Games that cite the works of Howard Philips Lovecraft as one of their main sources of inspiration are released almost every week. The genre variety of such projects is quite wide: it includes both the detective RPG “Howard Phillips Lovecar” and the survival race “Howard Phillips Lovecar” and the horror adventure game “Inner Voices” taking place in the labyrinth. Looking at all these names, it seems as if the authors are using the term “Lovecraftian” somewhat loosely.
Broadly speaking, Lovecraftian literature is considered a literary subgenre of horror that adheres to the style and structure of the Cthulhu Mythos texts, written by Lovecraft himself. In this light, many games call themselves the adjective “Lovecraftian” undeservedly, since they only adopt the general concepts of the Mythos, having nothing to do with the structure and leitmotifs that run like a red thread through all of Lovecraft’s works.
Many game makers refer to their creations as "Lovecraftian" due to their monster designs being based on sea creatures, but both of these visual aspects rarely stick to the descriptions provided by the writer himself. Atmospheric motifs of darkness, enclosed spaces and foggy locations take their inspiration from basic foundational elements in general rather than from Lovecraft's more specific worlds.
The first appearance of these horror elements dates back to 1819 and is associated with the story “The Vampire” by John Polidori. But horror in the modern sense began to take shape only with the advent of works like “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Stevenson in 1886 and “Dracula” by Bram Stoker in 1897. The monsters appearing in them showed their presence only after sunset. On the other hand, Lovecraft was somewhat more creative in choosing the setting for his works.
The plot of his key works unfolds in the snows of the Antarctic ("The Ranges of Madness"), in small fishing villages like Innsmouth ("The Shadow Over Innsmouth") and in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean ("Dagon"), both at night and during the day, calling out both to claustrophobia and agoraphobia of readers. So games like SOMA, Conarium and The Call Of Cthulhu, which do not emerge from the twilight, reflect only part of the aesthetics of Lovecraftian literature.
In addition, many games, including The Sinking City and Tesla vs. Lovecraft, distort the images of Lovecraft's oceanic monsters, which most players associate with the cuttlefish-like ancient god Cthulhu. Cephalopods were first described by the writer in the story "The Call of Cthulhu", who characterizes Cthulhu as "a grotesque cross between an octopus, a dragon and a man." This description guided the authors of illustrations for the tabloid magazines in which Lovecraft published his work during his lifetime.
However, the writer partly refutes his own words towards the end of the story, saying that “Cthulhu cannot be described in our language.” In general, the inability to describe the appearance of monsters is a recurring motif in Lovecraft's prose, designed to emphasize the ineffability and primordial nature of the horror occurring on the printed page, which is beyond the scope of human imagination. The less we know about the creature being described, the more terrible it appears in our imagination.
But the developers have no other choice but to give the monster a visible physical shell, thereby violating one of the fundamental principles of the Cthulhu Mythos. From time to time, the author provides us with specific details about the appearance of entities that pose a threat to all humanity, but game creators rarely have the opportunity to play with the player’s imagination.
When used skillfully, horror can serve as a powerful and expressive medium for reflecting the current state of society and the writer's personal fears and doubts, and Lovecraft knew this as well as anyone, expressing his own racist views through the lens of unreality. The Shadow Over Innsmouth is one of the best examples of his latent xenophobia. In the story, the author expressed his dissatisfaction with the mixing of races that was happening before his eyes into literature and expressed the possible consequences of this through a horror plot.
The fish-like appearance of the Innsmouth residents is the result of many years of interbreeding with deep-sea inhabitants of the sea, which symbolize immigrants from other countries diluting and polluting the “pure” Anglo-Saxon blood of the native Innsmouth people. In other stories like "The Horror at Red Hook," Lovecraft makes little secret of his racism, comparing the immigrant population to the worst kind of monster.
As you might guess, in our era of tolerance, such controversial views of the writer are a stumbling block for game makers. And while Lovecraft fans largely don't pay much attention to his personal beliefs, the process of becoming an Other is one of the main themes of the Cthulhu Mythos, running throughout the author's bibliography. So, although Lovecraft's works feature more accessible monsters, other than the completely alien Ancients, they are inevitably associated with the leitmotif of unwanted otherness from white people, which would cause a wave of criticism today.
To avoid this, developers of "Lovecraftian" games deprive such enemies of any clear racial differences, as can be seen in Bloodborne, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and At the Mountains of Madness. But this, along with the detailed visual depiction of the Ancients, directly contradicts one of the laws by which the Cthulhu Mythos is built. The inability of the developers to convey the unknowability of cosmic entities and the completely faceless depiction of earthly creatures does not honor the source material of the Lovecraft games. However, some games try to compensate for this by paying close attention to the psychological state of the main character.
While many of Lovecraft's works end with madness or psychological trauma for the protagonist, the writer rarely spends much time on this, mentioning it only in passing. Despite the fact that Lovecraft was literally obsessed with the theme of madness, his works are completely devoid of any interest in the psychological analysis of his characters. Missing the opportunity to play with the elusive sense of reality of the narrator, who is slowly plunging into a world of irrational illusions, the Cthulhu Mythos is built on the assumption of the reality of the existence of supernatural entities, the mere sight or awareness of whose existence can deprive a person of his sanity.
In this light, the introduction of sanity indicators and other mechanics designed to reflect the hero’s mental state, such as in Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, is another fundamental mistake by the developers. For Lovecraft, there are only two states of mind - complete awareness and complete madness, the switch between which is interaction with cosmic forces; But in games, the mind is lost gradually, in parts.
Thus, the writer violates the literary archetype of the “hero’s journey”, according to which the character, having found himself in the other world, is sure to take something useful out of it for himself. Instead, Lovecraft's writing inevitably associates the unknown and the subconscious with boundless horror. The turning point for Lovecraft's heroes is the awareness of the insignificance and insignificance of humanity in the face of cosmic forces, which goes against the anthropocentric system of seeing the world, taken for granted by writers and readers.
