Call of Cthulhu

 PC
User Score
6.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 225 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 95 out of 225
  2. Mixed: 97 out of 225
  3. Negative: 33 out of 225

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  1. beebo42
    Apr 27, 2019
    4
    One of the most disappointing games I've played in a LONG time. I'm willing to overlook clunky gameplay if I get to see Lovecraftian horrors in full CG glory, that's why I loved "Dark Corners of the Earth" from 2006, but the horrors just never show up. The game looks just awful, with muddy low-res textures and extremely poor art direction. The human faces are probably the most horrificOne of the most disappointing games I've played in a LONG time. I'm willing to overlook clunky gameplay if I get to see Lovecraftian horrors in full CG glory, that's why I loved "Dark Corners of the Earth" from 2006, but the horrors just never show up. The game looks just awful, with muddy low-res textures and extremely poor art direction. The human faces are probably the most horrific things in the game because of how bad they look. In terms of monsters we get almost nothing. The main baddy for the first three-fourths of the game looks a low level Doom enemy. And towards the end of the game we get... a green lump. That's it folks! The gameplay is terrible. There's exactly one bad stealth section, and one even worse shooting section, and the rest of the game is just walking around in poorly realized environments collecting "clues". There's RPG stats that appear to affect almost nothing? Like literally they each get checked once in the entire game. The characters are laughable. In fact none of the plot makes any sense, and just feels unfinished. And no, it doesn't follow Lovecraft's "Call of Cthulhu" in the slightest. I recommend that you don't buy this, even on a deep discount. The first 10 minutes of "The Sunken City" appears to have 100% more Cthulhu than this entire game.… Expand
  2. stop9091
    May 21, 2019
    0
    A game not without defects, but with a fantastic atmosphere... which in this genre/type of game is essentially everything.

    I think it captures perfectly the feeling of the Lovecraft stories. This is a double edged sword, though: while it will please the writer's fans, it will disappoint people expecting linearity and logic, and possibly, "generic horror" fans. Another thing to    A game not without defects, but with a fantastic atmosphere... which in this genre/type of game is essentially everything.

    I think it captures perfectly the feeling of the Lovecraft stories. This is a double edged sword, though: while it will please the writer's fans, it will disappoint people expecting linearity and logic, and possibly, "generic horror" fans.

    Another thing to consider is that the game is just a bit more than a walking simulator; this is also not everybody's cup of tea.

    Regarding the defects:

    - mediocre 3D engine; stutters a lot, independently of the graphic settings; capable of dipping from 140 frames to 30 in the same room
    - the character animations are sometimes terrible
    - some chapters (and characters) are just fillers
    - the RPG part is an afterthought; it gives the impression that changes little or nothing, at least, to the casual user

    All in all, as a fan of Lovecraft, I'm very happy, since it's hard to find good games/movies based on his writings.    … Expand
  3. zumimi
    Nov 10, 2018
    2
    The saddest thing about Call of Cthulhu is that there are LOTS OF PROMISING MECHANICS THAT WERE USED ONLY ONCE OR TWICE DURING THE GAME. Sanity mechanics, weird vision effects, tunnel view, color dissortion and unreal visions... are there but only used a couple of times. Mechanic for dialogs, clue sighting, and using your skills are nice, but misused.
  4. Wesp5
    Nov 9, 2018
    2
    I think this is the first game in which I had to watch cutscenes and forced encounters longer than actually having control over my character! And when I had control, most of the time the gameplay was that of a walking simulator except for a few sneaking or action sequences. RPG elements and dialogue options are a huge mess, where you never know what they are really good for! Level designI think this is the first game in which I had to watch cutscenes and forced encounters longer than actually having control over my character! And when I had control, most of the time the gameplay was that of a walking simulator except for a few sneaking or action sequences. RPG elements and dialogue options are a huge mess, where you never know what they are really good for! Level design and graphics are okay, but character animations and facial expressions bad. The only great thing was the back-in-time-investigation mode...… Expand
  5. Nuieve
    Nov 16, 2018
    3
    What is the point of this so called "game". There's no game here, no challenge. You just walk and click on things when prompted. You don't make any decisions, just walk and click. Save yourself some money, just watch youtube walkthrough.
  6. Victus
    Mar 7, 2019
    2
    I will start by saying that I feel like the game wasn't so much a horror game as it was an RPG/Detective/Mystery game. There are only a couple of times throughout the game where I felt any sense of surprise or even a semblance of anxiety or fear and I feel like they sold it as survival horror as a desperate attempt to increase sales... Makes sense considering it wouldn't have sold much atI will start by saying that I feel like the game wasn't so much a horror game as it was an RPG/Detective/Mystery game. There are only a couple of times throughout the game where I felt any sense of surprise or even a semblance of anxiety or fear and I feel like they sold it as survival horror as a desperate attempt to increase sales... Makes sense considering it wouldn't have sold much at all if a game with Cthulu in the title wasn't a horror game but I'd go so far as to say it was borderline false advertising and after reflecting on my experience with the game, I feel it would have been much more interesting as a Telltale(RIP) style game.

