Lovecraft, H(oward) P(hillips) (1890-1937), American writer of fantasy and horror.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, August 20, 1890, Lovecraft was a sickly, precocious child whose parents died insane. At the age of 16 he was writing an astronomy column for the Providence Tribune. From 1908 until 1923 he eked out a livelihood from occasional stories in little magazines such as Weird Tales. His stories never earned him much, however, and he died in Providence, on March 15, 1937, in poverty and obscurity. About a decade later, his work began to receive serious attention. His tales tell of ghoul changelings, psychic possession, unspeakable evil, and mythical worlds in which time and space are dislocated, as in his Cthulhu Mythos stories. His work had considerable influence on fantasy and science fiction writers. (from http://home.earthlink.net/~presnell/index.html)

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Games based on Lovecraft's themes and the Cthulhu mythos have been attempted a few times in the past, and it looks like one will be attempted again, from recent reports. Hoping this thread can be a centralized place to discuss them. Searched to find if this was done already, please lock if I am representing only redundancy. Judge kindly, this is my first NeoGAF thread.

For those who have read Lovecraft, or perhaps can't enjoy his works due to his writing style, I can also recommend the works of August Derleth. Derleth was the most prominent of Lovecraft's "champions," a group of people who began writing further fiction within the various fictional frameworks he developed, leading to his great posthumous popularity. Personally I recommend The Cthulhu Mythos:


http://www.amazon.com/Cthulhu-Mythos-August-Derleth/dp/0760702535

As for upcoming game projects:

Future

It looks like Guillermo Del Toro, who has been working with James Cameron to produce an adaptation of a Lovecraft story, will be producing a Lovecraft-inspired game. Not hard to imagine the two projects will be linked.


Movie: James Cameron backs Guillermo Del Toro's 3-D adaptation of 'At the Mountains of Madness'
http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=33704
Movie: Del Toro looking to snag Tom Cruise for 'At the Mountains of Madness'
http://www.collider.com/2010/09/02/james-mcavoy-tom-cruise-at-the-mountains-of-madness-guillermo-del-toro/
Another Article
Movie: http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/49406846.html

Game: UPDATE 12/16/2010:


http://www.1up.com/news/thq-insane-trilogy-del-toro
Hmm. Silicon Knights made Eternal Darkness, and then moved on to Too Human, which they originally announced as a Trilogy. Now THQ and Volition pitch the upcoming Lovecraftian horror game 'Insane' as originally designed as a Trilogy, and a "multimedia event," with Del Toro retaining film rights. Del Toro: "With this new series of video games, I want to take players to a place they have never seen before, where every single action makes them question their own senses of morality and reality."

http://www.1up.com/news/guillermo-del-toro-announces-insane
Guillermo del Toro uses an appearance at the Spike VGA's to announce "Insane," his upcoming Lovecraftian game, with a Teaser trailer that shows nothing but a logo and an anticipated launch date sometime in 2013. Release is expected for PC, XBox 360, and PS3.


Game: UPDATE: THQ responds with cagey "nothing to announce" after MTV Multiplayer posts story on future game:
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/09/29/guillermo-del-toro-thq-game/
Game: Del Toro pals with THQ to make "Lovecraftian Horror Game" for 2013 release:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-30-del-toro-making-lovecraftian-game

UPDATE 8/7/2012 - THQ PULLS OUT OF THE PROJECT:
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/thq-cancels-insane-rights-transfer-to-del-toro/4317/

In older news, back in February Nintendo renewed its trademark for Eternal Darkness, though no news about their intentions with the trademark have come to light since then:
http://kotaku.com/5473079/a-new-eternal-darkness-trademark-whats-that-about

PAST:

Here are a few internet directories for Lovecraftian games you could have, of course, googled yourself, but I saved you some typing.