This, by the way, also speaks to the inappropriateness of using the adjective “Lovecraftian” when describing computer games. By their very nature, games are designed to empower the player to fight back against whatever enemies lurk in the darkness. Lovecraftian literature, on the contrary, emphasizes the impossibility and futility of any resistance. Thus, video games with weapons, various magical powers and characters' resistance to environmental horrors can only reflect the Lovecraftian spirit at the most superficial level.
The term "Lovecraftian" is often used without any justification, solely to attract public attention to the game. But the problem does not end there - the very concept of a computer game based on Lovecraft does not stand up to criticism. The aesthetics of the writer's works - both in terms of design and in terms of the structure of the world as a whole - are extremely difficult to reproduce due to the author's refusal to describe his monsters in human terms.
And in those cases where the writer condescends to the down-to-earth human level of the reader, he, through his antagonists, expresses racist and xenophobic views that would look out of place in modern era political correctness. And finally, the very essence of video games puts the capabilities of the player and cosmic forces on the same level, which is completely unthinkable in the Lovecraft universe. From all of the above, it follows that computer games based on Lovecraft have very little in common with the rich legacy of the master of horror.
“The oldest and most powerful of human emotions is fear, and the oldest and most powerful type of fear is fear of the unknown.”
H. P. Lovecraft
On August 20, 1890, in the city of Providence (Rhode Island), a boy was born into the family of jewelry traveling salesman Winfield Scott Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips Lovecraft, blessed by the radiance of an unknown star from the incomprehensible distance of space. A boy who, by the age of 14, will write his first stories and tell the world about the terrible threatening secrets of the universe in the form of terrifying monsters, unknown creatures from the depths of space and aliens from other dimensions. This was “the father of scary stories about incredibly ancient monsters” - Howard Phillips Lovecraft. A writer who, with his bright and wild imagination, changed the concept of horror and created a new direction, which would later be called “Lovecraftian horror.” One of the writer’s close friends, August Derleth, will come up with a general term for this style and specificity - “Cthulhu Mythos”. Numerous authors have written about this general creepy concept: Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, Robert Howard, Brian Lumley, August Derleth, Stephen King and others.
Lovecraft rightfully occupies a high position in the genre of mystery and horror along with Edgar Allan Poe, from whose works Mr. Lovecraft drew his inspiration. But if Poe or Arthur Machen played with the gloomy kingdom of shadows and cemetery cold, then Lovecraft in his works looked into the depths of these shadows and what he saw there tore the border between logical normality and the incomprehensible chaos of madness. Terrifying slimy creatures, whose age is comparable to the age of the universe itself, burst out from under the pen with each new syllable under the disgusting, soul-chilling howl of devilish flutes and loud disgusting howls. An ancient evil lurking in the depths of icy space and the darkest corners of the Earth, nightmarish cults and blasphemous witchcraft - an eerie madness created by a great genius.
Horror when madness is a blessing for a tormented, inflamed mind.
It should be noted that Lovecraft himself was an unusual person. Since childhood, he was distinguished by his wild imagination. And it was in childhood that turning events occurred in his life that influenced the formation of his creativity. I would like to note that the future writer did not have a beautiful childhood with a loving family. His upbringing was mainly done by his grandfather, a strict and pedantic person, and a couple of aunts. Howard practically did not know his father - he was sent to a hospital for the mentally ill when the future writer was only two years old. The mother was a hysterical and constantly excited woman, and after severe breakdowns and depression she ended up in a psychiatric hospital, the same place, in fact, where her husband was. Both parents died early.
From an early age, Howard grew up withdrawn and lonely. This is how he spent his life, never leaving his native Providence, living as a modest hermit, enjoying the usual feeling of loneliness. He did not like to appear in public, and even his many friends, in fact, were such only through correspondence, which Lovecraft actively conducted, devoting his fellow writers to the latest details of his work.
Since childhood, Howard loved to read. His grandfather had the largest library in the city, containing over two thousand volumes. Here the boy spent all day and night, long hours reading and leafing through ancient tomes. One day his mother caught him reading one of these books. Taking the book from him and leafing through it, the woman fell into a real panic. And she immediately threw the volume into the fireplace. The book by H.G. Wells was called The Island of Doctor Moreau. Mrs. Lovecraft felt that such literature would only harm the fragile psyche of her seven-year-old son. But little did she know that Howard had already started trying to write his own stories.
Another point, which actually influenced his subsequent literature, also takes its roots from childhood. Little Howard was tormented by terrible nightmares almost every night. And every time he screamed heart-rendingly. He even had to be taken from the boarding school, because his screams caused insomnia for other children. The terrifying creatures with huge black membranous wings in these nightmares grabbed him with their cold paws, and the eerie Lang Valley flashed before his eyes; a disgusting giant emerged from the seething black waters (later Lovecraft would call him Dagon and fully describe this dream in the story of the same name) and grabbed the towering ancient monolith with his scaly hands with sharp black claws; and from the dark skies vile creatures from the depths of space descended to earth. Undoubtedly, Lovecraft took most of the ideas for his plots from his own dreams and nightmares. Moreover, a number of works are entirely focused on the general concept of dreams.
Howard Lovecraft was poor and not very happy. Alas, he lived a short life, making ends meet, in almost complete poverty. The cancer developing in his body slowly devoured the writer. And his works were never published during his lifetime. Most editors regarded such literature as second-rate. And there were more and more tabloid readings. Only after his death, through the efforts of his friends, did “Lovecraftian horrors” appear in the first collections. And in the second half of the 20th century, Lovecraft gained worldwide recognition and popularity, which has not faded to this day. Even now, numerous publishing houses reprint and publish his works over and over again in various collections.
