After running all over the E3 show floor yesterday I got the opportunity to have a nice little sit down with a few developers over at Bethesda Softworks Inc. What I got was a nice little demo showcasing their new first person shooter based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Call of Cthulhu.

Now, H.P.’s works have been translated into many a game, be it in videogames or in the pen and paper genre. One thing stands alone though; they usually perform quite well in their respective categories. One game that comes to mind that recently tackled this mythos was Eternal Darkness for the GameCube, and we all know what a great game that was.

In Call of Cthulhu (hey, can you even pronounce that word? give it a try.), you play the role of Jack Walters, a private investigator who’s seemingly gone mad, and has had a few stints in the asylum already. You’re summoned to the town of Innsmouth to take a look a strange occurrence featuring some cultists. Little do you know that these cultists actually know who you are, and are actually in a way… worshiping you! The game quickly progresses after that point to a constant struggle to maintain your sanity and figure out just what the heck is going on. You don’t want to end up back in the ‘nutter’ now do you?

One of the things that made me enjoy my time with Call of Cthulhu was it’s new take on the FPS itself. Yes, you’re still running around a level, doing run-and-fetch tasks, shooting enemies and interacting with NPC’s, but the difference is in the execution. It’s a minor change but it does seem to add to the realism of the whole experience and makes it feel like you’re actually in the game, being the character. There is no HUD, that’s right. Fire your 6-shooter off at a huge beast running at you and you better remember if you had taken 2, or was that 4 shots before reloading last – the games’ not going to tell you. Also, you can’t see meters for your health or (like in Eternal Darkness) your sanity. What you get instead are onscreen effects that indicate what’s happening to you. Blood spatters on the screen when you’re getting your ass kicked, and special effects like blurred vision (this effect looked awesome), or vertigo if you’re losing your head. Speaking of losing your head… you better make sure that if you’re going slightly nuts that you run away from the source of your insanity and cool down for a bit; Jack is a bit of a psycho you know, and he may just take it upon himself to end it if you don’t – and by end I mean end in the “self-inflicted fatal gunshot wound to the head” kinda way.

No H.P. Lovecraft tale would be complete without huge monsters from the beyond making your day that much less pleasant. Call of Cthulhu is littered with these huge baddies and the effect is rather convincing. The sense of scale in this game is usually quite on, and if you’re facing a 50-foot tall sea monster it feels like one. And if facing monsters isn’t just bad enough wait until they start using the environment against you.

Call of Cthulhu is scheduled for release in Q4 this year and will be available for the PC and the Xbox. If you’re a fan of survival horror games, or of the FPS genre this game will appeal to you. Give it a try when it comes out, just don’t blame me if you go nuts in the process too.