Cthulu just ripped me off, the shyster, Dark Corners of The Earth Options

[Wounded Ronin]

Well, for a long while now, I've been meaning to get myself a copy of Cthulu: Dark Corners of The Earth, but I'd gotten busy and caught up in various activities, and hadn't really taken any steps towards getting it.

Today I decided to do it before I forgot and went to get a copy off amazon.com. Unfortunately, there was only one New copy for sale from a third party seller, and it was expensive, like seventy-something dollars. I groaned, gritted my teeth, did a quick Google search to find other copies for sale (didn't find any) but finally decided that the game *really* sounded like my type of game, and finally went ahead and made the purchase. Best case scenario, it would be a "smarter" version of Clive Barker's Undying but with more period appropriate weaponry.

I simultaneously feel kind of sad and depressed about getting somewhat ripped off, but at the same time I'm really excited to try this game I've read so much about for such a long time. For one thing, apparently the game doesn't run properly on Vista, so I feel like I have to get it now while I'm still using my tricked-out XP machine. Vista is the Lovecraftian stuff of my nightmares since I enjoy retrogaming whereas the purpose of Vista is to teabag you with buggy malfunctioning DRM.

Anyway, here's the website for that game: http://www.callofcthulhu.com/gameinfo/gameplay.html

Call of Cthulhu -- Dark Corners of the Earth is a first-person horror game that combines intense action and adventure elements. You will draw upon your skills in exploration, investigation, and combat while faced with the seemingly impossible task of battling evil incarnate.

Other than fighting, you have the ability to interact freely with characters and the gaming environment. To increase the sense of immersion, there is no interface or 'HUD' on screen at any time during normal gameplay. Instead, more intuitive methods are available for you to assess your condition, ammunition levels, and other relevant information. The combat within the game is extremely realistic, with a detailed damage and healing system that breaks down the healing process into conditions and treatments - rather than having the typical FPS 'health packs' lying around everywhere.

The game also allows you to stamp your own style onto the proceedings via an advanced AI system that can react to your method of play. Cthulhu enemies can roam freely around the environment - opening doors and tracking you down single-handedly or in groups. To stay alive you won't just be able to outshoot them, you'll need to outthink them as well.

You will have to keep your mental health in check as you are exposed to the increasingly shocking images of the Cthulhu Mythos. You will need to combat enemies using the environment, powerful and evil artifacts, Alien technology, or by fighting with weapons that are completely authentic for the period.

Set during the 1920s, Call of Cthulhu is based on the Cthulhu Mythos of HP Lovecraft, an American writer of fantasy and horror. Lovecraft's stories tell of unthinkable evil, psychic possession, and mythical worlds and his work has profoundly influenced numerous fantasy and science fiction writers, including Stephen King and Anne Rice.

The technology powering Call of Cthulhu has provided Headfirst with the means to present an incredibly detailed and accurate depiction of the sights and sounds of this unique 1920's New England setting. A diverse range of cutting edge special effects is utilized to ensure both unprecedented levels of realism and an exact portrayal of your mental degredation.

[Fix-it]

played it. good, well-crafted game. but totally not worth 70 bucks at this point.

[Wounded Ronin]

The only other option would have been to download it but I am in general fearful of DRM.

[Fresno Bob]

Theres a level where you have to evade some Innsmouth dudes who attack you while you're asleep in a hotel, and you have to run from them cause you have no weapons Its fucking hard. Like, you'll probably die figuring out what step 1 is, then immediately die figuring out step 2, die while figuring out step 3, and so forth and so forth. My friend and I probably lost some chunks of hair on that part.

So yeah, its a fun game, just... that fucking level. Goddamn.

[Wounded Ronin]

Theres a level where you have to evade some Innsmouth dudes who attack you while you're asleep in a hotel, and you have to run from them cause you have no weapons Its fucking hard. Like, you'll probably die figuring out what step 1 is, then immediately die figuring out step 2, die while figuring out step 3, and so forth and so forth. My friend and I probably lost some chunks of hair on that part.

