Description

Detective Jack Walters arrived in Innsmouth to solve a case of a missing person. But soon he finds himself confronted with terrible mysteries older than humanity, and with ghosts of the mysterious events that led to his incarceration in a mental hospital years ago.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a first-person action-adventure survival horror game, based on the H.P. Lovecraft mythos and his short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".

Initially, CoC: DCotE plays like an adventure game, but soon it gains elements of a stealth game and of a first-person shooter. Notably, the game does not feature an on-screen HUD (not even a crosshair); Jack's health is hinted at by visual cues; as for ammo, you need to remember how much you have left before you'll have to reload.

The health system used in the game is uncommon. There is no "hit points" system; rather, Jack receives minor or major wounds in specific parts of the body, and if he breaks a leg he's slowed down. To heal himself and prevent death from bleeding out, Jack can pick up medikits which contain bandages, splints, sutures and antidotes, each of which is used to heal a specific type of wound. Ill effects emerging from the wounds can be temporarily suppressed with a fix of morphine.

Jack's sanity also plays an important role. When Jack looks at disturbing things or finds himself in alarming conditions, his vision blurs, he begins hearing voices and talking to himself. If this gets too bad, Jack may go insane or commit suicide. Also, Jack suffers from acrophobia, and looking down in high places will cause him vertigo.

Alternate Titles

  • "邪神的呼唤:地球黑暗角落" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • "Call of Cthulhu: Temná zákoutí země" -- Czech title
  • "Call of Cthulhu: Mroczne Zakątki Świata" -- Polish title

Part of the Following Groups


Merchant Title Platform Price  
Amazon
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Xbox $15.94  
ebay.com
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth    
Not an American user?

User Reviews

A truly unique gaming experience... Which might or might not be a good thing. Windows Schadenfreude Bronze Star Contributing Member (578)
Run Jack, dammit! Windows MichaelPalin Bronze Star Contributing Member (840)
Great idea, bad game. Windows Shin_Akuma (17)
One of a kind; deeply innovative; scary as hell. Windows Ola Sverre Bauge (236)
Cthulhu Is Calling Me...And Making Me Write This Review! Xbox MasterMegid (865)

The Press Says

Jolt (UK) Xbox Nov 07, 2005 9 out of 10 90
Game Captain Windows Apr 07, 2006 85 out of 100 85
eGames Xbox Aug 10, 2007 8 out of 10 80
ntsc-uk Xbox Mar, 2006 8 out of 10 80
GameSpot Windows May 03, 2006 7.9 out of 10 79
Gamezoom Windows Apr 13, 2006 77 out of 100 77
GameSpy Windows Jun 02, 2006 3.5 Stars3.5 Stars3.5 Stars3.5 Stars3.5 Stars 70
Thunderbolt Games Xbox Nov 11, 2005 7 out of 10 70
Game XC (GXC) Xbox 2005 7 out of 10 70
Game Informer Magazine Xbox Jan, 2006 6 out of 10 60

Forums

There are currently no topics for this game.


Trivia

The March 27, 2006 release date of the PC version ended a six-year cycle of development hell. Headfirst began developing Dark Corners of the Earth for a German publisher named Fishtank. Fishtank was taken over by JoWood and JoWood wasn't interested in the title. Headfirst continued development while searching for publishers. Bethesda ended up with the publishing rights, but they wanted it as an Xbox title, not a PC game.

The Xbox version was released in October of 2005. Shortly after that, Headfirst entered into financial difficulties which affected their ability to pay their employees, leaving many of them to find employment elsewhere. Headfirst was forced to sell their Simon the Sorcerer license to Silver Style and put their offices up for sale. The remaining Headfirst employees completed the port of Dark Corners of the Earth. Plans for additional Call of Cthulhu games, Destiny's End and Beyond the Mountains of Madness seem to be dead.


This entry was contributed by Kabushi (48861) and Dwango (292)
 

Errors and omissions on this page may be reported to the MobyGames approvers.

MobyGames™ Copyright © 1999-2009, MobyGames.
All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
moby sites | about us | advertise | disclaimer | privacy statement | become an approver | RSS