It`s been nearly
ten years since Resident Evil single-handedly defined what a console horror
game should be, and in that time we`ve
managed to be scared in all kinds of different ways. When I first started
playing Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corner of the Earth I wondered how effective it
would be; I worried that after a decade of scary games I would be too
desensitized to appreciate its creep out factor. But I was wrong. Cthulhu is easily one of the most frightening
games I have played, managing to freak me out in ways I hadn`t even considered.




It`s not that Call of Cthulhu has a lot of cheap scares;
it`s that the subject matter manages to get under your skin in a way that will
stick with you long after you`ve shut your Xbox off. Games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil like
to shock you by throwing out enemies when you least expect it, but Cthulhu is a
lot more subtle. This is a game that is
very deliberate, it understands how to pull you into a world that on the
outside looks creepy, but when you start pulling back the layers you quickly
realize that it`s among the most disturbing games you will ever play.




Call of Cthulhu is based on the writing of famous horror
writer H.P. Lovecraft, an author who has managed to leave his mark on the
horror genre long after he died. By
using Lovecraft`s material the makers of Cthulhu are able to weave a unique
adventure that is never dull, and always full of surprises. We all know how terrible games based on
movies can be, so perhaps that`s why it`s so refreshing to see how well a book
adaptation works. Cthulhu is a real gem!




In Call of Cthulhu you play Jack Walters, a private
investigator who is suffering from some serious post trauma-induced
amnesia. Six years earlier Jack had a
fateful meeting that resulted in him losing his mind and being hauled off to
the insane asylum. Ever since then he
has had a deep fascination with the occult, reading every book he can find on
the subject. Jack is hired to track down
a missing person in the town of Innsmouth,
a broken down fishing community that has very little tourism and a lot of
unfriendly citizens.




Unfortunately you quickly realize that this case is more
than just a missing person investigation; this is just the start of what ends
up being a truly memorable adventure. It
doesn`t take long before the town`s people start hunting this outsider, but not
before Jack uncovers what appears to be a secret cult called the Order of Dagon
deadest on doing something dastardly. I
won`t spoil the secrets of Cthulhu, but it`s safe to say that these creepy
individuals are up to no good and it`s your job to figure out how to stop them
… like it or not.




But that short description of the game hardly does Cthulhu
justice, it`s really just the tip of the iceberg. Call of Cthulhu has a story that is all over
the board, from helping the FBI to battling strange creatures of the sea to
simply rescuing innocent people caught up in tragic situations. And the best part, just when you think you
know where the game is heading it has a strange way of completely flipping
things around...