Call of Cthulhu

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 214 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 117 out of 214
  2. Mixed: 60 out of 214
  3. Negative: 37 out of 214
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  1. Kinsbal
    Nov 2, 2018
    2
    A terrible walking simulator. The game holds your hand from the beginning till the end without giving you any gaming value. The mechanics can be summed up like this: walk to the object, activate instinct mode, wait for the cutscene. Do that for 10 hours and congrats, you beat the game.

    Everyting about this game feels empty, cheap and lazy. Here's a quick list of things that went south:    A terrible walking simulator. The game holds your hand from the beginning till the end without giving you any gaming value. The mechanics can be summed up like this: walk to the object, activate instinct mode, wait for the cutscene. Do that for 10 hours and congrats, you beat the game.

    Everyting about this game feels empty, cheap and lazy. Here's a quick list of things that went south:
    -Only one shambler as a direct paranormal opponent - really?
    -Hud-screen is littered with stupid messages and shining markers (the devs think you're an idiot)
    -instinct mode
    -Level design
    -Pacing
    -Character animations
    -Glitches
    -Lackluster endings and story
    -RPG elements (Why are they here? Almost no effect on story)
    -No horror element (only 2 semi-scary encounters)
    -Farting lanterns
    -Focus Home Entertainment

    One of the biggest disappointments this year, avoid this garbage at all cost.    … Expand
  2. NikolayG
    Nov 4, 2018
    3
    Would be a good game if it did not shoot itself in the foot with 2 stupid design decisions. I love point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, like Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight. This game is similar to those except you gain skills and use a controller not a mouse.

    However, none of those games ruined the entire experience by floating a bright white light over every single    Would be a good game if it did not shoot itself in the foot with 2 stupid design decisions. I love point-and-click adventures of the 1990s, like Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight. This game is similar to those except you gain skills and use a controller not a mouse.

    However, none of those games ruined the entire experience by floating a bright white light over every single thing you can interact with - even doorknobs! That's right, and you CANNOT turn this feature off. Every single book or letter you can read, every drawer you can open, every doorknob you can turn, has a bright white light on it -- so the whole game is basically just walking to each light and clicking. It's like a hand-holding walkthrough is built into the game that you cannot get rid of. Also, even some of the WALKING is done for you. At certain moments the game takes over and you're on a rail as you walk along and talk to a person. Very very very bad ideas. These just spoil the game for me. So I have uninstalled until they fix these things. If they fix these things.

    Note that if you go to Cyanide Studios' web site to ask about this, you will find that Cthulu is not listed among the games they are accepting inquiries about and they state they will not respond to any questions about games not listed. So there is no opportunity to get support for this game from the developer!!!! Believe it or not.

    THUMBS DOWN    … Expand
  3. TanelSereg
    May 8, 2020
    0
    **** **** tier game i tried to quickly go into game like x>x>x>x>x but twas on **** new game not the load and it deleted my save fix that **** retards
  4. AvdaninAlex
    Jul 10, 2020
    0
    Игра не озвучена на русском языке, почему то есть поверье, что людям нравится слушать иностранный язык , который не понимают, так ещё и совсем другой по звучанию голоса , другой по тембру , да и богатство скудное у языка, потом в игре есть слабые стороны но концовка , создаётся впечатление что бюджет закончился где-то в середине игры и на концовку денег не зватилоИгра не озвучена на русском языке, почему то есть поверье, что людям нравится слушать иностранный язык , который не понимают, так ещё и совсем другой по звучанию голоса , другой по тембру , да и богатство скудное у языка, потом в игре есть слабые стороны но концовка , создаётся впечатление что бюджет закончился где-то в середине игры и на концовку денег не зватило
  5. ColdHand
    Mar 6, 2020
    3
    In a world of Gamepass, Humble bundles, Steam Sales and amazing AAA, there's no place for average games. So imagine for the bad ones... If you're not a fan of Lovecraft's opera, I don't even know what you're doing here. Do yourself a favor and just forget this game even exists. If you *are* a fan, well, just do the same :( Call of Cthulhu is unfortunately not a good game, with laughinglyIn a world of Gamepass, Humble bundles, Steam Sales and amazing AAA, there's no place for average games. So imagine for the bad ones... If you're not a fan of Lovecraft's opera, I don't even know what you're doing here. Do yourself a favor and just forget this game even exists. If you *are* a fan, well, just do the same :( Call of Cthulhu is unfortunately not a good game, with laughingly old game mechanisms, outdated graphisme and uninteresting plot, missing the typical tension of a Cthulhu novel while trying to replace it with some kind of gross imagery. That's a bummer, 'cause we could really use a good dose of Old Ones, but we'll have to wait for the next game, I'm afraid.… Expand
  6. ChestyPuller
    Dec 1, 2018
    3
    This game is not good, and i mean that as it shouldnt score over a 6 on a normal review. There are good things about it and if others like it i can kind of see why. There are so many parts of the fame that arent intuitive. And i dont mean hand holdy. Early on in the game you need to lift a hatch in the floor using a winch. You need to find a handle for this and low and behold there is aThis game is not good, and i mean that as it shouldnt score over a 6 on a normal review. There are good things about it and if others like it i can kind of see why. There are so many parts of the fame that arent intuitive. And i dont mean hand holdy. Early on in the game you need to lift a hatch in the floor using a winch. You need to find a handle for this and low and behold there is a handle on the floor. You put it on and then you still cant do anything. You search again. You find a rachet device that you put on it. Still you cant do anything. You look around the wharehouse again and find a gear to complete the set up.

