorkshireNed hi! I've been visiting this site for a long time but never had the drive to sign up. But your comment finally gave me the push. MAGA bro peace
@igroz777 well, it's an honour to be such an inspiration to you. Thanks for reading
Played this on the PS4 and enjoyed it. Not amazing but good. Worth a playthrough if you are a Lovecraft fan. I’d give it a 7/10 on PS4. Cant speak for the Switch version though.
I really enjoyed this game. The only issue with the load times that I had was when traveling to and away from missions, which doesn’t happen much. This is a must-play for fans of Murdered: Soul Suspect or Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments. There is always a niche market for this type of game.
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