Call of the Wild

I'm also playing 'Call of Cthulhu' along with the Reble FM/Eat-Sleep-Game guys for the new version of backlog. I'm playing on the PC - which, since my laptop with vista was stolen - I am using the older desktop running XP and the game is much happier than it would otherwise be. This game (based on the H.P. Lovecraft mythos) is a port of an original xbox game, and had actually been in development for a significant period of time prior to its release - so it looks very "last gen." Edges are square, and items (like books on a shelf) that now would be their own, separate 3-D objects are basically just a texture.

Having said that, and admitting that I *really* am not a horror genera fan in general, this game does have a certain appeal. The devs have really tapped into that Lovecraftian vein of brooding horror. I keep telling myself the game isn't scary, but every time after I play it I'll get up from where I'm sitting at my computer, walk around the corner from the kitchen into the living room, and nearly jump out of my skin because there are a couple of balloons floating around that are left over from my son's birthday party - and my mind goes "There's SOMETHING there!"

This game has excellent sound, and hearing the creepy wind blowing from the harbour, or holding your breath while a guard's foots steps go by are really some of the highlights of the experience.

Unfortunately this game does have a lot of issues. My biggest complaint so far has been the controls. I can't get the mouse sensitivity to a point I like it - either it is abysmally slow or it is swinging wildly. I can't really tell if the awkward feeling of the controls is intentional, and meant to add to the tension of the game - or if it is just bad programming/design choices. The jump function is especially broken, and I've gotten stuck or died way too many times because of it. I should also mention that having the X key to back up, and the S key as a function key was extremely confusing at first. I'm used to it now, but my fingers still feel uncomfortable dropping down to X to move back. And I is the inventory key, which makes sense, except that to reach it is awkward and requires you either to move you hand off the direction keys or mouse.

The inventory screen also bugs the crap out of me because of the scrolling EKG readout in the background. I'm a nurse, a cardiac intensive care nurse, and I look at this things twelve hours a night and have to be constantly interpreting them. Not to mention it's not exactly realistic - the Q wave (the sharp upward stroke) is way too wide, and the P wave (the first little bump) is way too close to the P wave. Also, when you are injured the Q wave just gets smaller. It would have been better if it became fast and irregular instead. I'm sure I'm the only person that this would bother, but it *really* does drive me nuts.

The most frustrating and rewarding part of 'Call of Cthulhu' so far has been the sequence escaping from the hotel. Frustrating because it is trial and error and requires a very specific sequence of events that includes jumping (twice), and I thought I'd never get through it. I spent more than an hour on this one tiny part of the game. I finally made it to the next save point, and promptly got up and did a Super bowel Touchdown end-zone dance all around the kitchen. I don't think I've felt that much satisfaction completing a challenge in a game since I beat Sonic 2 when I was twelve.

I've now rolled down the hill in the truck and made it into the sewers, and am awaiting the podcast on Monday to see were to play to for the next segment.

And one last thing, I want to mention the sanity system in the game. There is no HUD whatsoever in the the game, but you still can lose health and sanity. Your lost health shows as bloodspatters on the screen, and lost sanity as a wavering and blurring of your vision. Plus you might hear or see things. In general I've tried to steer clear of situations or things (like bodies) that set it off, but not always. It is fun to have the screen waver and twist for a few moments. It really helps add to the atmosphere of the game.