Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of My Livejournal
Okay, so I rented Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth a few days back. This is my official review.
Graphics:
The graphics, while not up to par with games like Halo 2, are still very impressive. The grime on the streets is visible, and when it rains, you can see it beading on windows. The main problem with the graphics is the people, who sometimes look a little blocky. Not FF7 blocky, but blocky nontheless. They have however, captured the essence of The Shadow of Innsmouth perfectly.
Score: 7/10
Audio:
It seems like they hired three people to do the voice acting for the entire town. It's not horrible, but a little more variety wouldn't have killed them. The gunshots sounds ok, nothing special. Where the audio really shines is in the ambient music, and some of the sounds the "nightmares" make.
Score: 5/10
Mechanics:
This is where the game really comes through. It does what the pen and paper rpg so often fails to do, and that is make you question what you're seeing. The FPS aspect of the game keeps it in your perspective. You don't get your first weapon until roughly 1/3 of the way through the game, and even armed you don't feel safe. Stealth is a big aspect of the game, except you don't have any HUD like Metal Gear Solid. That's another fun aspect of the game. There is no health bar, you have to listen to your character's breathing and look for the audio clues to see if you're hurt. You can break legs, ribs, and arms in your search through Innsmouth, as well as many different injuries. There is no Sanity meter either, once again the only way you can tell if you're going insane is by the audio and visual clues. Hearing things that aren't there, seeing people you know are dead, or maybe something else. The creepiest loss of sanity I've experienced has involved repeated sightings of a little girl I saw killed.
The AI is also fairly impressive. They will follow you through the entire map if you're not smart enough, and they call out to each other. Think RE4, only with more villagers all armed better than you are.
While these are all great aspects, the game does fail in the fact that the combat is rather difficult. I've sometimes shot a regular human in the head twice with a shotgun before they go down, and that's no easy feat since there is no sight, so you really have to aim carefully, because there is a serious lack of ammo.
Score: 9/10
Story: Anyone fairly familiar with HP Lovecraft's books will recognize quite a bit of this game from the short story Shadow Over Innsmouth. Everything is there, and plenty of clues for those who haven't read the story. They have stayed true to the story in everything from the "Innsmouth Look" to the dilapidated state of the buildings. Don't get me wrong though, this is an original story taking place in Innsmouth, and Jack Walters is a fairly likeable character. I find the story does lack though, in Jack's periodic visions, which I still have not gotten an explanation for. But I won't hold that against the story, since I'm sure it's explained later on.
Score: 10/10
Average: 8/10
So yes, if you have an X-Box (Or an X-Box 360) I definetly suggest picking up this title.
Graphics:
The graphics, while not up to par with games like Halo 2, are still very impressive. The grime on the streets is visible, and when it rains, you can see it beading on windows. The main problem with the graphics is the people, who sometimes look a little blocky. Not FF7 blocky, but blocky nontheless. They have however, captured the essence of The Shadow of Innsmouth perfectly.
Score: 7/10
Audio:
It seems like they hired three people to do the voice acting for the entire town. It's not horrible, but a little more variety wouldn't have killed them. The gunshots sounds ok, nothing special. Where the audio really shines is in the ambient music, and some of the sounds the "nightmares" make.
Score: 5/10
Mechanics:
This is where the game really comes through. It does what the pen and paper rpg so often fails to do, and that is make you question what you're seeing. The FPS aspect of the game keeps it in your perspective. You don't get your first weapon until roughly 1/3 of the way through the game, and even armed you don't feel safe. Stealth is a big aspect of the game, except you don't have any HUD like Metal Gear Solid. That's another fun aspect of the game. There is no health bar, you have to listen to your character's breathing and look for the audio clues to see if you're hurt. You can break legs, ribs, and arms in your search through Innsmouth, as well as many different injuries. There is no Sanity meter either, once again the only way you can tell if you're going insane is by the audio and visual clues. Hearing things that aren't there, seeing people you know are dead, or maybe something else. The creepiest loss of sanity I've experienced has involved repeated sightings of a little girl I saw killed.
The AI is also fairly impressive. They will follow you through the entire map if you're not smart enough, and they call out to each other. Think RE4, only with more villagers all armed better than you are.
While these are all great aspects, the game does fail in the fact that the combat is rather difficult. I've sometimes shot a regular human in the head twice with a shotgun before they go down, and that's no easy feat since there is no sight, so you really have to aim carefully, because there is a serious lack of ammo.
Score: 9/10
Story: Anyone fairly familiar with HP Lovecraft's books will recognize quite a bit of this game from the short story Shadow Over Innsmouth. Everything is there, and plenty of clues for those who haven't read the story. They have stayed true to the story in everything from the "Innsmouth Look" to the dilapidated state of the buildings. Don't get me wrong though, this is an original story taking place in Innsmouth, and Jack Walters is a fairly likeable character. I find the story does lack though, in Jack's periodic visions, which I still have not gotten an explanation for. But I won't hold that against the story, since I'm sure it's explained later on.
Score: 10/10
Average: 8/10
So yes, if you have an X-Box (Or an X-Box 360) I definetly suggest picking up this title.