On a wide scale, Lovecraft became entrenched in popular art: in music, cinema and, of course, the gaming industry, which we will talk about below. But if in the cinema “LaCraftian horrors” are for the most part only distant motifs transferred to our time, then game adaptations rarely stoop to real trash, carefully transferring to the screen the general atmosphere of hopelessness, suspense and terrible mystery.
A distant star shone brightly, illuminating the Lang plateau with radiant light, and on the incomprehensible unknown of Kadath, looking at the centers of the spheres through space and time, surrounded by colossal creatures, sits Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a mad genius who has looked beyond the brink, on a throne of black onyx.
"Efficiut Daemones, ut quae non sunt, sic tamen quasi sint, conspicienda hominibus exhibeant..."
Lactantium
Numerous games in one way or another use references to Lovecraft every now and then, including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, which would seem to be far from the general idea of cosmic horror. However, we will focus specifically on Lovecraftian games and the list is quite solid.
The game is considered one of the best game adaptations of Lovecraft's works. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, which, despite the poor graphics, numerous bugs and extreme difficulty, had an excellent plot and an eerie tense atmosphere, and some moments made the heart beat faster. This is not surprising - the plot is based on two important stories by Lovecraft: “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “Beyond Time.” However, there are also a great many references to other works here. In addition to the setting - the dirty, neglected town of Innsmouth - the game even contains characters invented by the writer, for example, Zedok Allen.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, Cyanide Studios will release a game with a similar name Call Of Cthulhu - Depths of Madness, which is an adaptation of the same name board game. The game will be a detective story with world exploration. But there will be no action with numerous shootouts, as in the above-mentioned game. How well the developers will recreate the oppressive gloomy atmosphere and the lurking threat somewhere beyond, we will only know closer to the end of the year.
And next year another game from the developers of quests about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Frogwares) will be released - The Sinking City. This is an adventure quest where a private detective tries to unravel the mystery of the terrible floods that hit a small town. The concept of the game is reminiscent of Lovecraft's magnificent story "The Temple", where the main character in heavy scuba gear - a "metal tomb" - descends into incredible depths, full of nightmarish secrets. So the game will try to instill horror before plunging into the icy darkness of the sea.
Turkish studio Zoetrope Interactive also noted for games based on the works of Lovecraft. In particular, she released a very interesting horror film in the quest-investigation genre - Darkness Within. First part - Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder- was a classic quest, with a magnificent eerie atmosphere and some kind of threatening secret along with the action of certain forces and ancient cults. Second part - Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage- turned into a kind of adventure game with investigations and incredible horrors. And unlike the first game, there is much more Lovecraft here, and the mysterious evil takes shape in the form of the creeping horror of Nyarlathotep, the herald and messenger of the ancient unknown gods.
In 2017, the studio plans to release a new game called Conarium about the confrontation between four scientists and supernatural forces. The following is known about the plot: Frank Gilman, a member of the Department of Anthropology at Miskatonic University, participates in an expedition to Upout, led by Doctor Faustus. He is trying to go beyond human consciousness with the help of the Konarium device. When Frank regains consciousness, he finds himself alone at the expedition base in Antarctica and remembers nothing. He soon realizes that he died while using the device, but then returned, slightly changed, he has someone else's memories, and he remembers places he has not been to. The Doctor has lost something important or gained something terrible. Moreover, death is part of the game itself.
The games from the Swedish studio Frictional Games turned out to be atmospheric and united by a common concept of loneliness and uncertainty - Penumbra And Amnesia, and although there is nothing directly “Lovecraftian” there, the influence of the works of the master of horror is quite noticeable.
Game Alone in the Dark is based on Lovecraft's favorite horror concept of cursed houses. By the way, it is considered one of the best horror films based on Lovecraft. Indie horror White Night is also built on this idea, and although the game actually has little in common with Lovecraft, it is quite remarkable for its noir black and white graphics and eerie atmosphere with oppressive, frightening shadows.
There's no doubt that Bloodborne It is also based on the Cthulhu mythos, or rather uses the general idea and design. In the plot of the game, almost the entire population of the city of Yharnam worships the Great Ones - powerful supernatural beings. The atmosphere of a turn-based indie role-playing game Darkest Dungeon It is also very similar to the works of Lovecraft; moreover, the design of some monsters and spells has a characteristic “Lovecraftian” style.
And while I am writing these lines, the distant stars of Canes Venatici are blinking mysteriously in the black sky. And somewhere out there, beyond solar system, in the black depths of space, the idiot god Azathoth is tossing and seething to the wild howl of demonic flutes. Mad Nodens rushes through space, driving a flock of terrible black creatures with faceless heads and huge membranous wings, and the spheres of existence connect and diverge in multiple ways, as was predicted and as has already happened, which the mystical Yog-Sothoth knows, for he is the present and the past, the coming future and the multiplicity of events. Deep underwater, in the strange and incomprehensible to human understanding of R’lyeh, the ancient Cthulhu sleeps with a host of his creations. Ordinary human vanity and miserable stay on planet Earth pale before incredible events of universal proportions. Man is just a toy in the cold clutches of nightmarish forces. And the familiar world is collapsing under the terrifying facts of reality and the unfolding secrets of the Universe.
“That which lives in eternity is not dead,
With the death of time, death will die."
H. P. Lovecraft
Do you love horror, horror and Lovecraft as much as we love them? Share your favorite horror games. By the way, I wonder if you remember the moment when a book, movie or game really scared you for the first time? Or did this never happen?
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Computer games based on the works of G.F. Lovecraft
Hello, dear readers! Today I am completing a series of articles about the work of G.F. Lovecraft. In this issue we will talk about computer games created based on his works.
image: oflex.ru
For convenience, I will list games by their release date, divided by decade. Under the game name, the genre, platform, developer and country are indicated. If you have something to add, or you find an inaccuracy in the description, please write about it in the comments.
