Glorious Glitches: Call of Cthulhu - Dark Corners of the Earth (PC)

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a game that was originally released on the Xbox 1 (erm, I mean the original Xbox, not the Xbox ONE) in 2005 and on the PC in 2006.  It is a fun, but flawed First Person Stealth Horror Adventure game that is home to many great and original ideas, some which work better than others.

However, I am not reviewing the game; instead I wanted to list some major glitches that I encountered during my time with the severely botched PC version of the game.  Some of the glitches detailed range from the slightly annoying to the frustratingly, infuriating, downright game breaking.  Apparently, the PC version was originally not intended to be released as a full product and was worked on as a hobby by just one guy, at least according to an episode of Rebel FM Call of Cthulhu Game Club.  Only one person working on the PC port may explain why there are so many glitches in the PC version.

So, without further ado, I present The Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth glitch-fest.


Frequently crashes to the desktop

I had played around 25% of the adventure before I encountered the first crash to the computer desktop.  I thought a random isolated error had occurred, so I booted up my game again and to my absolute horror (no pun intended) the game crashed ... again.  I was at a certain point in the game where I was required to push a cabinet, which was blocking the door, to the side in order to proceed.  To my frustration, every time I began to push the cabinet the game would crash to the desktop.

At first I thought it was a Windows 7 64 bit issue, but running the game in compatibility mode did not seem to help resolve the issue.  Apparently, according to a simple Google search, the crashing glitch is encountered in every version of Windows that Call of Cthulhu is compatible with.

Only, 25% into the story and I thought I had encountered a game ending glitch, but I did find a way to continue playing by lowering the graphical resolution, not an ideal solution, but at least I managed to still play the rest of the game.

What?

Cannot minimise without crashing

As the game can be frustrating at times and you may not know if a glitch is preventing you from proceeding, then you may want to quickly launch an internet browser to check with a walkthrough, but I am afraid the game does not seem to like that, as yes, it will crash.  Changing the graphics resolution does not fix the issue, but if you have the Steam version, then you can launch the Steam overlay and use the internal Internet browser, if not, then it is good to have a Tablet in front of you (if you own one) for quick checking, whilst the game is still open.

Save Bug

The 'Save Bug' is one of the most dreaded glitches a games player can face.  There is nothing quite as frustrating as playing through a game for a number of hours and then your save files become corrupted.  "Noooooooooooooo .... 70% through the game and I lost all my progress!"  Yes, that is what happened to me.

On that fateful day I launched up my copy of Call of Cthulhu to see what the game had in store for me, after I finally overcame that really frustrating part with the cage lowering and the molten liquid.  As usual I clicked on the continue button on the main screen to play the game from where I had last saved, but for some strange reason I was taken to a point earlier in the game that I had passed a few days before.  I thought the game had just loaded up the wrong save, so I checked the other save slots, but my newest save files were missing.  I then checked the save folder on my computer, and the newest folders of the most recent chapter I had been to were still there, but to my astonishment the actual save files within the folder were gone!  I had been backing up my saves quite frequently, but the last few times I had not bothered to back them up, this proved to be a huge mistake.

After losing my saves I was ready to stop playing the game ... again!  I did not really want to go back to my earlier saves and play a big chunk of the game, just to reach the same point.  So, in one last attempt I scoured the internet to find Call of Cthulhu game saves, and thankfully, I found some exactly at the point where I had reached in the game.  After downloading the user save files I was ready to continue with the story without having to face the tedium of playing the same parts again.

Try running along crumbling ledges at the speed of a turtle

Slow walking speed

Jack Walters, the guy that the payer controls in Call of Cthulhu, sure does like to stroll around, despite strange townsfolk and dark creatures pursuing him in the darkness.  There are some chase sequences in the game where Jack is required to run for his life or face an untimely end, but Jack seems to like to run at walking speed.  This can be most frustrating when you are being chased and Jack shouts to himself "I GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE," yet he seems to sprint at a jogging level, it like he's not really that bothered at all.