The Mobygames.com super-complete guide to Lovecraft games that use the official names:
http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/h-p-lovecraft-games
The hplovecraft.com guide that includes less fan projects but more games with oblique Lovecraft themes/references:
http://www.hplovecraft.com/popcult/games/computer.asp

Standouts (for me):

EDIT:
Amnesia: The Dark Descent

I'm sorry I can't resist I have to use the horrible cover art.

Please note the addition of this game to the OP is an EDIT, I hadn't played Amnesia when I first made the Thread, so lots of people will be pointing out that I missed Amnesia. I've played this a couple of times but only in short bursts, and haven't made it very far yet. The atmosphere is great and oppressive. Last time I played it I had a few beers in me so I don't know where I left off. There! I played it.

Good fun searching up people on YouTube who have played this game.

Honestly, though, the mechanic of not being able to fight but just having to run and hide is not really new. I played it in Clock Tower 3 and Haunting Ground. I need to go deeper before I feel I have experience what Amnesia has in store for me, however. I am now also curious to play the Penumbra series.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

E3 2004 trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2k4-call-of/670

An interesting first-person shooter take on a horror game, Call of Cthulhu was released by Bethesda in 2005, in conjunction with 2K games, after being developed by Headfirst, out of Great Britain. I found it to be unusual for a first-person game, involving stealth elements and waiting much of the game before actually putting a weapon in your hands. The game's story weaves elements from a few Lovecraft stories. It is primarily set in the main location of "The Shadow over Innsmouth," but the opening chapter and plight of the primary character is also taken from "The Shadow out of Time." Additional plot points are taken from a module for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game called "Escape from Innsmouth."

The game also included an "insanity" system, much like Eternal Darkness (below), yet I found its use much less interesting. Essentially, when your character witnessed something horrible, your field of view would become very distorted to represent the hit to your sanity. This, to me, presented the unfortunate side-effect of blurring up the graphics for the exact parts of the game you'd like to see clearly. This was never more evident during a portion in a church when you were tasked from escaping from the tainted Innsmouth resident by climbing across beams in the rafters. When looking down at the beams (where your feet would be if they had been rendered), the extreme height would distort the appearance of the narrow beam you were expected to navigate.

Having been developed for quite a while, certain tropes in the game felt ancient when juxtaposed against other, more recently developed portions of the game. As mentioned, Half-Life 1 style climbing and navigation without feet (including a long climb down--and through--a rope hanging down an elevator shaft) seemed more out-of-place after an earlier, extended cut-scene involving an escape from a hotel room where your character's well-rendered hands rubbed sleep from his eyes as the townsfolk came to kill him.

Many memorable sequences redeem any inconsistencies, including the afore-mentioned scene of being chased by the fishy townspeople, an underground battle and escape from a Shaggoth, and a boat-based battle against a giant minion of Cthulhu, Dagon.

Headfirst had a series of plans for sequels. However some after their new publishing partner Hip Games folded, Headfirst's efforts were unable to continue, and they closed in 2006, ending those hopes. The closure of Hip Games also torpedoed the release of Geroge Romero's City of the Dead, dealing a double-blow to horror-game fans. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6134506.html

A trailer for the first sequel, Call of Cthulhu: Destiny's End, was released, but nothing more was heard of it:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/trailer-cthulhu-destinys/6445

Amazingly, the official site of the game is still up:
http://www.callofcthulhu.com/home.html
Rebel FM tackled the game in their first edition of Game Club (iTunes link):
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=301774100
Direct link, Episode 1: http://media.libsyn.com/media/rebelfm/Rebel_FM_Game_Club_--_Call_of_Cthulhu_--_Episode_1_--_02_16_2009.mp3
Direct link, Episode 2: http://media.libsyn.com/media/rebelfm/Rebel_FM_Game_Club_Episode_2.mp3
Direct link, Episode 3: http://media.libsyn.com/media/rebelfm/Rebel_FM_Game_Club_Episode_3.mp3
Direct link, Episode 4: http://media.libsyn.com/media/rebelfm/Game_Club_031609.mp3