1980s
The Lurking Horror(1987)
Interactive novel, PC, Infocom, USA
image: wikipedia.org
The first game that I was able to find information about was developed in 1987 by the American company Infocom. The game represents a rare genre of interactive fiction. It’s as if the player is reading a book and, using text commands, controls the main character, influencing the course of the story. The game's release included versions for the MS DOS, Apple II, Atari ST and Commodore 64 platforms. A version was later released for the Amiga platform, adding special sound effects. The gameplay looked gritty, but remember this is the late 80s.
fragment from the game. image: pikabu.ru
The game begins with the student G.U.E. Tech (( George Underwood Edwards Institute of Technology), a fictional analogue of the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where the game developers studied) returns to the university to finish writing course work. Wandering through the corridors of an empty university, the main character encounters demons, zombies and other monsters. Interestingly, some ideas created by developers for G.U.E. Tech were later implemented at MIT. For example, an “endless corridor” is a closed ring-shaped corridor connecting all buildings of the university.
In 2004, the game took 10th place in the ranking of the scariest games of all time, according to GameSpy. Lovecraft has a short story called The Lurking Fear, which was filmed in 1994. Obviously, the name of the game is a reference to this work.
Splatterhouse (1988)
Beat "em up, PC Engine, FM Towns Marty, PC, Namco, Japan
image: wikipedia.org
The game was originally developed for arcade machines, but was later ported to Japanese consoles PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) and FM Towns Marty, as well as MS DOS. The main character, Rick Taylor, along with his girlfriend, took refuge from a thunderstorm in the mansion of the missing parapsychologist Henry West (a reference to the character in the novel "Herbert West - Re-Animator"). After entering the mansion, the doors close behind them, Rick dies, and his girlfriend is kidnapped by monsters . Rick is resurrected by the mysterious Mask of Horror, endowed with superhuman strength. Rick must cleanse the mansion from evil and save his beloved. The story of people who find themselves locked in a house with monsters was played out in the horror film "The Unnameable", based on the works of Lovecraft.
The gameplay boils down to moving through linear levels and destroying monsters. The game was influenced by Western horror films - Friday the 13th and The Evil Dead. For example, Rick's mask is very similar to the hockey mask of Jason Voorhees, the maniac from the film Friday the 13th. A sequel to the game was released in 1992, and a year later the third part. In 2018, a re-release of the original Splatterhouse was released, adapted for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.
The Hound of Shadow(1989)
Interactive novel, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Eldritch Games, USA
image: myabandonware.com
The game was developed in 1989 by Eldritch Games and published by Electronic Arts. The game represents a rare genre of interactive fiction. According to critics, the game has become a role model in the interactive novel genre. You could play it on the Amiga, Atari ST and MS DOS platforms. It’s as if the player is reading a book and, with the help of text commands, controls the main character, influencing the course of the story. The action takes place in London in the 1920s and is based on a free adaptation of the works of Lovecraft. In addition to the unusual genre, the game is interesting due to its references to historical characters, for example, Elizabeth Bathory, also known as the Bloody Countess. Battori lived in Hungary in the late 1500s and is notorious for serially killing young girls in whose blood she allegedly bathed to preserve her youth.
Alone in the Dark(1992)
Survival horror, PC, Infogrames, France
image: wikipedia.org
The benchmark for the survival horror genre was Resident Evil, released in 1996, but Alone in the Dark was the first, and it served as the basis for its followers. At the time of its release, the game had many revolutionary ideas. For example, three-dimensional graphics, multi-polygon models and non-linear levels. The player could explore the rooms of the house in any order, and also interact with objects, which was very cool for 1992.
The main character finds himself locked in an old mansion inhabited by monsters and, in order to get out of there, he has to fight and solve various puzzles. The game was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the first three-dimensional survival horror. There are quite a few references to Lovecraft's work in the game: one of the types of opponents are the Deep Ones, described in the novel "", and the main character can also find the Necronomicon in the library.
In 1993, a sequel to the game was released, and two years later the third part appeared. In 2001, a sequel to the game was released called Alone in the Dark: New Nightmare, and in 2008 the first part was re-released under the name Alone in the Dark: Illumination. The new games did not achieve the former glory of the original and received low reviews from critics. Finally, in 2014, the first part of the game was ported to the iOS platform and can now be played on an iPhone or iPad. In 2005, through the efforts of director Uwe Boll, based on the game, feature film"Alone in the Dark", which failed at the box office. Today the game can be purchased on Steam.
The main character buys an old mansion, in which he begins to have strange dreams. It turns out that there is parallel world, known as the Dark World, inhabited by hostile aliens. The main character becomes infected with an alien embryo, which, if born, is capable of destroying all of humanity. Now you have to get rid of the embryo and seal the gate to a parallel world. In 1995, the second part of the game was released.
Dylan Dog: Through the Looking Glass (1992)Point-and-click/quest, PC, Simulmondo, Italy
image: game-download.party
Detective quest based on the works of Lovecraft. The first part of the duology was the game Dylan Dog: The Murderers, dedicated to ordinary investigations. In the second part, the creators added mystics, using ideas from the Cthulhu Mythos. The game implemented a novelty of that time - time management: performing actions takes up part of the game time, during which various events occur, and the player has to constantly set priorities, since it is impossible to be on time everywhere. The game was released for the MS DOS platform.
Splatterhouse 2 (1992)
Beat "em up, Sega Mega Drive, Namco, Japan
image: android4play.org
Continuation of the first part of Splatterhouse, released for Sega Mega Drive consoles. The game was influenced by the works of Lovecraft and the paintings of Hans Giger, a Swiss artist famous for creating the image of the Alien from the film of the same name. The main character of the game, Rick, resembles the maniac Jason Voorhees, known from the horror film series Friday the 13th. Jason wears a hockey mask, which has become his signature style, and Rick wears a magical Mask of Terror, suspiciously similar to Voorhees' hockey mask. In the game you have to navigate linear levels and fight monsters. The game contains many scenes of violence, so it has an age rating of 17+.
