That being said, if Call of Cthulhu is most people’s starting point, it is a pretty great one.īut what kind of stories did H.P. It is entirely possible that many people who know the name of Cthulhu have no more knowledge of the stories of Lovecraft other than that provided by this more pulp version.
The richness and freshness of the background of Call of Cthulhu made this setting popular in all types of media: comics, movies, video games, board games. In this game, players play a group of investigators who have to face creatures imagined by Lovecraft that ravage the fictional locations of New England. Much of this has to do with Sandy Petersen's tabletop role-playing game Call of Cthulhu (1981). In the popular imagination, when we hear about Lovecraftian, we can't help but think of investigators from the 1920s shooting their Thompson's at disgusting creatures with tentacles. Lovecraft stories, but it is not a horror game. (Especially those younger fedora-clad adventurers camping out in your family room.Call of the Sea is inspired by H. You’ll undeniably find a lot of visual splendor and noggin-testing challenges to enjoy, but this vintage-feel expedition may get a bit too dark for some. On top of that there are several misuses of God’s name in the dialogue and a couple uses of “d–mit” (though the exclamations more often are limited to things like “jeepers” and “holy Moses”).Īdd it all together and you’ve got a fun puzzling adventure toting a fairly mixed steamer trunk. And we are dipped in a general atmosphere of mysticism and death in the latter parts of the tale. We’re forced (as Norah) to cut our own hand and wipe blood on a ritual alter. We see evidence of others who were plagued by whispering voices that drove them mad. We also learn of a native tribe that lived on the island and performed rituals and past sacrifices to their “Elder god.” There’s nothing overtly goopy, gory or spiritual here, but we do hear of people who have died or were killed. That fantasy mystery isn’t fully explained, but there does seem to be something otherworldly and possibly extraterrestrial about it all. No tentacled beasties stalk the island, but there is a dark, twisting fantasy afoot. I should note, however, that as Norah digs into the island’s mystery-something that actually does tie directly to the illness she suffers from-the tale takes a very creepy, Lovecraftian turn. And unlike some puzzle adventures, this one eventually has a good reason for all the hurtles placed before the desperate-to-find-her-loved-one Norah. And then you must translate symbols, solve musical and memory challenges, and wrap your brain around all the many different environmental conundrums that the game tosses at you. You and Norah have to gather papers and clues that Harry and his fellows have left behind. And it features a very well written story with tons of smaller riddles to unlock a good-sized environment puzzle to master for passage through each chapter and a twisting overall mystery to eventually unravel. This, however, is a classic puzzle game with compelling art direction and a solid voice cast. The lush tropical vistas and sweeping underscore quickly transport you to an alluring world that you could almost just walk through and enjoy without puzzles. In fact, it has the feel of a game like Myst more than anything else. I mentioned a certain Tomb Raider protagonist up above, but in truth this first-person adventure game is all mysteries and puzzles with none of Lara Croft’s typical trigger-pulling antics. Could this island be his last resting place? As she explores the expedition’s abandoned campsites, gathers clues and bits of evidence, and then solves the island’s strange environmental puzzles, she hopes to put the whole story together and find the truth. Norah has an unexplained illness that has long afflicted her family members, and Harry seems to believe that he may have tracked the source of the disease to this tiny tropical isle, a place that the locals avoid like-well, the plague.Īfter a year’s absence with no word, however, Norah has no choice but to try and track down her beloved hubby. She simply knows that her husband, Harry, ventured off with a small expeditionary crew in search of a cure for her. When Norah first steps on the golden beach of a little island-situated some 74 nautical miles east of Tahiti-she really hasn’t got a clue what she’ll do next. In Call of the Sea, you’recalled upon to slip into the sensible shoes and skirt of one Norah Everhart: a young woman who discovers she has some Nancy Drew mystery-insights and a dash of Lara Croft puzzle-solving in her DNA.
We close out the year that was 2020 with a review of a little mystery game that harkens back to 1934.