When I go about looking for new games I tend not to limit myself to the huge multi-million dollar games that are the most popular (Call of Duty, Halo, ect.). Every once and a while it's good to explore and find those little hidden gems, you never know what you'll stumble across. In "Buried Treasure" we'll be going over little known games that should be played by everyone.
What better way to kick off our hunt for hidden gems then by diving into the Horror genre. Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth is one of those games that you challenge yourself to play alone in the middle of the night. This is game is very big into psychological horror, throughout the entire game you will be fighting off the crazies, all while trying to find out what events are really taking place before you. If you can get past a few bugs and are willing to take on the challenge, Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth will amaze, confuse, and have you scared all at once.
Through the entire game you play as Jack Walters, a private investigator with psychological issues. Jack is getting his life back together after being in an insane asylum. Jack can't seem to remember anything that has happened in the past 6 years. As the game opens Jack working on a missing persons case that takes him to the port of Innsmouth. Innsmouth is a decrepit town, with rundown building a residents that threaten Jack at every question. Right off the bat it's clear that the townspeople are hiding something from Jack and before too long he begins to discover a sinister secret lurking beneath the dismal surface. He sticks his head in too far and soon finds himself trying desperately to escape the many horrors of Innsmouth.
Call of Cthulu is an extremely atmospheric experience. Jack frequently sees what appears to be hallucinations. Monsters, Dead children, and creepy visions. Most of the time these catch you off guard and it can be difficult to tell what poses a real threat and what is simply a creation of your own mind. The game is played in first person and feels like a first person shooter but the gameplay really is not centered around shooting, it's more focused on stealth and puzzle solving. Even the stealth elements themselves are simple it can be quite easy to sneak around enemies. The real challenge of the game is when you have no options and are forced to run, if you try to fight or hide -you will die-. This proves to be the most difficult and straight up frightening part of Call of Cthulu
Call of Cthulu is a great game and received good reviews but for one reason or another it's just not that popular. Out of the over 25 -million- steam accounts a whopping 300 gave Call of Cthulu the thumbs up to their friends. Even I had never heard anything about this game, I just happened to stumble across it when I purchased the quake-con pack back in 2010. It's a great find and one of my favorite games on steam. overall I give this game an 8/10 If you looking for a different kind of horror experience then I highly recommend Call of Cthulu as your next purchase.