(1993)
Point-and-click/quest, PC, Infogrames, France
image: squarefaction.ru
The second game released by Infrogrames based on the works of Lovecraft. After the success of the horror Alone in the Dark, the French decided to make a quest. The plot of the game is based on the works of and. The main character, photographer John Parker, comes to the American town of Illsmouth (a clear analogue of Lovecraft's Innsmouth) to photograph the passage of Halley's Comet. Before him, 76 years ago, the comet was observed by a certain Lord Boleskine, who for unknown reasons went crazy. Parker will have to unravel the mystery of the comet and stay in the city for three days while the comet flies near the Earth. Since 2015, the game has been available on GOG.com and Steam.
Point-and-click/quest, NEC PC-9800, Fujitsu FM Towns, Fairytale, Japan
image: rpgcodex.net
Japanese quest for adults. The game tells the story of fictional events that happened in the city of Arkham, a secret society and the Deep Ones. In Lovecraft's story, the Deep Ones interbreed with humans to avoid extinction. The game covers this point in more detail, which is why it has an age rating of 18+. Necronomicon was published exclusively in Japan and does not support other languages.
Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice (1995)
Point-and-click/quest, PC, Mac OS, Sega Saturn, Infogrames, France
Image: gog.com
The game's plot is based on a story by Lovecraft. Let me briefly remind you what this work is about: a scientific expedition is sent to Antarctica, which discovers the ruins of an ancient unearthly civilization. As a result of the actions of scientists, the sleeping aliens wake up and begin to kill people. The game is a continuation of the studio's previous Lovecraft game, Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet (1993).
The action takes place before the start of World War II. We play as an American intelligence officer sent on a secret mission to Antarctica. There is a secret Nazi base in Antarctica, from which you need to save an ally and remove artifacts. It turns out that the base was built on the ruins of aliens from the "Ridges of Madness", and the Nazis were exploring portals to other dimensions. During the course of the game, the main character meets the hero from the previous part of the game, and during their meeting, many unclear parts of the plot are clarified.
Three comics based on the game were published in France: La Geole de Pandore, Le Glaive du Crepuscule and La Cite des Abimes. In 2015, the games Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet and Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice (links to gog.com) became available on gog.com for 199 rubles.
Innsmouth no Yakata (1995)
Survival horror, Virtual Boy, Betop, Japan
Image: tvtropes.org
At first glance, this is an ordinary survival horror game of those years, the plot of which was inspired by the works of Howard Lovecraft. You play as a private detective hired to recover the Necronomicon from an abandoned mansion. As soon as the book falls into your hands, the mansion turns into a tangled labyrinth inhabited by monsters. Now your goal is to get out of here alive. The game consists of several connected levels, where each level has several exits to other levels. Thus, the player can choose which level to complete next. You have to wander through the maze, collect objects, fight monsters and solve puzzles. At each level, the player is limited by the time in which he must manage to get to the next level.
The platform for which this game was developed is interesting. The Japanese console Virtual Boy, developed by Nintendo, used the prototype of virtual reality glasses with support for three-dimensional graphics. The screen was made in the form of virtual reality glasses, mounted on a stand that you had to lean against, and showed a monochrome red and black image. Control was carried out using traditional joysticks. Significant amounts of money were spent on the development of this console and, despite innovative solutions, its sales failed. The main complaints of the players were to high cost and an outdated monochrome screen.
Image: vignette.wikia.nocookie.net
Digital Pinball: Necronomicon (1996)
Virtual pinball, Sega Saturn, KAZe, Japan
In 1996, the Japanese company KAZe released virtual pinball for the Sega Saturn console. By this time, quite a lot of games of this kind had already been developed, but this one stood out with its Lovecraftian surroundings.
Interactive novel, Z-machine, Michael S. Gentry, USA
image: youtube.com
One of the best interactive novels, according to the American publishing house XYZZYNews. The game was developed and published by programmer Michael Gentry for the Z-machine virtual machine. Previously, Infocom, one of the founders of the interactive novel genre, made its games for the Z-machine (The Lurking Horror, 1987).
The plot of the game revolves around a married couple who have purchased a house in New England. In a quiet provincial town, the couple will have to meet with a dark sect, whose servants want to summon the Ancient God and bring about the end of the world. The main character is given four days to save her husband and prevent the apocalypse.
Quest, PC, Wanadoo, France
image: steammachine.ru
The two thousand years were marked by “normal” three-dimensional graphics and games finally became similar to those to which we are accustomed. The list opens with a quest from French developers, created based on the works of Lovecraft, as the name of the game eloquently speaks of. The main character will have to unravel the mystery of a powerful artifact and otherworldly forces. The gameplay boils down to moving the hero through various locations, talking with other characters in the game and solving riddles.
Inernal Darlness: Sanity's Requiem (2002)
Survival horror, Nintendo GameCube, Silicon Knights, Canada
image: mobygames.com
The game was developed by the independent Canadian studio Silicon Knights specifically for the Nintendo GameCube platform. Main character game, student Alexandra Roivas investigates the murder of her grandfather by exploring the mansion where he lived. In one of the rooms of the mansion, Alexandra finds a strange book, bound in human skin, called “The Tome of Internal Darkness”. After reading the book, Alexandra learns about the life of a Roman centurian who became a lich in the service of the Dark God.
The player will have to explore the mansion and look for new books to find out what really happened. The developers used interesting mechanics in the game: depending on the events, the morale of the main character could fall and then she would begin to go crazy. In the game, this was expressed by the visual effects of endless corridors or stairs, changing the volume of the sound, turning off the display, and even deleting the user's previous saves.
