Call of the Elder Gods or How to Uncover H.P. Lovecraft

World War II recently ended, but powerful organizations continued to fight for control and power – their conflict hidden from ordinary people. Agents of chaos turned their attention to alien energy sources, as well as tools for controlling time and space.

The game's universe is based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. In games based on Lovecraft's works, it's common to encounter Elder Gods like Cthulhu or Dagon, cultists, and fish-people. In Call of the Elder Gods, attention was paid to the Yithian alien race, often ignored by the gaming industry. They appeared in several of Lovecraft's works. These creatures forcibly exchanged consciousnesses, unsuccessfully destroyed cultists of the Great Old Ones, and were obsessed with the image of the writer Edgar Allan Poe.

The main characters are connected to the race's technologies:

• Professor Harry Everhart: an elderly man who understands ciphers and cultures;

• Evangeline Drayton: a young student who is good with mechanisms.

Both heroes have dreams featuring a mysterious statuette. To get to the bottom of their dreams, they travel all over the world, where they find ruins of ancient and alien civilizations. Cultists follow in their footsteps, and later even overtake them.

The heroes complement each other. Both specialize in different fields, which makes you believe they can solve various puzzles. They often comment on what's happening and exchange opinions, which reveals their personalities well.

Alas, the game has a narrator named Nora: Harry's wife and the protagonist of the prequel Call of the Sea. Nora constantly voices thoughts and explains what's happening, and her caustic comments kill immersion.

The core gameplay consists of walking and periodically switching between characters. On levels, you need to look for notes, codes, and clues. What you find will help solve puzzles. If you get stuck, you can use hints, where the necessary actions are described in detail.

Puzzles vary in difficulty. Many can be solved by trial and error. But there are also those that will make you rack your brains for a long time. The game can make you delve into Egyptian hieroglyphs or Nazi ciphers. You'll have to think hard, check inscriptions, and perform calculations.

The most painful part is searching for necessary materials. There are many interactive objects on the levels that are poorly highlighted, and not all of them are needed to solve puzzles. You can easily miss an item crucial for progression, and then search for it everywhere (such items are often not mentioned in hints). Even worse, the heroes move slowly (even when running), and move even slower on stairs.

There's a frankly insidious room with many interactive items. The hero will refuse to interact with them because there's no light. But to progress further, you need to find the only item you can interact with.

There are also problems with optimization. In many places, the game lags or loads textures, and my computer literally overheated, which forced me to take breaks.

The problem was especially noticeable for me after playing Luna Abyss, where the levels are huge, there are many more effects, and the drive is higher, but the game doesn't lag, doesn't heat up the computer, and weighs half as much!

Diagnosis

Lovecraft's universe is vast and full of details. It's not limited to Elder Gods, cultists, and fish-people. Therefore, it's nice that there are games like Call of the Elder Gods that reveal less popular elements.

The game itself is a solid and engaging detective story. Even with an annoying narrator, it will immerse you in an exciting adventure with grand stakes. The main characters are interesting and well-developed, and many puzzles will make you think hard.

The only thing that raises big questions is the technical state. Perhaps this will be fixed with patches, but be careful and check the system requirements and player reviews if you still decide to play Call of the Elder Gods.