Cthulhu Lurks In Dark Gaming Corners, Heeds Call

Thanks to C+VG for its interview with Chris Gray of Headfirst Productions regarding PC/Xbox first-person action title Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, as "based on the Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG and works of author H.P Lovecraft." Gray notes of the long-in-development title: "we've got a completely new engine... [featuring] vertex and pixel shaders", and elaborates: "It wouldn't be a Lovecraft game without some big monsters; these include a Shoggoth, Father Dagon, Mother Hydra, Flying Polyps and a few other surprises." Elsewhere, Yog-Sothoth points out the new publishing of the 6th Edition of Chaosium's Call Of Cthulhu tabletop RPG rules, as originally penned by Quake level designer Sandy Petersen.

Comments

I'm really tickled by this one!

[AtariAmarok]

I wonder what the Night-gaunts will be like? Also, will there be a racing mode a la the "Cthulhu-Kart" game?

Random Thoughts

[vjmurphy]

The video game is taking too long, and seems to promise more than it can deliver (I'm betting). I enjoyed some of the old licensed Call of Cthulhu adventures from years ago, though: Prisoner of Ice, I think, and Shadow of the Comet?

For those looking for Cthulhu-like games now, I'd suggest Undying, an older FPS with a lot of great atmosphere.

The RPG has always been a favorite of mine, though I haven't played it in forever. The character creation and mechanics are superior to the D20 system, I think. Plus, if you have a copy of Superworld (uses a similar system) you can try pitting superheroes against the eldritch horrors of the Great Old Ones. Nothing beats pitting Robin, the Boy Wonder against a shoggoth.

I also liked the Delta Green expansion for Call of Cthulhu: a very nice modern setting that let's you more logically get disparate characters together for an adventure.

Re:Random Thoughts

[AtariAmarok]

"Nothing beats pitting Robin, the Boy Wonder against a shoggoth"

"Holy giant amoeba, Batman!"

"Don't worry, old chum. It washes off"

Re:Random Thoughts

[mwheeler01]

Also for those with a gamecube I'd highly recomend Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem which is clearly heavily influenced by Lovecraftian fiction. The more the characters are exposed to the supernatural in game the more the game messes with the character and the player. Blood would run down the walls, screams would be heard in the night and limbs would fall off only to reappear. Also the game might pretend to turn down the volume on the TV among other things. Play it with Dolby surround sound in a dark room and you'll find yourself freaking out.

Popularity of this Game?

[routerwhore]

I remember reading the Lovecraft stories as a youngster and even procurring the Necronomicon itself (you had to be 18 to buy it) and the mystery and fantasy that it provided for me. I was one of just a handful of kids that knew anything about the obscure writings at the time (and we were all rejects). Not that I'm exactly on the cutting edge of the next generation, but I wonder how many have heard of or read Lovecraft. It isn't like a major movie has been made recently to clue them all in. Should be interesting...

Re:Popularity of this Game?

[irokitt]

Hellboy was neither Lovecraft-inspired (although elements were thrown in) nor is it worthy of being associated with his work. I'm not being a prick here. It would be really hard to make a movie with subject matter like that and make it work. I think it would have to have a gestation like Peter Jackson's rendition of LotR: a fan who is truely interested in being true to the original theme could pull it off, but Hollywood would want to turn it into Godzilla.

Joy of joys

[Brakz0rz]

I have faith in this title since I am playing through Bethesda's Elder Scrolls III:Morrowind for the third or fourth time... I am still finding things that I missed and entire questlines I didn't follow. These cats give good game. I don't think that there is a better RPG out there.

Come again?

[ex_ottoyuhr]

"[The game's features include a d]iverse array of levels from quaint towns to alien locations, including Deep One City". I _hope_ they mean R'leyh and just got the name horribly wrong, or else that they mean that city that the German submarine stumbled across... (Never mind how one is supposed to be doing much of anything on the bottom of the Atlantic with 1920s technology.)

If the fish-things are supposed to be Deep Ones, they have the skin coloration all wrong -- "their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies," to quote the Lovecraft Online Archive linked to via their website. Not diarrhea-brown. Besides, they're only Deep Ones. Mi-go or Elder Things or Nightgaunts are _infinetely_ more interesting...

Why do I get the impression that the designers just wanted an excuse to clone _Resident Evil_, only snobbishly? It's not a very impressive-looking game, if one can judge from its promotional materials...

City of the Deep Ones

[AtariAmarok]

"quaint towns to alien locations, including Deep One City". I _hope_ they mean R'leyh and just got the name horribly wrong, or else that they mean that city that the German submarine stumbled across..."

I think it refers to the city under the ocean near Innsmouth, from "The Shadow over Innsmouth".

Re:City of the Deep Ones

[slaker]

Good thing there's an internet!

I like my Elder Gods like I like my women: Squamous and Gibbous.

Sandy

[Torgo's Pizza]

Ahem, Sandy has done more than just do Quake. He's done fantastic work at Ensemble Studios, almost single-handedly designing the Rise of Rome expansion pack. He knows games inside-and-out. Yeah, I'm biased since I worked with him at ES but don't sell him short. He's a fantastic human being and one of the best designers in the business.