The main character, detective Jack Walters, arrives in the port city of Innsmouth to investigate a store robbery. Behind the robbery is the mysterious Order of Dagon, whose members want to kill Jack. The player will have to uncover the secret of the Order of Dagon and fight numerous monsters. Distinctive feature The game is lack of health and ammunition indicators. The player has to save ammo and protect the character from injury. An additional complication is Jack's mental health - when he sees monsters, he begins to go crazy, and the image on the screen blurs. If you don't take care of your mental health, Jack will lose his mind and the game will end. Overall it's very good game, based on the works of Lovecraft. Unfortunately, it is not optimized to run on modern computers, which is why errors occur in many places and it becomes impossible to complete it.
Book of the Dead: Lost Souls (2006)
Visual novel, PC, Akella, Russia
image: anivisual.net
In 2006, the first Russian anime game in the visual novel genre was released. The plot of the game is based on the works of Lovecraft: a young married couple arrives at an old mansion located in the city. Probably the authors wanted to create a game like the previously released
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2007)
Quest, PC, Frogwares, Ukraine
image: ghostlylands.ru
In Russian localization, the game is known as “Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of Cthulhu,” which once again demonstrates the “powerful” level of domestic translators. For those who don't know, "awakened" translates to "awakened"; We are not talking about any secrets or cthulhas here. The game's plot represents a crossover from Sherlock Holmes and the Cthulhu mythos. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson will have to face a mysterious sect that makes human sacrifices to an ancient sea deity (who lives at the bottom of the ocean?).
In 2008, a Remastered Edition was released, which improved graphics and performance. This version of the game is available on Steam. Since 2012, the game has been available on the iOS platform and can be played on an iPhone or iPad.
Robert D. Anderson and the Legacy of Cthulhu (2007)
Action, PC, Homegrown Games, Austria
image: igromania.ru
A first-person shooter from a team of enthusiasts. Having launched the game, it immediately becomes clear that Lovecraft fans made it on their knees. Much attention in the game is paid to the atmosphere and style of the 1930s, but the design and software execution does not stand up to criticism. While the outdated graphics can still be forgiven, the disgusting gameplay and constant glitches discourage anyone from continuing to play. You play as private detective Robert Anderson, who, on the eve of World War II, travels to Germany to find out about his past. In Germany, an ancient family castle awaits Robert, occupied by an occult unit of the SS. Robert has to pick up a machine gun and begin to exterminate the Nazis, as well as various monsters. The gameplay is a dull run through monotonous corridors, collecting keys and rare skirmishes with opponents.
Tesla vs Lovecraft (2018)
Beat em up, PC, 10tons ltd, UK
image: whazzup-u.com
If you remember the game Crimsonland, you will immediately understand what we are talking about. A lone hero (in our case, none other than Nikola Tesla) uses a variety of weapons to fight hordes of monsters (creatures from Lovecraft's mythology).
Lust for Darkness(2018)
Survival horror, PC, Movie Games Lunarium, Poland
image: bitru.org
Having received a letter from his right-handed wife a year ago, the main character is sent to a mysterious mansion in which a magical ritual takes place and he is transferred to another dimension - the world of Luss "ghaa. The game focuses on scenes of eroticism and BDSM, so I cannot recommend it to people under 18 years of age. Luss "ghaa is a direct reference to the Cthulhu mythos, and some monsters are similar to Lovecraftian monsters, but still, the game is very mediocre in relation to Lovecraft's work. Can I recommend it? More likely no than yes. Apart from the erotic surroundings that show off, there is nothing interesting in the game, just endless wandering through the levels and searching for objects. I found the game boring and uninteresting.
(October 30, 2018)Survival horror, PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Cyanide Studio, Canada
image: steam
As I understand it, the game will resemble the old Call of Cthulhu: Dark Cornes of the Earth. At the moment, you can already pre-order this game on the Steam service, at a price of 1,349 rubles. You will play as private detective Edward Pierce, who is investigating the strange nature of the Hawkins family. The action will take place in 1924, in New England. The game is based on the Cthulhu mythos.
I will not undertake to judge which of these two games will be better. Time itself will put everything in its place. We will see the new Call of Cthulhu this year, and I will definitely tell you about it. The Sinking City is due out in the first quarter of 2019 and let's hope it doesn't get pushed back.
That's all. Thank you for your attention!
On August 20, horror and science fiction fans celebrate the 126th anniversary of the birth of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The author of The Cthulhu Mythos became famous for his stories in which he frightened readers with cosmic horrors and ancient gods who secretly live on Earth. The heroes were driven crazy by the mere mention of the names of these creatures, not to mention meeting them face to face. The leitmotif of Lovecraft's entire work: people are just grains of sand in the Universe, who do not decide or influence anything, and the fate of all humanity lies in the hands (or tentacles) of much more powerful creatures.
Lovecraft references in games are not uncommon. For example, the creators of Mass Effect, World of Warcraft and The Secret World were inspired by his stories when they described and. On the occasion of the writer's birthday, we recall the developments that most accurately recreate the spirit of his works.
Darkest Dungeon
Despite its cartoonish visual style, Darkest Dungeon is one of those games that would have made Lovecraft proud. According to the plot, the main character inherits an old estate, under which mysterious catacombs are located. His ancestor once descended into these dungeons, hoping to find untold riches, but he unearthed something so terrible there that he went crazy and committed suicide. Now the main task of the heir, and with him the player, is to recruit adventurers and send them to clear the catacombs of evil.
In Lovecraft's works, many characters lose their sanity when faced with the vile minions of the ancient gods, and Darkest Dungeon plays with this masterfully. All fighters in the game have an insanity stat. And the more terrible the creature, the more difficult it is for adventurers to maintain clarity of mind: even the bravest knight, destroying dozens of ordinary zombies, can go crazy in a matter of seconds, entering into battle with a tentacle-covered zombie.