So yeah, its a fun game, just... that fucking level. Goddamn.

That's what your player character gets for not knowing baritsu, I guess.

[Critias]

You been able to try it out yet, Ronin?

[Fresno Bob]

Oh, and once you get the Tommy Gun, the game gets pretty easy. Like "Oh look, a shoggoth. *BRAAAAAAP* That takes care of that!" easy.

But on the whole, quite fun, and very good with the Cthulhu mythos.

[Backgammon]

Yeah, it was alright. I hit a MAJOR annoyance that caused me to stop playing the game: enemies respawn with no logic or reason. One time I reached a room, where I wanted to clear out the goons before proceeding. I did. Then more goons came. I killed them too. Them more came... I literally killed the entire population of Innsmouth. That annoyed me and I stopped playing.

[Blade]

I hate games like this. I stopped playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R for the exact same reason (and after accumulating a series of other disappointments)

[nezumi]

I have a copy. I wish I'd known you'd wanted it, I would have been happy to loan it for the price of postage, or possibly even sell it. It was fun, but not $70 fun.

Yes, the game at times is very, very hard. It's also at times very enjoyable. I did download a walkthrough, which greatly increased my enjoyment. You're only expected to go on one path, and if it's not immediately clear what that path is, you're going to be suffering. I suspect you'll enjoy the game, it seems to incorporate a lot of features you've talked about elsewhere (like wandering aim, using iron sights and such).

[Fix-it]

Theres a level where you have to evade some Innsmouth dudes who attack you while you're asleep in a hotel, and you have to run from them cause you have no weapons Its fucking hard. Like, you'll probably die figuring out what step 1 is, then immediately die figuring out step 2, die while figuring out step 3, and so forth and so forth. My friend and I probably lost some chunks of hair on that part.

So yeah, its a fun game, just... that fucking level. Goddamn.

I actually quit at that level, then came back months later to finish the game. couldn't make the farking jump across the alley, I always ended up splat on the cobblestones.

[Wounded Ronin]

You been able to try it out yet, Ronin?

Still waiting on delivery.

EDIT: Holy crap! They were out of stock!

Greetings from Amazon.com, We're writing to inform you that your order 002-0041309-4229855 from Hitgaming Video Games has been canceled because the item(s) you purchased were out of stock. Please return and place your order again at a later time.

[Wounded Ronin]

I have a copy. I wish I'd known you'd wanted it, I would have been happy to loan it for the price of postage, or possibly even sell it. It was fun, but not $70 fun.

Yes, the game at times is very, very hard. It's also at times very enjoyable. I did download a walkthrough, which greatly increased my enjoyment. You're only expected to go on one path, and if it's not immediately clear what that path is, you're going to be suffering. I suspect you'll enjoy the game, it seems to incorporate a lot of features you've talked about elsewhere (like wandering aim, using iron sights and such).

That's very sweet of you, and I appreciate the thought. It had never occurred to me that I could just post on a forum asking if anyone wanted to sell me a copy.

Shoot, man, want a free copy of Shellshock 2: Blood Trails? I'm a big sucker for the Vietnam War and bought the game from a Gamestop, only to find that it basically sucks. (Review forthcoming! I've sent it to a friend to post on his website.) But I'd send it to you if you want some mindless diversion.

EDIT: LOL, I just found out my order was cancelled. I guess I'll PM you about buying it off you after all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) And, hey, my Shellshock 2 offer still stands. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Fresno Bob]

Yeah, I don't think even the most hard-core gamer would blame anyone for using a walkthrough on at least the hotel escape part.

And out of curiosity Blade, what problems did you have with STALKER? I happen to love that game, ha.

[Blade]

And out of curiosity Blade, what problems did you have with STALKER? I happen to love that game, ha.

The game starts, I get out of the basement and it looks pretty. I enter the town and see that each and every NPC has a name/nickname... They don't just stand there but seem to have their own agenda. Looks promising. A few minutes later, I realize they are all generic NPC with 2 lines of dialogue and who won't do anything else than shoot anything that has a negative reputation score with them. Even the guy you save a bit later doesn't do more than sit somewhere and tell you the same phrase all over again. Come on! We're in a highly dangerous place, we'd better work together to increase our chances of survival!

