Call of Cthulu...AKA that other Bethesda game

[DemonKing]

I saw this today on PC when I went browsing.

Has anyone given it a whirl - I can't seem to find any PC reviews on the net?

 

[LlamaGod]

Pro-tip: Bethesda isn't making it, just hogging up the glory by plastering their name all over it like mad, like they did with Sea Dogs.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I have it. I bought it a few days ago along with Half-Life 2 and Battlefield Vietnam REDUX mofo. I am yet to install it. I've got 30 GB of website crud I need to cull before I'll have enough room OR I'll finish Half-Life 2 first and uninstall that.

 

[Shagnak]

I've heard that it's good.
That's all I know.

 

[Section8]

I've given it a quick whirl, borrowed it off a mate who was expecting a more "Bethesda-like" game and was sorely disappointed. Heh.

It seems interesting so far. FPS Survival Horror basically sums it up. There's the typical item puzzles and such, and aside from that, a lot of stealth gameplay. It's pretty creepy, and I'm a big fan of the post-production effects for creating a great atmosphere.

My first impressions aren't nearly as high as they were of Undying, but it's impressed me more than Alone in the Dark 4. Not that that says much, aside from "It's somewhere between the best and worst of the genre." I'll post more when I've played more.

 

[LaDoushe]

Is sanity an issue like it was in the PnP? That was probably my favorite part of that game, as it seemed that your were pretty much slated to lose it eventually when you see too much. Pre-D20 of course.

 

[Drakron]

If I remenber, some ... kije if you look down from a ledge on a high place you start to get vertigo effect after some time.

 

[denizsi]

Is sanity an issue like it was in the PnP?

I hove no experience or knowledge regarding the PnP incarnation of CoC, but I remember reading about a sanity meter or something like that, making it harder to move, aim, shoot, making view shake.

But I'm not sure if this is the same game; to my knowledge, there were 2 CoC games in development by 2 differend developers. One of them was called "The Esoteric Order of Dagon". I can't remember the title of the other one. Title of one of the two also got changed after a while.

There's a game called "Haunting Grounds" for PS2, which is could be called a survival adventure. It features something similar to a "sanity meter"; the more protagonist is exposed to dangerous situations, less stable she gets, ie. losing control, view and colours shifting, passing out etc.. Pretty nice game. It's not a RPG but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[Gwendo]

The game is really cool and polished. The atmosphere is excelent. I jumped in my chair quite a few times.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Pro-tip: Bethesda isn't making it, just hogging up the glory by plastering their name all over it like mad

Yet, those fuckers have spend less then three cents on promotion. After all the shit the developerd went through you'd think at least Bethesda could have enough heart to give them a brake, alas...

 

[bossjimbob]

I played the Xbox version and enjoyed it, and to the best of my knowledge the PC version is similar. The first section of the game has you investigating a crime, so there is little combat--it's more of a first-person adventure game (which is a bonus in my book). A few hours in, the game shifts gears and turns into a shooter, but the slower pacing makes it feel completely different than a standard "run and gun" affair.

The sanity system is reminiscent of the GameCube title Eternal Darkness by Silicon Knights. As your character goes through traumatic events (seeing another human consumed by creatures, experiencing "close calls" with pursuants, etc.) a multitude of effects are placed on you. Vision becomes blurry and distorted, friends appear as foes, control is hampered, breathing becomes labored, etc. Most are simply window dressing, but a few actually affect your performance in a confrontation.

I give the devs kudos for experimenting with adventure, RPG, and shooter elements, but must scold them for the horrendous voice acting and lackluster dialogue. Still, it's not a bad game by any stretch. If you encounter a copy in the budget bin, it's worth grabbing in my opinion.

 

[aweigh]

A friend of mine bought it for Xbox and he loved it. High praise coming from him, because he's a huge Lovecraft fan (and he was the one who got me into Lovecraft). Undying is his favorite horror FPS and he says this CoC one comes in second. I played parts of the game with him, mostly the town of Innsmouth area and I've got to say there were some great puzzles and set-pieces there and it was really very enjoyable and faithful to the stories. It's obvious Bethesda had nothing to do with this game's development though, because it's actually good.

 

[aweigh]

By the way, about the voice acting, my friend (and me) loved it as we found it charming how they tried to affect the roaring 20's accents, which is appropriate for Lovecraft's stories. Also what won us over were the voices for the Innsmouth people. They were SPOT ON from what you read in the stories and just hearing those creepy fish voices come to life was fucking great.

 

[AZ]

Do you mean this game - www.callofcthulhu.com ?

 

[DarkUnderlord]

No, he means the other Call of Cthulhu.

 

[roguefrog]

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn am I rite?