    Why couldnt i at least try to open the hatch and then it close after i stopped cranking. SHOWING the player they needed something else to make it through to the next area. This is an early event but it happens almost every time there is a puzzle in this game.

    Its not hand holding if you show players why they cant get through. Having them complete part of the puzzle that has multiple unseen parts and then have no feed back is bad. This isnt true for all puzzles in this game, but probably over 40% which is to high.

    Also the shambler part basically ruined the game for me. The AI is so delayed. It makes the section so terrible i doubt anyone had fun playing it.    … Expand
  7. Gryffith
    Sep 4, 2019
    3
    Had some good story points, but gameplay is worse than from 90s.. Not scary at all, poor adventure riddles, 0/10 for action sequences
  8. Lonitx
    May 1, 2022
    3
    Negatives:

    Not being able to pause cutscenes. The frequent loading screens would not be a problem if they weren't so damn long, often you'll wonder if your console crashed and you have to force-quit or if the bar will eventually progress. It's also pretty bad design to require an input from the player at the end of each of those loading screens. The skill point system, they could    Negatives:

    Not being able to pause cutscenes.

    The frequent loading screens would not be a problem if they weren't so damn long, often you'll wonder if your console crashed and you have to force-quit or if the bar will eventually progress. It's also pretty bad design to require an input from the player at the end of each of those loading screens.

    The skill point system, they could have left it out, feels a bit tacked on or maybe a way to get some replay value but I don't think it works.

    Neutral:

    the voice acting, I don't want to say it's bad but it's not good either, accompanied with the static first person perspective you're locked in makes dialogue a bit dry.

    Positives:

    I liked the graphics    … Expand
  9. Molxium
    Sep 23, 2020
    4
    I love Lovecraft and the Call of Cthulhu, I read it and loved it.

    This game is not what it should be. Trying to merge detective game with horror, did not work well. I played it, but I didn`t really enjoy it.
  10. Vokrug_Vostok
    Jul 26, 2022
    0
    Worst game I’ve ever played!!!! Broken mechanics that saves your game after skill check failed, broken trophies(much easier than in description and you can get some by not following the steps in the corresponding prompts or not getting all collectibles, but somehow you getting a trophy. Graphics and design from 2001(even in 2001 there were much more beautiful games). The main plot isWorst game I’ve ever played!!!! Broken mechanics that saves your game after skill check failed, broken trophies(much easier than in description and you can get some by not following the steps in the corresponding prompts or not getting all collectibles, but somehow you getting a trophy. Graphics and design from 2001(even in 2001 there were much more beautiful games). The main plot is soooooooo boring and stupid that I end laughing at some point and started to smash through this piece of game skipping all dialogues and cutscenes… Do not ever buy this game, save your money, buy vegetables instead, better investment. God thank you that I download it for free via ps plus, but even for free I never recommend your to start this piece of awfulness. And yeah, I play a lot of games, have 152 platinums, so I understand what I’m saying hear.… Expand
  11. Johnsonsteed91
    Mar 16, 2023
    2
    This game is not getting a 0 to give developer credit for effort. Gameplay is very absent, cutscenes are painful to watch, graphics are sad for an unreal engine game, and the story is hard to appreciate. You never really know what’s going on, nothing is too as far as puzzles go or lack thereof. Just a disappointing result for a narrative-cinematic game trying to be like a quantic-dreamThis game is not getting a 0 to give developer credit for effort. Gameplay is very absent, cutscenes are painful to watch, graphics are sad for an unreal engine game, and the story is hard to appreciate. You never really know what’s going on, nothing is too as far as puzzles go or lack thereof. Just a disappointing result for a narrative-cinematic game trying to be like a quantic-dream style game made by a decent studio- focus entertainment..… Expand
  12. TheThunderbird
    Jun 26, 2023
    4
    I love the Cthulhu mythos but this gameplay is so boring and the plot is so bland. The game is not even scary with only a few levels actually bringing me to the edge of my seat. But other than that there was nothing that made me want to go back. All in all the game is boring and the story is bad with almost nothing scary despite being a horror game. Very disappointed.

Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
89
#89 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 47
  3. Negative: 4 out of 47
  1. IGN Japan
    Apr 29, 2019
    62
    Call of Cthulhu’s strange and eerie visuals somewhat succeed in recreating the atmosphere of Cthulhu mythology. However, instead of contributing to the story, stats such as Sanity feel like they deny the player’s trial-and-error. From shooting to stealth segments, the wide array of different systems needed more polish as well.
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  2. Cubed3
    Dec 3, 2018
    50
    At best, this is just a very gimmicky adventure game. Each level having its own thing is a bit refreshing from always having to pixel-hunt for objects, tying simplistic stats into the mix adds some planning, and the way this title forces players to commit to their actions is nice. Sadly, as the journey reaches its half-way point, the story unravels in a very unsatisfying manner. Characters are built up and don't get the proper pay-off, while some disappear entirely.
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  3. LaPS4
    Nov 16, 2018
    64
    Call of Cthulhu is not a horror game as such, It’s a title filled up with suspense, amusing moments, even surrealism is in there, which, to be honest, is the most entertaining part. Also there are moments in which you don’t know what are you doing playing this game while you could be doing anything else. Lovecraft’s universe is placed in a game that cannot reach the immensity of Lovecraft’s imagery. And It ends up being a heap of circumstances and mechanics so positive as others that we should left behind in the past.
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