Dead Space
It is enough to look once at to draw parallels between the Dead Space series and the work of Lovecraft. However, Visceral Games and the Cthulhu Mythos series are even more strongly connected by a common theme: the powerlessness of the human race. Necromorphs and the mysterious alien obelisks that spawn them are a threat not only to the heroes of Dead Space, but to all people in general. No one can say for sure where these monsters came from or how to stop them, and it is this feeling of hopelessness that is well known to anyone who has read Lovecraft.
Sunless Sea
Sunless Sea is a game about desperate sailors, ancient gods and travel across the most terrible seas. The world of Sunless Sea is strange and unusual: according to the plot, some mysterious forces transported London deep underground, right into the center of a giant ocean. The player takes on the role of the captain of a small ship, who, together with his crew, navigates the waters, fights pirates and various monsters, and then retells his adventures to the capital's inhabitants for money.
Almost all of the Sunless Sea characters you interact with are eccentric eccentrics, and the same can be said about the sailors who get a job on the ship. This is not surprising: anyone will become inadequate when faced with the disgusting inhabitants of the underground ocean. When going on forays, you need to closely monitor the team's insanity indicator and be prepared for force majeure. It happens that a ship's cannon suddenly breaks down, and fuel and food supplies run out too quickly. Finding a way out of such troubles is difficult, but possible: for example, you can sacrifice one of the sailors to the ancient gods so that supernatural entities will send coal to the ship. Such moral dilemmas turned out to be very Lovecraftian.
Bloodborne
Bloodborne starts out as a classic gothic horror with werewolves and vampires, but about halfway through the game it becomes clear whose work Hidetaka Miyazaki, who invented it, was inspired by. It turns out that the inhabitants of the city of Yharnam, where the main character arrives, massively worship powerful gods from outer space. They look very much like Cthulhu and other creatures from Lovecraft's stories. The most zealous cultists wanted to take humanity to a new level using the rituals of the dark pantheon, but everything did not go according to plan and now the player has to clear the streets of the city from monsters.
In Bloodborne, the hero accumulates insight points, which, just like in the works of Lovecraft, help him see the world as it really is. For example, if you score forty insight points, you can see alien creatures sitting on the roofs of cathedrals.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Call of Cthulhu is a first-person horror game. It was based on Lovecraft's fantasy story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", but some characters, enemies and even plot twists migrated into the game from other works of the writer. Dark Corners of the Earth tells the story of detective Jack Walters, who, during his investigation, got on the trail of a mysterious and evil sect. Walters' rash actions led to him opening a gate to another dimension, and then falling into madness for several years and ending up in a mental hospital. After undergoing treatment, the detective returned to work, but fate again pushed him onto the path leading to the cultists of the dark gods.
Despite the large number of bugs, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth won the hearts of many fans of the genre. The game is still considered one of the most terrible horror games in history: what is it worth? Some players were so intimidated by Dark Corners of the Earth that they abandoned the game halfway through. I couldn't think of better praise for a game based on Lovecraft.
In the near future, Lovecraft fans will find several more interesting games. First of all, this is a new game, which was announced at E3 2016, and a horror sandbox from the Frogwares studio, known for games about Sherlock Holmes. In addition, judging by the fresh work on which the authors of Dishonored are working, the game’s writers are also familiar with Lovecraft’s work firsthand. All this is encouraging and indicates that horror fans certainly won’t be bored in the coming years.
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Survival-horror, part 5 (games based on Lovecraft) - 8 games - 5DVD
Collection of computer games based on Lovecraft:DVD-1. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of Cthulhu (2007) - 1 game
DVD-2. Darkness Within 1, 2 (2007, 2011) - 2 games
DVD-3. Penumbra 1-3 (2007-2009) - 3 games
DVD-4. Amnesia.Ghost of the Past (2010) - 1 game
DVD-5. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2006) + Call of Cthulhu rulebook collection (142 pdf) - 1 game
Who is interested in films based on the works of Lovecraft - a collection of films based on Lovecraft
DVD-1. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of Cthulhu (2007)
Year of manufacture: 2007
View: 1st person
Developer: Frogwares
Walkthrough: available on disk (Sherlock Holmes.doc)
System Requirements:
Operating system Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP
Pentium® III or Athlon® 1.3 GHz processor
512 MB RAM
2.6 GB of free hard drive space
GeForce4 MX 440 or Radeon 9000 video adapter with 64 MB memory
DirectX® 9.0 compatible audio device
CD or DVD reader
Description: An elegant battle of reason and mystical superstitions will unfold in an exciting game based on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Howard Philips Lovecraft.
A new detective quest takes the player to the famous Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are investigating a kidnapping case. This story involves a mysterious sect of fanatical followers of the deity of madness, Cthulhu. A chain of terrible evidence inexorably leads to the otherworldly world.
"The Secret of Cthulhu" - a game about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which takes place in a completely three-dimensional world. Players are given complete freedom of movement (unlike classic quests that use the principle of a static “location”). During the investigation, the heroes will have to look for carefully hidden clues and use the laws of physics to solve mysteries.
Add. information:
For the first time, the Sherlock Holmes universe is fully 3D rendered
Special tools to find the most carefully hidden evidence
Using the laws of physics to solve riddles
During the investigation - travel to 5 countries of the world
Over 60 fully voiced characters
DVD-2 (2in1). Darkness Within 1, 2 (2007, 2011)
Year of manufacture: 2007
Genre: Survival-horror/Adventure
System Requirements:
System: - Windows XP (Russian),
Processor: - Pentium IV 1.5 GHz,
Memory: - 512 MB RAM,
Video card: - 28 MB DirectX 9-compatible 3D video card (GeForce 3 level and higher, except MX and integrated video cards),
Audio card: - DirectX 9 compatible sound card,
Hard disk: - 1.3 GB of free hard disk space,
DirectX 9.0c.