    Much of the game moved at a snail's pace and pairing that with this world's dull and lifeless environments and equally dull and lifeless characters made this game nothing short of a painful chore to finish. Finding myself about 4 chapters in, the only motivation to continue playing this game to finish derived from a desire to actually see the Lovecraftian horrors that this game actually has which I am quite sad to say that only have about 5% TOTAL screen-time in this game.    … Expand
  7. Akadrud
    Jun 25, 2020
    4
    I was really hoping this game would be at least near to it's predecessor.. but that's not it.. a great chance thrown away.. the atmosphere is really there, and i liked the level design, and the details, but this game has some real issue in character modeling and animations. They are bad, bad as a bad '90s game. You will see that same face is applied to a lot of characters, the animationsI was really hoping this game would be at least near to it's predecessor.. but that's not it.. a great chance thrown away.. the atmosphere is really there, and i liked the level design, and the details, but this game has some real issue in character modeling and animations. They are bad, bad as a bad '90s game. You will see that same face is applied to a lot of characters, the animations are clippy and unnatural and they should just fire the people who worked on these. The game itself is too short, too easy, not finished, with some features like character development totally worthless, and the shooting part... omg that's horrible. Looks like they had ideas, and they just not finished developing them, they probably finished the money in the middle and cut many things. Anyway.. you'll get disappointed for only some hours, then it will be over, and you'll never play it again.… Expand
  8. casneovox
    Jun 4, 2020
    4
    Esperava mais desse game. A história é bem bacana e prende bem. Mas o final é bem pífio e termina com aquela sensação de: era só isso? Tudo o que foi jogado, pra terminar assim. O jogo tem um clima bem legal, gráficos bons, mas esperava mais. Talvez Sinking City seja o que ele não foi. E no fim, suas escolhas não mudam quase nada, e as skills tbm.
  9. mrvertigo89
    Dec 6, 2021
    4
    Bits of this were fun but so many unskippablr cutscenes. Some terrible chapters and just lots and lots of walking. Quite a fun story but pretty rubbish game.
  10. Inlike
    Feb 2, 2022
    1
    Very bad... Very bad! VERY BAAAD!! there is nothing that can be called even average in this game
  11. sirosfakhri
    Nov 11, 2019
    4
    The Game is so boring.
    graphic is not bad or not good.
    atmosphere is good.
    gameplay is 0
  12. Sepherim
    Jan 4, 2021
    3
    Call of Cthulhu es un buen juego de miedo, con una ambientación muy bien lograda, un buen desarrollo de los personajes, sus secuencias demenciales donde no sabes cual es la realidad, etc. En resumen, lo que uno se podría esperar y desear de un juego de Cthulhu, quizás con menos miedo que un Amnesia y más de investigación y avance de trama, con decisiones que afectan al resultado final yCall of Cthulhu es un buen juego de miedo, con una ambientación muy bien lograda, un buen desarrollo de los personajes, sus secuencias demenciales donde no sabes cual es la realidad, etc. En resumen, lo que uno se podría esperar y desear de un juego de Cthulhu, quizás con menos miedo que un Amnesia y más de investigación y avance de trama, con decisiones que afectan al resultado final y progresión de personaje. Sin embargo, pese a todo ello, no lo puedo recomendar porque a mi me reinicia el ordenador cada vez que le da la gana (a veces tarda una hora, otras 10 minutos, otras incluso tras la pantalla de carga inicial...) lo cual ha hecho que la experiencia de jugarlo sea totalmente frustrante y lo haya abandonado hacia el final del episodio 9.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018
79
#79 Most Shared PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
67

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 40
  3. Negative: 2 out of 40
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 14, 2019
    70
    In regards to the story and atmosphere, Call of Cthulhu stands tall against any other game in the genre. It’s the rest of the features that’s bringing it down to a level of a quite typical mid-budget game. [13/2018, p.52]
  2. PLAY! Zine
    Mar 5, 2019
    80
    Another great lovecraftian game, with intriguing plot and ominous atmosphere, but with somewhat poor overall production quality and a sloppy dialogue system.
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  3. Cubed3
    Jan 2, 2019
    60
    Most Lovecraft fans, or those who are just on the lookout for a good occult mystery thriller, will enjoy Call of Cthulhu, but that doesn't mean that they won't be disappointed as well. Cyanide Studio has wrapped an interesting, and engrossing storyline, with a fittingly oppressive feel, but the actual gameplay part tastes like a half-fried, unsalted octopus *wink-wink-nudge-nudge*
    Read full review
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