First mission, I attack the place with the other guys. The enemies see us and we take cover. Combat seems quite fun. I decide to discretely flank the enemies and end up behind the back of one of them. I aim at his head and shoot twice. The guy actually turns around and start shooting me as if I didn't do him anything at all. I end up unloading my clip, reloading, and shooting him some more to kill him. The damage system is ridiculous.

I walk around the zone, these "anomalies" are fun and give a good atmosphere... But it's actually boring to have to walk slowly just to avoid walking into them.

I save another guy who was getting attacked by mutant creatures and was in a pretty bad situation. Not a word of thank, just his usual line.

Ok so now I have to go to the other way and there are two ways: one is guarded by heavily equipped troops so it's not an option, the other has an anomaly that moves... Damn! I want to play a FPS not a platformer or Prince of Persia! And of course it prevents me from going back easily to the other side.

Later on, I attack a checkpoint. Kill all the enemies, loot their corpses, see someone walking there. Where does he come from? I start talking to him... and get interrupted by enemies. I kill the enemies, loot their bodies... And get attacked by the same enemies again even if there was no way they could have gotten in there. I get it: I'm in a respawn zone. That's where I decided that I was officially fed up with that game. I'm not a big fan of horror/scary games anyway, since I'm too easily scared.

[Fix-it]

it was made in Russia, they have a penchant for making wierd games. I'm sure in its native language the dialogue is much better.

/Get out of here Stalker. Get out of here Stalker. Get out of here Stalker. Get out of here Stalker.

[Synner667]

Oh, and once you get the Tommy Gun, the game gets pretty easy. Like "Oh look, a shoggoth. *BRAAAAAAP* That takes care of that!" easy.

But on the whole, quite fun, and very good with the Cthulhu mythos.

Except that probably wouldn't work well against a Shoggoth, before it crushed you to death with it's massive bulk.

[Wounded Ronin]

Except that probably wouldn't work well against a Shoggoth, before it crushed you to death with it's massive bulk.

IMO whenever you're in a monster horror situation what you really need is a BAR. Why go with pistol cartridges when you could use rifle cartridges?

[Critias]

Because -- I blame gangster flicks -- everyone tends to forget BARs even existed, and they think tommy guns were the be-all end-all of firepower at the day. So in most games and stuff, the BAR isn't even an option. Which is a damned shame, since they were so badass and actually so popular at the time.

[nezumi]

It's unfortunate that most of the monsters aren't labelled as you play. If memory serves, however, there was a shoggoth and the tommy gun served mostly to make it angry.

[Naysayer]

I didn't play long enough to actually meet a Shoggoth, but if my memory serves me, the tommy-gun mainly served to make me angry, as the game tried to amp up the scare-factor by making your protagonist a pretty useless shot, so with the Thompson, you either tried to fire short, controlled bursts, which didn't kill your (respawining) opponents fast enough to prevent them from ripping you to shreds all the time, or long, uncontrolled bursts, which quickly depleted your (not respawining) ammunition supplies, but usually didn't hit jack shit.
About that time, I quit playing.
I must say, however, that the first part of the game was indeed well done and actually scary, in "wtf is going on here" sense, not the more common "hurr, big tentacle monster" way.

[nezumi]

MOST of the game didn't have respawning monsters (that I recall). However, yes, when using the tommy gun, your barrel will rise, so you need to do controlled bursts.

I will say though, the rifle they have is a lot of fun if you have the time to aim properly (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Wounded Ronin]

I didn't play long enough to actually meet a Shoggoth, but if my memory serves me, the tommy-gun mainly served to make me angry, as the game tried to amp up the scare-factor by making your protagonist a pretty useless shot, so with the Thompson, you either tried to fire short, controlled bursts, which didn't kill your (respawining) opponents fast enough to prevent them from ripping you to shreds all the time, or long, uncontrolled bursts, which quickly depleted your (not respawining) ammunition supplies, but usually didn't hit jack shit.
About that time, I quit playing.
I must say, however, that the first part of the game was indeed well done and actually scary, in "wtf is going on here" sense, not the more common "hurr, big tentacle monster" way.

