It's Boston in 1924, and World War I veteran Edward Pierce struggles to find his place in the new world. Having become a private detective without much conviction, he is plagued by insomnia and, consequently, has also become addicted to alcohol and sleeping pills. But the Sarah Hawkins affair will bring him out of his torpor. This painter perished with her husband and her young son in a fire whose exact circumstances remain to be determined. Edward Pierce therefore goes to the aptly named island of Darkwater to investigate this tragic event. These few sentences could very well have served as an introduction to a classic whodunnit but, faithful to Lovecraft's work, the subject of Call of Cthulhu goes well beyond the usual conventions. Sea monsters, sacrificial cults, cosmological deities, supernatural forces and human madness are thus in the game. Those who know the myth of Cthulhu will appreciate finding this very special atmosphere, and the others will simply have the pleasure of discovering it. On occasion, we can observe in the sets the presence of books such as Frankenstein by Mary Shelley or Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Vernes, which give a good indication of the atmosphere of the game. The sticky atmosphere is very correctly transcribed, in particular thanks to decorations perfectly adapted to the universe of Lovecraft: village by the sea, secular manor, seeping caves, psychiatric asylum or even pre-Columbian art gallery. The artists have done a quality job on the environments, even if the Unreal Engine 4 is clearly not pushed to its maximum. But it is on the characters that the technical and artistic aspect struggles to convince. Their animations and modeling sometimes seem very clumsy, the result being very far from what the AAAs of the moment can offer. But hey, the budgetary constraints of SMEs (small and medium-sized publishers) have to come into play at one time or another.
CTHULHU FHTAGN
Horror in Lovecraft relies heavily on the unsaid and psychology. Under these conditions, and despite its first-person view, Call of Cthulhu could not be an FPS. In truth, it is an adventure game, an investigation game, a role-playing game and a stealth game all rolled into one. Each of these components remains modest and cannot compete with the best games of the genre. Clearly, the production of Cyanide seeks to invoke the adage "The whole is more than the sum of its parts". And this is indeed the case here, the game releasing a certain singularity and forcing sympathy even though it never offers anything extraordinary. The infiltration sequences are rare and not very folichons, while the hide-and-seek scene with a monster does not come close to an Amnesia or an Alien Isolation. The reconstruction scenes, where you have to understand what happened in a given place by analyzing clues and bringing up images from the past, are a little more commendable, even if they are not worth those of Murdered: Soul Suspect or The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The role-playing component is ultimately the most interesting. Throughout the adventure our detective earns "character points", which he can spend to improve five different skills. Force gives access to more "violent" dialogue choices and increases the chances of forcing certain mechanisms. Thanks to Eloquence, we can convince our interlocutors more easily. Investigation facilitates lock picking and scene analysis. Psychology helps to better understand the motivations of the characters. And "Find Hidden Object" spawns more items to find in certain areas. We can add to this two additional skills on which the player has a slightly less direct influence, since they progress automatically according to the objects that are picked up. Occult increases the chance of understanding what certain mysterious artifacts are for, while Forensics makes it easier to identify certain drugs and diagnoses.
BUGS ON CALL?
All these elements essentially influence the choice of dialogues, and sometimes on the paths that can be taken. There is also a mechanism of chance, with dialogue choices that allow you to "test" a skill. Whatever your successes or failures, and whatever skills you have, there is always a way to progress in the adventure. It's a good thing, but we still find many "false choices", the outcome being exactly the same, regardless of the dialogue we choose. The game also features a small mechanic based on light, with some interactive areas not being accessible until you light them up. Finally, your actions have an indirect influence on the mental health of the hero, who will therefore more or less sink into madness. Depending on all these parameters, you will be entitled to one of four different endings concocted by the developers. This point is important since the replayability partly compensates for the modest lifespan, which is limited to ten hours. We will therefore not complain too much about it, a short and intense game is always better than an adventure that drags on in length. On the other hand, impossible not to point out the few bugs and clumsiness of the game. This second category is illustrated by French translations not always up to the level of English texts (a shame for a hexagonal game), and by a menu of diary which occasionally reveals elements of the plot that have not yet taken place. As for the bugs, we were treated twice to a camera that was badly positioned during dialogues and three times to a dialogue wheel that no longer accepted any input (reloading the last checkpoint then being the only way to solve the problem). Finally, during an escort sequence, we witnessed a magnificent teleportation of NPCs. In short, Call of Cthulhu is far from perfect but fortunately, its few flaws do not prevent you from having a good time. The power of the Cthulhu mythos has a lot to do with it!