 

[El Dee]

I have it. I bought it a few days ago along with Half-Life 2 and Battlefield Vietnam REDUX mofo. I am yet to install it. I've got 30 GB of website crud I need to cull before I'll have enough room OR I'll finish Half-Life 2 first and uninstall that.

This is off topic, but... is Battlefield Vietnam REDUX any good? I 've been planning on getting one of the Vietnam-themed shooters for awhile now.

As for CoC, from what I've seen/heard it seems to look pretty good. I may have to check it out when it hits the bargain bin.

 

[TheGreatGodPan]

I'm pissed that Chaosium's BRP p&p RPG (I just felt like writing a bunch of acronyms with "p" in them) wasn't made into a game. The system is already there and it has a fanbase. Why make yet another shooter? It would stand out more from other RPGs than this does from Medal of Honor.

 

[dipdipdip]

I'm pretty sure I've posted my thoughts on the game on other threads. Basically, I really liked the first few hours of the game but was personally turned off with the later parts of the game, which are of a more straight-forward, action-oriented nature. I couldn't help but lose interest after a while, especially because the game's story wasn't really all that interesting, in my opinion, and it didn't help that the game more and more begins to feel rather "console-ized" with its cramped environments and trial-and-error action sequences.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I have it. I bought it a few days ago along with Half-Life 2 and Battlefield Vietnam REDUX mofo. I am yet to install it. I've got 30 GB of website crud I need to cull before I'll have enough room OR I'll finish Half-Life 2 first and uninstall that.

This is off topic, but... is Battlefield Vietnam REDUX any good? I 've been planning on getting one of the Vietnam-themed shooters for awhile now.

I think so. Seems to lack the same feel as Battlefield: 1942 but it's still quite similar. There's nothing quite like hiding in the jungle and shooting Communists. It's got some nice maps and battles so far though. The ability to choose what type of weapon is an advantage too. IE: Rather than just "Generic Anti-Tank" you can choose anti-tank and there are two weapons fit outs you can choose from. Graphics are nice too. You can really hide in the vegetation too and the filthy stinking Communists don't seem to spot you unless you start opening fire and draw attention to your position. It was out for half price so I think it's worth getting if you're looking for something like it.

 

[Section8]

Okay, well, I don't think I can play this game. One of the sanity effects it's decided to give me is fucked up random scanline artifacts. Kind of like what you get if you've ever tried videotaping a monitor/TV screen, but completely random.

It's fucking horrible, and makes me feel physically uneasy. I liken the experience to being locked in a room and subjected to the treatment Alex in A Clockwork Orange gets, but with the Seizure Robots playing and faulty flickering flouros overhead.

It's not creepy, scary or moody, it's just physically unpleasant, and that's where I draw the line. Maybe it's more tolerable on a TV screen across the room, but watching it up close on my monitor makes me feel like I'm about to have a seizure at any moment, despite no history of epilepsy. Very disappointing, glad I didn't buy it.

 

[El Dee]

I think so. Seems to lack the same feel as Battlefield: 1942 but it's still quite similar. There's nothing quite like hiding in the jungle and shooting Communists. It's got some nice maps and battles so far though. The ability to choose what type of weapon is an advantage too. IE: Rather than just "Generic Anti-Tank" you can choose anti-tank and there are two weapons fit outs you can choose from. Graphics are nice too. You can really hide in the vegetation too and the filthy stinking Communists don't seem to spot you unless you start opening fire and draw attention to your position. It was out for half price so I think it's worth getting if you're looking for something like it.

Sounds good! I think I'm going to check it out. :D

 

[aweigh]

Okay, well, I don't think I can play this game. One of the sanity effects it's decided to give me is fucked up random scanline artifacts. Kind of like what you get if you've ever tried videotaping a monitor/TV screen, but completely random.

It's fucking horrible, and makes me feel physically uneasy. I liken the experience to being locked in a room and subjected to the treatment Alex in A Clockwork Orange gets, but with the Seizure Robots playing and faulty flickering flouros overhead.

It's not creepy, scary or moody, it's just physically unpleasant, and that's where I draw the line. Maybe it's more tolerable on a TV screen across the room, but watching it up close on my monitor makes me feel like I'm about to have a seizure at any moment, despite no history of epilepsy. Very disappointing, glad I didn't buy it.

I've played this before and I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you sure it's not your video card acting up?

 

[Section8]

It's possible, but I've never seen anything remotely like it in other games, or even until I started doing the stealth focused bit of CoC. The sanity effects were fine previously.

 

[wendigo]

Maybe it's more tolerable on a TV screen across the room, but watching it up close on my monitor makes me feel like I'm about to have a seizure at any moment, despite no history of epilepsy. Very disappointing, glad I didn't buy it.

...so you're already playing the PC version? Considering that it ships today, that's quite a trick.