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/trailer-2-eternal-darkness/1214

Developed by Silicon Knights, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem has the distinction of being the first M-rated game published directly by Nintendo. It was released in 2002 for the Gamecube, to positive critical praise, but faint sales. The game was originally developed for the Nintendo 64:
N64 footage 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koBEIdTuaIQ&
N64 footage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVh_yJvsQKs&
N64 footage 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSD9iG7hdUQ&
N64 footage 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onK8uGjtwL8&
N64 footage 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WIDWoefpAc&

I really enjoyed this third-person action title. It is set across the span of hundreds of years of history, allowing you to experience the story through the viewpoint of a multitude of characters that intersect with the plans of one of "the Ancients" to defeat its rivals and consume our reality. The gameplay includes both melee and firearms combat, with targetting of an enemies individual body parts allowing you to slow an enemy, impede their specific attacks, or behead them before finishing them off. For those of the Romero slant, zombies are plentiful as well. A fascinating and memorable magic system is here as well.

Most well-known about the title are the "sanity effects," an innovation which Nintendo attempted (successfully?) to patent, which involved various audio and video effects coming into play when your protagonist's sanity meter was driven too low by seeing the monsters and traumatic events around you. Silicon Knights had some difficulty convincing Nintendo to allow some of the more radical of these, which included simulated audio and video problems with the game, the deletion of your entire inventory, or a mock crash of the entire game.

I really, really enjoyed this title, playing through it three times to get the "real ending." Casual players would be best advised to try to grab the green artifact. Silicon Knights' Dennis Dyack has often mentioned affinity for the game, but cannot be pinned down to committing to a sequel. Given that that studio moved allegiances to Microsoft, and published the relatively panned Too Human, no one is sure whether they will be able to revisit the title, especially since Nintendo holds the trademark to the game.

And finally (skipping some titles), the first in this series of games, to my knowledge:
The Lurking Horror


Sadly I haven't shown much patience in going back to play the Infocom classics, but this one, the only true horror title they released, is directly inspired by Lovecraft's work and the Cthulhu mythos. I find it interesting that for the Amiga release of this title, Infocom added sound effects. Not being able to personally testify to the content, I must lame out and point you to the wiki for the title:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lurking_Horror

With so many of Lovecraft's themes involving beasties that drive you crazy if you even see them, and so many of his descriptions and horrific references being oblique and esoteric, it is small wonder that so few non-fan-effort games have tried to convey his unique style of fear into gameplay. If anyone else is down, I have Lurking Horror in a file format I can play in a Z-interpreter, and would not mind braving a playthrough to see how it worked out in text.

I... just... don't want to do it... alone!

HOW CAN IT WORK?

Time to discuss:

Sanity effects. Everybody loved them in Eternal Darkness. They didn't come off so well in Call of Cthulhu. Did Silicon Knights pop everyone's 4th wall cherry, and ensure that those kinds of tricks won't work again? There were some vestiges of that experience in the Scarecrow segment of Batman: Arkham Asylum that seemed to work well. What sort of sanity effects could push the envelope yet again in such a game?

Arkham Horror on XBLA. I recently played the Arkham Horror board game for the first time, and really enjoyed it.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/15987/arkham-horror
It was kind of slow to set up and slow to play, though. Does anyone else feel it could work as an XBLA game? Saving your game would go a long way towards actually finishing one.

Finally, my suggestion for cashing in on this untapped niche, big time: Given that Call of Cthulhu is already a popular role-playing game that has spawned a set of video games, I would like to humble put forth into the universe the next big MMORPG...

World of Lovecraft! :lol

I honestly can't understand how a writter's legacy managed to better all his own works in every way possible.
As a sugestion for this thread, Friction Games horror games, the only kind theyve made so far, work like a Lovecraftian inspired game.