It would appear that Jacks movement speed is another glitch, and as a result, it is near impossible to complete the chases sequences.  No official patch exists, but luckily an unofficial fan made patch exists that resolves movement and speed issues.  The patch will allow Jack to move at a quicker speed and also has the option to double the time for escape sequences.


Dialogue cuts out

Another, rather annoying glitch, is that in certain areas of the game the end of the dialogue will cut out.  The dialogue glitch does not interfere with the gameplay, but can be rather jarring when invested in the story.  I did not discover any solution to fix the dialogue issue, so I switched the subtitles on, in order not to miss any important story information that may have been presented in character the dialogue.

The strange fact about the dialogue glitch is that it seems to be totally random; I did not encounter the glitch until around 25% into the game, it then went away later on in the game, but returned near the end.  I also started up a new game just to check a few things and the dialogue glitch was present at the start, even though it was not present at the start of the game the first time I played.

That statue has no head ... 

The three blue lights did not show up

'The three blue lights did not show up" - The true game ending glitch.  Some players can reach this point in the game and not realise that they are facing a game ending glitch.  The only way to overcome the part on the boat is by using the rail gun to shoot at the three lights, although the problem I and many others have encountered is that the three blue lights do not show up, thus making it impossible to finish the boat level and reach the last part of the game.  The game does not give any hints regarding what to do, so the only way to know that something is not working is to check a guide.

Thankfully, if anybody encounters the 'three blue lights not showing up' glitch, the fan patch can be used to automatically bypass the actions required and the sequence will play out as if the player has met the requirements and no story elements will be missed.

Inventory takes a long time to show up

The last glitch I encountered was around the 90% mark of the game.  From the 90% mark every time I opened up the inventory to check or use an item, the game would take 60 seconds to open up the inventory, another 60 seconds to use an item and then another 60 seconds to close the inventory.  This proved to be extremely frustrating, as the game requires a lot of adventure game type puzzle solving, which requires the inventory to be used a number of times.  I could not find a fix, but at least it happened at the end of the game and not in the middle.

Meet the friendly townsfolk in Call of Cthulhu 

A funny glitch

There is one glitch that I wanted to mention that was the only glitch I did not find frustrating in the slightest - I actually found it to be rather amusing.  It happened at the beginning of the boat level, I was in the water at the start of the level, so far so good, and then the captain of the ship started talking to me.  The strange thing, though, was that he was talking to me as if I was no longer in the water, but I was still in the water and was unable to move.  After the captain had finished talking everything suddenly went silent and I was able to move again, so I climbed up the ladder, and all of a sudden, I transitioned into another room where a dead body was sitting in a chair.  The room was full of water, which was flashing in and out of view and I was able to go to areas of the ship that on a normal playthrough I would not be able to access until later in the game.  After a while of wandering around the ship the game must suddenly realised that I was underwater and ended the game.   The second time I started up the boat level, it worked properly and there was no game ending glitch ... which was good.

The developer, Headfirst Studios, sadly went into bankruptcy, which may explain why no official patch was released, but thanks to fans an unofficial patch, as previously mentioned, was released.  The fan unofficial patch fixes some game breaking glitches and adds some extras, such as being able to access all the weapons and ammo, all of which are compatible with the Steam version.

The unofficial patch also adds God mode, Fly mode, Debug mode and tweaks such as changing weapon damage, movement speed and health points, which I was unfortunately unable to try as they are only compatible with the original retail version.


Conclusion

Despite all the glitches I recommend that those interested in horror videogames, should give the game a try as it has many great ideas, some are well executed, some, not so much.  It is not the greatest game in the world, but, I think people should at least play until the end of 'A Dangerous Voyage' chapter as the game kind of goes a bit downhill after that.  It is a shame that the developers no longer exist, as with a little bit more polish, the unique ideas in Call of Cthulhu could have been greatly more enjoyable.  How many times are you able to play a first person stealth horror adventure game? It is not a usual horror game, it is not a usual stealth game, it is not a usual adventure game and it is certainly not a usual first person game, for this alone, people should give the game a try - just remember to download the unofficial patch to avoid (some) frustration on the PC version.