Triptych

A new Lovecraftian storytelling mod has been released for the videogame Crysis. Triptych…

“After three months of arduous development, I am happy to announce that Triptych: Chapter I is released to the public! This release is the first of three entries in a horror/mystery series set in the early 1900′s and late 1800′s. In this Chapter, you play as Jeremiah Stone, a man fleeing from his home in pursuit of an amorphous, rolling creature which has hunted him for three decades. Jeremiah’s past is reflected upon, and he confronts his fear once and for all. Chapter I is around 25-35 minutes in length and is the first part of three in a planned Lovecraftian mystery series.”

Blood Roofs

A preview of a deliciously silly videogame designed to run on smartphones, Blood Roofs. The graphics may be 1996, and the Lovecraftian monsters need more variety, but it looks like it has that all-important game quality: fun…

Anchorhead, free to play online

Play Micheal Gentry’s acclaimed Lovecraftian horror interactive fiction game Anchorhead online. It’s a text-only game, of the sort that goes beyond the link-based “choose your own adventure”-type interactive fiction. From Wikipedia…

“The game heavily draws elements from Lovecraftian literature, specifically The Dunwich Horror, The Music of Erich Zann, and The Festival, as well as direct references, such as the Miskatonic River and the city of Arkham.”

The Wikipedia page for Anchorhead mentions a 2006 “Director’s Cut” edition. I’m not sure if this one I’m linking to is the latest or the original? Anyway, here’s the opening of the game that’s freely available online…

“You take a deep breath of salty air as the first raindrops begin to spatter the pavement, and the swollen, slate-colored clouds that blanket the sky mutter ominous portents amongst themselves over the little coastal town of Anchorhead.”

Doug Bolden has a long review of the game after a near-complete playthrough — there are mild spoilers in the lower part of the page.

del Toro talks new Lovecraftian videogames

Mountains of Madness director Guillermo del Toro has said that he’s working with videogames publisher THQ to craft a “Lovecraftian” horror videogame. That’s certainly to be expected, as many big Hollywood movies come with (usually mediocre, often dire) videogames. He’s reported as saying…

“It’s horror … but it’s a very different type of horror game. It’s not survival horror. It’s truly a strange, geeky mix. It’s a Lovecraftian thing. Let’s leave it at that. … we are talking about huge games, huge world creation and long deadlines. With THQ we’re looking at around a three year developing deadline for each game. Big games. More details forthcoming, but we are truly exploring them in a serious manner. Expect the first game, best-case scenario, 2013.”

Image from the game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth.

Eternal Darkness

The Innsmouth Free Press reviews the videogame Eternal Darkness (2002, GameCube) today, in glowing terms…

“There are only two games I have encountered in 20 years of playing video games that I consider to be true Lovecraftian games. One is Alone in the Dark, which has already been reviewed on Innsmouth Free Press. The other is Eternal Darkness. If you are a fan of Lovecraft and have any interest in video games, then you NEED to play this game.”

What’s a GameCube? Nintendo’s circa-2001 console, pre-Wii. Good luck getting hold of one of those. But it seems the latest open-source Dolphin Emulator can play Eternal Darkness with reasonable fidelity on a PC.

Darkness Within 2

Healfbeard’s HUD has a new long review of the new game Darkness Within 2: the Dark Lineage (PC, May 2010)…

“The H.P. Lovecraft inspired game lets the player explore a world of mystery, intrigue, insanity, and horror, in a vast array of stunning environments. The main hub of the game is the small neglected town of Arkhamend, an obvious allusion to the Lovecraft’s fictional Arkham. Though the town of Arkhamend only contains a book store, the stereotypical town lunatic, and a small inn, it still manages to capture the isolating oppression one would expect from a forgotten town plagued within mystery. The other environments include an isolated cabin in the snowy woods, underground catacombs, an abandoned nursing home, and a blood-chilling Victorian mansion. [...] Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage excels at combining the art style of classic horror with dynamic shadow and lighting effect, which truly brings the terror to life. There were moments in the game when I was so frantic in my search for clues and to simply survive this mystery that I myself felt that the horrors of Lovecraft were coming to devour me.”

The game’s website is here. As with all such games, confusing puzzles and clunky keyboard controls can detract heavily from the lovely graphics. The game is currently languishing at a pitiful “54″ on Metacritic, although that’s only from five reviews. However, the Turkish developers are actively patching the game (currently at a 1.02 patch) and it may be that the game becomes far more playable after a few months of fan-feedback and patches.

Dear Esther – the remake

I hear that the Lovecraftian ‘game’ Dear Esther (2008) is being remade and expanded. It’s a mod for the game Half Life 2 (2008, PC), a game easily and cheaply available used.

“critically acclaimed, experimental first-person game. [...] abandons traditional gameplay, leaving only a rich world soaked in atmosphere, and an abstract, poetic story to explore [...] puts the player in the shoes of a man who is currently stranded on a remote outer Hebridean (Scottish) island”

Lewis Denby writes today — on Rock, Paper, Shotgun — has an aside on trying a beta of the new version…

“This week, a mod made me properly gasp. I turned a corner in a cave network to suddenly emerge in an enormous opening, water cascading down the sides of the rock, crashing into the pool below and sending the water churning in turbulent waves. It looked absolutely astonishing. I’ll be writing about what I’ve played of Robert Briscoe’s upcoming Dear Esther remake elsewhere in the near future, but suffice it to say: it’s shaping up to be absolutely extraordinary.”

The mod is sheduled for release in Q4 2010. The new screenshots look amazing.