Man, all this talk of Lovecraft yet no mention of Amnesia: The Dark Descent? It's still pretty new and it's from a smallish independent developer but it's brilliant nonetheless. It's obviously inspired by his stuff even though it's not explicitly Lovecraft.

Imbarkus said:

Finally, my suggestion for cashing in on this untapped niche, big time: Given that Call of Cthulhu is already a popular role-playing game that has spawned a set of video games, I would like to humble put forth into the universe the next big MMORPG...

World of Lovecraft! :lol

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The Secret World has you covered. Not an official Lovecraft game, but he's definitely one of the (many) sources it draws inspiration from.

<3 Cthulu

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the closest thing to a great Lovecraftian horror game. All it needs is some alterations of the script. The gameplay has a sanity system that actually works really well and blends in with the horror-aspect brilliantly.

That aside, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was really fun. Too bad it wasn't very scary. The gameplay itself is rock-solid and the story was damn good. They really managed to make it feel like an epic struggle against an ancient horror. It would be a shame if Silicon Knights never revisits that IP.

Just play Frictional's games. They will probably be better than this game anyways.

Also its Guillermo del Toro.

Not Lovecraft 'licensed' (or part of that 'opensource' universe) but definitely there in spirit, Demon's Souls:

HK-47 said:

Just play Frictional's games. They will probably be better than this game anyways.

Also its Guillermo del Toro.

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Oooh. My bad. Edited and thank you!

EDIT: Also, will check out Frictional.

Dark Corners of the Earth was a great game and all I needed.

Dascu said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the closest thing to a great Lovecraftian horror game. All it needs is some alterations of the script. The gameplay has a sanity system that actually works really well and blends in with the horror-aspect brilliantly.

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Aha. I was somehow unaware. Will check out!

I left a few games off the thread that I may return and add in. I order Pray for Death, a really subpar DOS based fighting game, specifically because Cthulhu was a playable character. This youtube vid will show his finishing move:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHlojx6-kc0

Yes it was. I'm not too happy with Del Toro getting his hand into a bunch of Lovecraftian styled projects though. The dude can't write for shit and I believe the end product will be reflective of that. He's only good at designs for me.

Penumbra/Amnesia seems to be taking the theme in stride.

One of my favorites was always Dark Seed. Granted it's primarily based on the art of H.R. Giger, but there's a lot of Lovecraft in the storyline and setting.

And, of course, Alone in the Dark was heavily Lovecraft influenced from top to bottom.

Man said:

Not Lovecraft 'licensed' (or part of that 'opensource' universe) but definitely there in spirit, Demon's Souls:

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Great point, I need to get back to it because I wussed out after getting killed so many times by those exploding worms in the mines... But I must see the content you reference.

MattKeil said:

One of my favorites was always Dark Seed. Granted it's primarily based on the art of H.R. Giger, but there's a lot of Lovecraft in the storyline and setting.

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Great cover.

Zenith said:

Dark Corners of the Earth was a great game and all I needed.

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I really did enjoy it. Looked like Destiny's End was inexplicably going 3rd person, too. Still, would have liked to have seen what Headfirst had in mind.

Dascu said:

That aside, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was really fun. Too bad it wasn't very scary. The gameplay itself is rock-solid and the story was damn good. They really managed to make it feel like an epic struggle against an ancient horror. It would be a shame if Silicon Knights never revisits that IP.

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They would have to talk to NoA...but well, they don't want to do any more M-rated games, it seems.

I found Dark Corners of the Earth is a really frustrating game. It's got an incredible atmosphere and really capture the feeling of Loveracft's work. Exploring Innesmouth is just so much fun.

Unfortunately it's marred by some horrendous design choices and awkward controls, both of which provide and unforgiving and punishing experience. Some sections are barely playable and it's hard to imagine anyone but diehard fans persevering to the end.

It's a shame because it could have been the perfect Lovecraft game if it weren't for the gameplay.

Shiggy said:

They would have to talk to NoA...but well, they don't want to do any more M-rated games, it seems.

