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Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, is a truly unique game. Although it has some similarities with other games in the survival horror genre, it deviates sharply from them in style, rising above the hordes of Silent Hill and Resident Evil clones. Dark Corners takes full advantage of a first person point of view, and has no HUD (Heads Up Display) of any sort, heightening both realism and mood. It is based on two stories by H. P. Lovecraft, one of the most influential, if not well known, horror writers in American history.

I don't want to spoil too much of the storyline. To gloss over it briefly, you are playing Jack Walters, a private detective who had previously been committed to Arkham Asylum for acute schizophrenia. He is hired to investigate the disappearance of a clerk at the First National grocery store in a small fishing village on the coast. As Jack's investigation goes deeper, he begins to uncover the horrible truth about the town's history and inhabitants, as well as the role of a mysterious cult called the Order of Dagon. Jack quickly begins to see things that make him question his own sanity, as he tries to survive his visit to the town of Innsmouth.

From the first look, one can tell that, by X-Box standards, this game is GORGEOUS. There is a huge amount of detail, from the brick and wood textures of the houses, to the skin on the character models. When it's raining, raindrops appear to fall on the "camera" lens, causing blurred spots that drip away. Tiny moths buzz around street lamps, casting black shadows, and swarms of individual flies and scurrying rodents inhabit dark places off the beaten path.

One of the most unique aspects of this game is it's first person perspective, an approach unheard of in Survival Horror games. There is no HUD, or any sort of on screen indicators: what you see is what your character sees. This allows for much deeper immersion and mood than the common over-the-shoulder approach. Some might miss the "dramatic" camera angles of games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil, but I find the first person perspective works much better, making movement more natural, and allowing a deeper connection with the images on screen.

Because there are no indicators, the game uses other means of letting you know how your character is doing. If, for example, you are shot, the screen slowly drains of color, losing saturation as the wound bleeds and your health deteriorates. If you fall and break one of Jack's legs, his movements become jerky

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