CALL OF CTHULHU
Creepy RPG wants to sever your sanity Format PS4 ETA Dec Pub Focus Home Interactive Dev Cyanide Studios
Any game that has a ‘Sanity Gauge’ is alright by us. It sets the tone for Cyanide Studios’ take on Lovecraftian lore, based on the cult pen-and-paper roleplaying game of the same name.
Call Of Cthulhu showed more of its unhinged hand at E3 in two levels that take place inside Hawkins Manor. Set in 1920’s America, you play private investigator Edward Pierce, who’s been charged with investigating the death of a famous artist. The case isn’t the most interesting part, of course; the juiciest action revolves around Pierce’s crumbling sanity.
Cyanide is building the game around a fascinatingly vulnerable hero. As Ed’s various phobias start to take hold, Cthulhu becomes more challenging – one of the E3 levels has the detective hiding in a cupboard because his fears have taken over.
Investigating rooms for clues looks similar to LA Noire’s methodical item-scanning, and the tabletop-RPG origins are evident in menu titles – a Skill Sheet, for example – and dialogue choices. But it’s the Shutter Islandinspired traumatic trips that could make Cyanide’s gothic RPG something special… indescribable, even.