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Yeah. I just don't understand why they would then renew the trademark, and even try to patent sanity effects. Maybe just being jerks, I guess.

I'm still pissed at them for not bringing over Fatal Frame IV. No friend of the horror gamer is Nintendo.

That fact that you can fight the enemies in DCotE seems counter to the genre. Especially one particular boss fight.

Also the whole FBI subplot is really kinda "why is this in my Lovecraft game?"

Imbarkus said:

Great point, I need to get back to it because I wussed out after getting killed so many times by those exploding worms in the mines... But I must see the content you reference.

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And speaking of the future, Project Dark (aka Demon's Souls 2):

140.85 said:

:O

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http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=407682

MattKeil said:

And, of course, Alone in the Dark was heavily Lovecraft influenced from top to bottom.

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I honestly tried to play the first one, but it was pretty primitive by the time I got around to it. Maybe I will try again. Didn't most of the sequels drift away from that inspiration a bit?

I played a bit of The New Nightmare on PS1. In some ways it was technically impressive, but it just didn't seemed balanced. I know its supposed to be survival horror, but I was out of ammo, surrounded by hallways full of monsters, and screwed.

Played like 10 mins of Alone in the Dark: Inferno for PS3 and didn't see too much inspiration there from Lovecraft. I have been meaning to go back and try it again though.

Imbarkus said:

Sadly I haven't shown much patience in going back to play the Infocom classics, but this one, the only true horror title they released, is directly inspired by Lovecraft's work and the Cthulhu mythos. I find it interesting that for the Amiga release of this title, Infocom added sound effects. Not being able to personally testify to the content, I must lame out and point you to the wiki for the title:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lurking_Horror

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Oh.... I loved that game! GUE Tech!

The creepiest thing about Lovecraft was his face.

Most games do a pretty good job of fucking up the Mythos by having heroes that kill monsters left and right. Demons Souls, Eternal Darkness, even Call of Cthulu ape the setting very hard, but fall apart with the hero wasting Deep Ones like they were game hen.

Amnesia is the last game I played that actually felt Lovecraftian, because the hero is nothing compared to the monsters, and the only way to "fight" them is to run or hide.

Arkham Horror is a brilliant board game.

Imbarkus said:

Yeah. I just don't understand why they would then renew the trademark, and even try to patent sanity effects. Maybe just being jerks, I guess.

I'm still pissed at them for not bringing over Fatal Frame IV. No friend of the horror gamer is Nintendo.

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NoA doesn't care about games without a broad appeal anymore
That n-Space project, all the NST Wii games, Retro's Sheik game (after that game's cancellation the Armature guys left of whom we still haven't heard anything), and lastly Zero: A Japanese Ghost Story. NoE at least tries to get it done as seen with Disaster, Another Code R or Zero: A Japanese Ghost Story, though the last title was canned at last minute due to the various amounts of bugs.

All of you in here need to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

All of you.

Every single last one.

Go.

Go now.

Draft said:

Most games do a pretty good job of fucking up the Mythos by having heroes that kill monsters left and right. Demons Souls, Eternal Darkness, even Call of Cthulu ape the setting very hard, but fall apart with the hero wasting Deep Ones like they were game hen.

Amnesia is the last game I played that actually felt Lovecraftian, because the hero is nothing compared to the monsters, and the only way to "fight" them is to run or hide.

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Granted, you cant beat the Cthulhu of Demon's Souls nor is it the intent of the game to be really Lovecraftian.

Man said:

Great cover.

*Darkseed cover*

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There is a lot of good art in the game as well.

how could you fail to mention Quake 1, which had a number of Lovecraftian monsters. for example, the end boss of the game was none other than Shub-Niggurath:

Yeah, but Quake doesn't really count since it was actually supposed to be a Lovecraftian RPG before going the opposite direction and becoming a pure shooter. There are still a lot of hints of that in the game, from the enemy design to the dark architecture, but it otherwise doesn't feel all that Lovecraftian due to the gameplay.

