Call of Cthulhu : Dark Corners of the Earth (2006)

Minimum system requirements: 800Mhz, 256MB RAM, 2GB HDD, 128MB Video Memory
Rating: **** (Out of 5)
Pros: Suspense, creepy atmosphere
Cons: Bugs, dumb AI, unskippable cutscenes, limited savegames
Plays like: Clive Barker's Undying, Doom III, Condemned: Criminal Origins, F.E.A.R, Penumbra Overture

Synopsis: Call of Cthulhu : Dark Corners of the Earth is a Horror First Person Shooter for the PC and XBox. Over 6 years in the making, The game is set in the 1920s and you play as a private detective named Jack Walters who is investigating a robbery in a small fishing village named Innsmouth. Eventually, you'll uncover a more sinister plot that involves witchcraft and ancient creatures.

Review: This is not a typical first person shooter where you shoot anything that moves. In fact, you do not even have a gun until halfway through the game. The first half of the game plays like a adventure game from a first person perspective. For example, by getting close to an object and pressing the use key, your character would describe the object. At times this would prove useful as he would give hints to what it does.

The game also employs lots of stealth. However, due to the dumb artificial intelligence of the inhabitants, whenever you are discovered, it is possible to lose them by running away from their pre-determined path.

In Dark Corners of the Earth, the game truly shines in tense situations such as running away from your attackers, slowing them down by bolting doors and blocking the door by pushing cupboards. Failing to do this in time would result in starting over from the last save. This can be a chore because of two reasons: 1.You cannot save anywhere, only at certain areas where there is a save point and 2.Cutscenes cannot be skipped. Also, the game also employs a unique feature whereby your vision is blurred and the controls can sometimes be manipulated whenever your character is affected by heights and seeing a dead body.

Overall, this game is worth playing for its creepy atmosphere and rich source material of which this game is based on. Similar to Doom III, it is highly recommended to play this game in the dark.
It was planned initially to have a trilogy of Call of Cthulhu games. Sadly, the developer went bankrupt due to the delays of Dark Corners of the Earth.

If you are stuck like me at the last level for not running fast enough when the caves collapse, use this patch. Here's the link.