When it comes to horror, few names are as well known as Howard Phillips Lovecraft. His macabre stories of the unknown have captured the attention of many fans of the genre, as well as writers. However, his works don’t always work well with the interactive form of video games. Coming out later this year is the Call of Cthulhu official video game. Presumably based on Chaosium’s hit RPG. But, just how will it stack up to the author’s own work?
Lovecraftian style horror can mean different things to different people. The man himself, however, wrote of the view that humanity is insignificant and amounts to nothing in the universe. We’re all just play things to the gods. Also, we very rarely, if ever, see the actual monster in his tales. The hopelessness of the struggle, coupled with the lack of physical conflict, doesn’t lend well to video games. Except for maybe adventures. However, Call of Cthulhu might be an RPG, but it’s hard to tell from just the trailer and some images.
That said, Call of Cthulhu: The Official Video Game does look impressive from what I’ve seen. I’ve been following it on Facebook ever since I first heard about it. Unfortunately, I don’t know much more than the basic plot. Like some of Lovecraft’s tales, the protagonist is an investigator and he’s on a case to unravel the mystery of someone’s death. It’s the start of a good story, but is it in the spirit of the author?
Honestly, I don’t know. As I said, I don’t know much. However, the game will be shown off at this year’s E3 gaming conference. If you’re going, and are a fan of this genre, I do recommend checking it out. I’d love to know more, so any information on Call of Cthulhu is welcome. If we’re lucky we’ll be treated to a demo or at least gameplay video. And some more plot development. Lovecraft is nothing without his prose.