HK-47 said:

Granted, you cant beat the Cthulhu of Demon's Souls nor is it the intent of the game to be really Lovecraftian.

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It's not a knock on Demons Souls, I'm just saying.

While not purely Lovecraftian in itself, the Shin Megami Tensei series features Cthulu mythos characters, and some games (mostly the Persona series) feature Lovecraftian themes. Persona 2 actually features Nyarlathotep as the main villain, though he is an avatar of the dark side of the collective unconscious rather than a god.

Be very cautious about August Derleth's stuff

He meant well (though he also sort of changed HPL's original intent with the mythos by adding Good Guys), but a lot of his stuff is just really poorly done. Either badly written (The Lurker at the Threshold) or just re-telling Lovecraft.

That said, a few are pretty decent and pretty much all these are in his collected "The Watcher out of Time". The Shuttered Room in particular is very good (it even got turned into a movie, though taking out all the Lovecraft elements).

Anyway, "Terror From the Deep", the second X-com game, is basically based on Cthulhu and his minions. They renamed him and his city (though it still has Deep Ones).

Infogrammes (now Atari) actually made several CoC games. Alone in the Dark was originally supposed to be a CoC game, but they had a limited license and instead used it for adventure games. The first AITD game is still very Cthulhu-ish though.

Don't forget Shadow of the Comet and Prisoner of Ice(?)

Regarding Eternal Darkness, it really is in Nintendo's hands if we are to see a sequel. I for one love the original game and would purchase a follow-up without a moment's hesitation. It could be developed internally or at a second-party like Retro. Heck, Nintendo could even consider going with the likes of n-Space. I'm convinced if Nintendo gave them the necessary support they would deliver a home run.

Manos: The Hans of Fate said:

Don't forget Shadow of the Comet and Prisoner of Ice(?)

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I was just about to mention those!

I loved Shadow of the Comet, despite the original diskette release suffering from an awful control system. This was later largely fixed for the CD-ROM release. And it's worth mentioning the CD-ROM version has brilliant voice acting in addition to the finely crafted story and great characters.

Its follow-up was Prisoner of Ice, a sequel of sorts that unfortunately wasn't very good (in my opinion). The graphics and voice acting weren't bad, but all the atmosphere from Shadow was gone. The game suffered from some really ho-hum locations and characters. Not to mention some uninspired puzzle solving.

I'm impressed to see The Lurking Horror get attention, but no mention of Anchorhead which is even more of a Lovecraft homage and is one of the greatest text adventure games of the post-Infocom era?

It is legally and freely available in z-machine format here:
http://www.wurb.com/if/game/17

From Emily Short's review:

As IF goes, though, this is a deeply beautiful piece. ... There's lots of disgusting, unpleasant imagery, but first -- and en route to that imagery -- is a masterful build-up of setting and mood unparalleled by almost any other game I have ever played.

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HEATHENS!

I knew I would be missing a bunch of titles you guys, that's why I said the ones I included were highlights for me, and included these links.

Imbarkus said:

The Mobygames.com super-complete guide to Lovecraft games that use the official names:
http://www.mobygames.com/game-group/h-p-lovecraft-games
The hplovecraft.com guide that includes less fan projects but more games with oblique Lovecraft themes/references:
http://www.hplovecraft.com/popcult/games/computer.asp

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That said I am filling up a nice list of potentials to play based on your suggestions. What do you think, should I edit the original post to make this a definitive thread from original post onwards? Or should the thread itself serve as our own compendium?

REMEMBER CITADEL said:

The Secret World has you covered. Not an official Lovecraft game, but he's definitely one of the (many) sources it draws inspiration from.

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Okay. Will google. Does this mean I should not bother with the World of Lovecraft logo I was going to make?

Kuraudo said:

I found Dark Corners of the Earth is a really frustrating game...