Interface language: Russian only
Voice language: Russian
Description of Darkness Within: Twilight Within:
A wealthy occult enthusiast was murdered in cold blood. Whether it was a coincidence or fate, the case was assigned to an unusual detective. He suddenly abandoned his previous investigation to disappear in an unknown direction for five whole years. However, the eccentric investigator himself knew well where and why he was running: wandering around the world, he visited Africa and Oceania, where he greedily absorbed the knowledge of local shamans. Such curiosity was more suitable for a fanatic or maniac than for a researcher or encyclopedist. Loa Nolder returned a different person, and perhaps not a person at all... One way or another, the famous detective left the investigation again, which automatically made him the main suspect.
The hero of the game is a young policeman, who follows in the footsteps of his professional idol. Attacks of paranoia, hallucinations, waking dreams and acute fear are his uninvited companions in pursuit of the truth.
Game Features:
* Quest-thriller in the eerie atmosphere of the works of H. P. Lovecraft
* Hint system with 3 difficulty levels
* Unique inventory system
* Dynamic, complex puzzles
* Superbly immersive soundtrack and realistic sound effects
* Many frightening places: dark underground tunnels, an ominous mansion, ancient ruins, an old witch's cemetery...
2. Darkness Within 2: Dark Lineage / Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage
Year of manufacture: 2011
Genre: Adventure / 3D / 1st Person
Developer: Zoetrope Interactive
Interface language: Russian only
Voice language: Russian
System Requirements:
Supported operating systems: Microsoft® Windows® XP/Vista/7
Pentium® 4 2 GHz processor or Athlon® XP equivalent
512 MB RAM (1 GB for Windows® Vista)
2.2 GB free hard drive space
3D video adapter with 256 MB memory, compatible with DirectX® 9.0c (GeForce 7600 GT or Radeon HD 2600)
DirectX® 9.0c compatible audio device
Description of Darkness Within 2:
On the other side of the darkness lie secrets that cannot be revealed, secrets that have been lost through the ages, and memories from which there is no escape. Other gods do not sleep, their herald is already nearby, and the wolves whisper your name in the darkness. Help Detective Loreid escape the clutches of Azathoth's demonic minions! In the uncertain light of the lantern, may you see something, and be horrified, and find out what has been hidden for the time being where no man has ever set foot.
This suspenseful and frightening adventure game is based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft- a recognized genius of the “dark side” of world literature, author of many novels and short stories in the horror genre. The images that he created come to life before your eyes - you will meet the treacherous and cruel Nyarlathotep, face the monstrous Shoggoth and challenge other creatures that have awakened from an endlessly long sleep.
Game Features:
- Continuation of the popular quest based on the stories of H. P. Lovecraft
- Lots of dark locations, scary characters and creepy stories
- Stunning riddles and puzzles of three difficulty levels
- An impressive atmosphere of hopeless fear and despair
DVD-3. Penumbra 1-3 (2007-2009)
Genre: Survival horror / Adventure / Action Year of manufacture: 2008
Developer: Frictional Games
Interface language: Russian only
Description:
All three parts of the famous mystical thriller "Penumbra" - in one edition! Didn't play?
Special edition "Penumbra. Trilogy". A unique chance to go all the way through the depths of man-made hell!
All three games in one collection: “Penumbra 1. Origins of Evil”, “Penumbra 2. Diaries of the Dead”, “Penumbra 3. Requiem”.
"Penumbra 1. Origins of Evil"
A nasty sticky fear confidently settles in the depths of the soul, forcing you to breathe nervously and tightly squeeze the mouse in your sweaty hands. The atmosphere of an infernal nightmare, attacking directly from the subconscious, slowly but surely seeps through the monitor screen and headphone speakers.
Horror games are a special genre. Perhaps the most important thing about them is the atmosphere. However, until recently, horror games were constrained by technical limitations that filled the gameplay with offensive clichés. The whole nightmare sometimes boiled down to the predictable “and they’re going to jump.”
Game Features:
*Intense stealth thriller with a mysterious, intriguing plot
*Unique interactive features, innovative management
*Armed with sophisticated artificial intelligence opponents
*Powerful simulation of the laws of physics, physics-based puzzles
"Penumbra 2: Diaries of the Dead"
One of the scariest computer games recent years- mystical thriller “Penumbra: Black Plague” (Penumbra 2. Diaries of the Dead).
The final part of "Penumbra" turned out better than the original. Even if you're the kind of gamer who cringes at the mere mention of adventure games, try to swallow your pride for a second and play this game. If you decide to immerse yourself in the world of Penumbra, be prepared to travel into a world of horror worthy of Lovecraft, frightening sounds and constant tension in anticipation of something terrible. To achieve optimal results, the creators recommend playing at night, alone, preferably with headphones. In this case, the immersion into the atmosphere of the game will be maximum. There is also the possibility of involuntary body discharge nervous soil, but the likelihood of this is low - such cases were recorded in 15% of beta testers.
Game Features:
* Dark, tense atmosphere of a psychological thriller.
* Original puzzles built in accordance with the laws of physics.
* Great sound effects and music.
2. Call of Cthulhu RPG - Collection of very rare Call of Cthulhu rulebooks (pdf)
Year of manufacture: 1999
Genre: RPG
Language: English
Publisher: Chaosium, Wizards of the coast
Quality: Scanned pages
Volume/size: 2.5 GB (RAR archive), after unpacking 3.4 GB
Format: pdf
Program for viewing the .pdf format: AdbeRdr810_ru.exe (on disk)
Description:
A collection of rulebooks for CoC RPG from Chaosium and D20 CoC from Wizards of the coast, all in pdf.
Quantity - 142 pcs.