Well you know, if you actually go and fire a Thompson, the recoil *is* pretty atrocious.

I actually went and fired a few firearms and then wrote an article comparing their characteristics such as recoil to how they're usually portrayed in video games. :3

Voila: http://www.parrygamepreserve.com/articles/woundedRonin1.php

The Thompson M1A1 has sights that are pretty imprecise compared to what I'm used to, i.e. modern factory default pistol sights. The rear sight was a huge ring and it seems like it was designed just for quick sight pictures using the front sights. What's more is that it recoiled quite a lot. The range staff member advised me to aim low and even while I had my sights pointed at the bottom of my target paper the actual bullet holes climbed upwards all over the paper. And that's just with me squeezing off bursts of 2-4 rounds and leaning forward to compensate for recoil. I should point out that I'm not a tiny guy; I weight between 190 and 200 pounds, I'm 5'11", and I've been hitting the gym every other day on average. This is actually pretty different than the impression I'd gained from playing lots of video games. In the first place, I can't imagine anything useful coming from spraying in full auto with the M1A1 for anything more than a 2-4 round burst. I feel that the barrel would just get too off target and you'd end up spraying at everything and nothing in particular at the same time. Secondly, the sights look pretty useless for anything besides for close range shooting. Without tight rear sights to help me align the weapon, I don't feel like I'd be able to hit the black on a 50 foot competition target like I'm able to do with a contemporary pistol with factory default sights if I aim carefully and take like 5+ seconds per shot. In other words, if I were trying to shoot very accurately at a longer distance at this time I'd feel more comfortable with a pistol on account of the sights than I would with the M1A1 even with its longer barrel.

To bolster my ego, I point out that since the time of writing I've lost over 20 pounds, and I've gotten better at accurately firing pistols from continual practice.

[Naysayer]

Well you know, if you actually go and fire a Thompson, the recoil *is* pretty atrocious.

I do not doubt that in any way. And I'm actually a strong proponent of a realistic depiction of firearms in video games, at least in games that take some form of claim of "realism" (tac-shooters etc.). And I also support the idea of making an unwieldy weapon difficult to handle to better reflect the fact that your avatar is indeed not a generic badass.
My issue was with the implementation. As I said above, to have a decent chance of hitting anything this side of a barn-door, I needed to fire singe shots, short bursts at the most. Now, realistically, 2-3 hits with a .45 should put down even the most inbred Innsmouthian. Instead, having to use the iron-sights, readjusting the aim for a moving target, and praying that the random extra inaccuracy usually took enough time to give the enemy ample time to effortlessly bullseye entire ammo-drums into my guy. OTOH, if I, keeping with the "realism" the game tried to simulate, I went with my gut-feeling and emptied half a drum on the opposition, in a narrow corridor, at ~5m... well, I'm by no means an exüert, but you'd think all that lead in the air would generate at least some effect. Again, when the enemies did it, they seemed to have no problem at all pumping entire magazines into my avatar, while moving, and firing full autofire, nd being degenerate inbreds.
The problem was simply that, while the game itself devolved more and more into a regular fps, the gameplay mechanic still clung to a pretense of "realism" that made actual shooter-gameplay unsatisfactory and arbitrarily unfair.
At that point, I stopped having fun and quit, which is a pity, because the premise, and the first, say, third of the game were awesome.

[nezumi]

I will give you, the .45 didn't seem to have a lot of stopping power, all things considered. The tommy gun was a lot of fun, but not exactly a street sweeper. But all-in-all, I had little trouble with the tommy gun. Short, controlled bursts meant I generally hit, and I generally killed the critter in short order. I didn't have much problem with the bad guys being crack shots (I believe I set it for the middle difficulty level. Changing that up may change your experience, obviously. Similarly, if you're not running on PC, it could be more of a problem.)