Unfortunately it's marred by some horrendous design choices and awkward controls, both of which provide and unforgiving and punishing experience. Some sections are barely playable and it's hard to imagine anyone but diehard fans persevering to the end.

It's a shame because it could have been the perfect Lovecraft game if it weren't for the gameplay.

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Okay. I'll admit to irritation with:

1) Escaping from the hotel... took me forever to figure out the fact that I needed to lock every door as I went. But I just felt dumb afterwards.
2) Stealthing my way through the town. First person just doesn't work for stealth. Not enough "situational awareness" in this game for it, especially with no HUD.
3) Climbing around on Devil's Reef. Getting swept away by the ocean, because I couldn't figure out the timing on grabbing the rings. Getting killed by spike traps in order to discover their presence.
And, finally...
4) The last boss fight. The key to that was obtuse and impossible for me to discover without a FAQ.

But I played it through anyway, and still like it. Sometimes I like games for their potential more than their execution. I guess part of why I started this thread is to stimulate the collective unconscious to make a better Lovecraft game!

HK-47 said:

That fact that you can fight the enemies in DCotE seems counter to the genre. Especially one particular boss fight.

Also the whole FBI subplot is really kinda "why is this in my Lovecraft game?"

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Well I have no problem killing the fishmen. You gotta admit that in groups, on the boat and in town, they were lethal. Later, when you get the super-weapon in Devil's Reef, yeah, I see your point.

But I thought the FBI sub-plot was faithful to the ultimate fate of the town in "Shadow Over Innsmouth."

Man said:

And speaking of the future, Project Dark (aka Demon's Souls 2):

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=407682

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I am excited... and intimidated.

HappyBivouac said:

Arkham Horror is a brilliant board game.

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YES! Wouldn't you be interested in an XBLA version? With animated card art? Ohh I would...

MrBelmontvedere said:

how could you fail to mention Quake 1, which had a number of Lovecraftian monsters. for example, the end boss of the game was none other than Shub-Niggurath:

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Truthfull because I first played it on N64. :\

DiscoJer said:

Be very cautious about August Derleth's stuff

He meant well (though he also sort of changed HPL's original intent with the mythos by adding Good Guys), but a lot of his stuff is just really poorly done. Either badly written (The Lurker at the Threshold) or just re-telling Lovecraft.

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Yeah this is all fair. He also added some sort of system of aligning certain of the Elder Gods with earthly elements, which was a little... terrestrial for me. It was this kind of work that sort of set the groundwork for Eternal Darkness' conceit of the Elders being at odds with one another, with Mantarok mediating them.

Although if you play through three times, in each alignment, to get the third ending, you find that in that game, there are no "Good Guy" Old Ones...

DiscoJer said:

Anyway, "Terror From the Deep", the second X-com game, is basically based on Cthulhu and his minions. They renamed him and his city (though it still has Deep Ones).

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Yeah you know, I didn't know this until I was researching this, when I found this link to an old alt.games.x-com post by Steve Goss: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.games.x-com/msg/6fa903c21c9f8dd2?pli=1

DiscoJer said:

Infogrammes (now Atari) actually made several CoC games. Alone in the Dark was originally supposed to be a CoC game, but they had a limited license and instead used it for adventure games. The first AITD game is still very Cthulhu-ish though.

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What are these Infogrames CoC games? Are these them:

Manos: The Hans of Fate said:

Don't forget Shadow of the Comet and Prisoner of Ice(?)

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leroy hacker said:

I'm impressed to see The Lurking Horror get attention, but no mention of Anchorhead which is even more of a Lovecraft homage and is one of the greatest text adventure games of the post-Infocom era?

It is legally and freely available in z-machine format here:
http://www.wurb.com/if/game/17

From Emily Short's review:

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I will download. Truthfully I feel I will have to play the Lurking Horror first. Anyone down for a GAF plays Lurking Horror? We could construct our own Invisiclues!

HappyBivouac said:

Arkham Horror is a brilliant board game.

