4 stars (Something wicked this way comes. . .) - There's something brilliantly terrifying about an evil that is so powerful that mankind ultimately stands no chance of defeating it, and yet so sly and so subtle that it could walk up to you and shake your hand without you being any the wiser. Welcome to the Cthullu mythos. H.P. Lovecraft's seminal world of myth and madness has been criminally underused, especially in the video game industry. Aside from echoes of his style found in horror titles like Silent Hill or (even moreso) Eternal Darkness, most of the survival horror genre tends to toward the more plebian and campy nature of the Resident Evil games. However, Cthullu gurus now finally have a game straight from the source to sate their horror appetite with Call of Cthullu: Dark Corners of the Earth. And hey, it's actually pretty darn good too. Dark Corners of the Earth is primarily a first-person action/adventure game, mixing mind-bendingly fun puzzles, spine tingling suspense/horror, and skin-crawling action for a unique and (if it's your bad) very entertaining gaming experience. The story, an adaptation of Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Insmouth, is a very well-paced, well-presented, and overall engrossing tale of one man's struggle against terror and insanity. Speaking of which, insanity has visible effects in the game, much like Eternal Darkness's Sanity Meter. The more horrifying things you witness, the more slippery your grasp on reality becomes. Which will make you start physically looking over your shoulder when the creepy really starts to get to you, mostly because this game's middle name is "immersion." The first-person perspective puts you in the middle of everything, providing the kind of constant "in the world" feel that games like Half-Life 2 excel at. However, Dark Corners goes the extra mile, providing a "HUDless" screen, further pushing the player into the game's whispering and macabre world. Along with the game's stylized graphics (which do a ... 2K Games :: xb :: call :: of :: cthulhu :: dark :: corners :: of :: the :: earth :: 2k :: games :: games :: video :: games :: xbcallofcthulhu-darkcornersoftheearth 25 october :: 200 :: XB Call of Cthulhu- Dark Corners of the Earth
