A couple of moody and atmospheric horror-inspired titles have been given Nintendo Switch release dates, with those two games being Vampyr and Call of Cthulu. Dontnod’s vampire title was originally confirmed for the Switch back in October 2018, and it’s basically a year later that Vampyr’s release date has been set for with that being October 29th. If you’re unfamiliar with Vampyr it’s a game in which players take on the role of Dr Jonathan Reid who has recently been turned vampire against his will. Through the game he has a moral battle between saving the sick of his town or feeding on their blood to become stronger.
When Vampyr was reviewed I wrote:
Much like its early 20th century setting, Vampyr feels like a bit of a throwback to a past age of action RPGs. In a time where the genre is evolving Vampyr holds on to past ideas for much of its tenure, and it doesn’t have a story strong enough to overcome that fact. The world itself is ripe for lots of stories to be told within, with Dontnod having done a good job with world building, but while Vampyr isn’t a bad game, nor is it as great as it could be.
You can read the full review here.
Moving on to Call of Cthulu and its Switch date which is October 8th, a few weeks earlier than Vampyr. Call of Cthulu is a story about private investigator Edward Pierce who heads to the rather dreary island of Darkwater to find the source of the nightmares and visions that have been keeping him awake at night. It’s not an ordinary investigation that’s for sure.
When Call of Cthulu was reviewed our resident gothic horror expert Steve wrote:
Call of Cthulhu is not a particularly good game. It looks and feels dated, contains some frustratingly realised mechanics and has possibly the worst gun combat I’ve ever experienced (luckily this is only a short section). What it does do well, however, is capture the feel of a Lovecraft story. Fans of the mythos, or the tabletop RPG this game is loosely based on, will find much about the atmosphere and setting to enjoy, and the narrative builds to a climax that is more effective than many of the original stories. You do have to be prepared to get through a lot of mediocrity to get to this and many players will justifiably conclude that there are too many other better games with which to pass their time. You don’t have to be mad to play this, but you may end up disappointed.
You can read the Call of Cthulu review here.
Source: Press Release