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Yes, it is. I guess that's why I own it with all the expansions.

I have all the arkham horror sets as well, all 30 pounds of them

I'm waiting for a myst style puzzle/ picture game. Seems like that kinda style would work better for lovecraft than action/adventure games.

Btw, not game related, but if anyone wants a good walk-thru of love crafts work, listen to the h p lovecraft literary podcast. They start at the beginning of his career and move in chronological order. Since his stuff is public domain and essentially free for download, no reason to not get buffed up on the master.

Hitlersaurus Christ said:

While not purely Lovecraftian in itself, the Shin Megami Tensei series features Cthulu mythos characters, and some games (mostly the Persona series) feature Lovecraftian themes. Persona 2 actually features Nyarlathotep as the main villain, though he is an avatar of the dark side of the collective unconscious rather than a god.

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I put some time in with Nocturne, but it was way too grindy for my level of patience. Happy to have it in my collection, though, and Devil Summoner 1 & 2, Persona 3 & 4, and Persona 1 (on PSP) are on my pile of shame.

EDIT: Not sure how I'm going to play Persona 2. Was hoping they'd put both parts out for PSP...

Honestly this inclusion of Lovecraft references doesn't put the game into the concept of a "Lovecraft game" for me. I have always been a big horror fiction, movie, and game fan, and if its not invoking (or trying to invoke) those feelings, it's just making references, ya know?

Boerseun said:

I loved Shadow of the Comet, despite the original diskette release suffering from an awful control system. This was later largely fixed for the CD-ROM release. And it's worth mentioning the CD-ROM version has brilliant voice acting in addition to the finely crafted story and great characters.

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You know I had booted this up a while ago, but I was greeeted with some weak pixel art splash screen and DOS game music. Maybe I got ahold of the disk version, from abandonia.com of something.

I suppose one of the questions this thread has raised for me is how complete I want to play this selection. Some games, it's hard to go back to. What would you say are the high points to this title, Lovecraft horror-wise?

Draft said:

Amnesia is the last game I played that actually felt Lovecraftian, because the hero is nothing compared to the monsters, and the only way to "fight" them is to run or hide.

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jason10mm said:

I have all the arkham horror sets as well, all 30 pounds of them

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That's a lot of expansions! Surely, you would be interested in an XBLA version?

jason10mm said:

I'm waiting for a myst style puzzle/ picture game. Seems like that kinda style would work better for lovecraft than action/adventure games.

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It looks like epmode and Dascu are steering both you and I in thr right direction for what you are asking for with Amnesia: Dark Descent:
http://www.amnesiagame.com/#main

Even Myst went all RealMyst on us. This looks to be the real deal and almost slipped under my radar.

I do have questions about what type of horror game the Penumbra series is, in terms of its inspiration.
http://www.penumbragame.com/media.php
Looks to be a more modern setting, but with shades of Lavecraft? Please elucidate, kind gentlemen!

BTW Fantasy Flight has a new Lovecraftian boardgame coming out called Mansions of Madness.

DCotE was pretty good, despite clunky controls and having a main character that killed flying polyps, Mother Hydra and Father Dagon like it was standard routine for him to murder eldritch beings :lol

Combichristoffersen said:

DCotE was pretty good, despite clunky controls and having a main character that killed flying polyps, Mother Hydra and Father Dagon like it was standard routine for him to murder eldritch beings :lol

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Yeah. At least you never actually saw Cthulhu, though I kind of wish there was a way to look off in some random direction in the final level, see him, and die instantly. With their sanity effect kicking in, you could blur things out so the player themselves would not go instantly mad.

Speaking of which, for those Frictional game-lovin' guys, do you ever get a clear view of the monsters? I really liked Eternal Darkness' sanity effects more than DCotE and what I'm seeing in Frinctional Games... where you never get to see the Eldritch beasties, even as the player!

Holy hell at that Project Dark .gif. That shit is probably going to give me nightmares.