Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Review

During the game I rarely encountered any problems with the AI. Foes are cunning and persistent and will sometimes take cover to heal their wounds after they've sustained damage.

Vertigo can be a pain in the butt.

Can it Hoover! Just let me do my job!

It's quite obvious that the developers waited too long to release CoC, hence you won't be impressed all that much by what this game has to offer in terms of visuals. There are several nice touches though. For instance, when Jack's vision changes as he is heavily injured or dizzy. Also, it's all about the ambiance, which remains scary and moody almost throughout the entire game. Regrettably, the levels simply crave more textures as well as additional polys (the graphics were obviously trimmed down for the Xbox console). Still, from what I've gathered, highly detailed graphics are not the point here. Like I said, the main character has weaknesses and flaws just like any other human, which makes him more vulnerable than your usual super-hero protagonist. The developers have successfully conveyed the sense of fear and panic as the main character experiences real-life danger. This was achieved via cleverly incorporated visual effects and superb sound effects (such as Jack's panting, mumbling and ranting when he starts losing his sanity).

The music suits the game's murky atmosphere perfectly and character voicing appears pretty convincing to boot. Then again, a majority of enemies keeps repeating the same line over and over again, which tends to infuriate even the most patient listener.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth may not be the ideal action-adventure, but it does throw a decent horror tale our way. Some elements do feel scarce and incomplete though, and, sadly, you won't find any exceptional eye candy.

In the end, despite some of the aforementioned drawbacks, CoC is still a decent game. The distinctive setting and novel gameplay mechanics are definitely the strongest points of this title. It's a unique experience, to be sure. Furthermore, it may take you quite some time to go through the entire game. Does it warrant the $40 dollar price tag? I'm not entirely sure. That mostly depends on how patient you are and willing to overlook its faults in favor of the unique gameplay elements it has to offer.