Howard lovecraft games. Games and Lovecraft - A Visual Guide to Fear

System requirements:
Operating system Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP
1.3 GHz Pentium® III or Athlon® processor
512 MB RAM
2.6 GB free hard disk space
GeForce4 MX 440 or Radeon 9000 video adapter with 64 MB memory
DirectX® 9.0 compatible audio device
CD/DVD drive


Description: A graceful battle between reason and mystical superstition unfolds in an exciting game inspired by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Howard Philips Lovecraft.

A new detective quest takes the player to the famous Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson investigate a kidnapping case. In this story, a mysterious sect of fanatical followers of the deity of madness Cthulhu is involved. A chain of terrible evidence inexorably leads to the world of the other world.

"The Secret of Cthulhu" - a game about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the action of which takes place in a fully three-dimensional world. Players are given complete freedom of movement (unlike classic quests that use the principle of a static "location"). During the investigation, the heroes have to look for carefully hidden clues and use the laws of physics to solve puzzles.

Add. information:
For the first time, the Sherlock Holmes universe is fully 3D.
Special tools to find the most carefully hidden evidence
Using the laws of physics to solve puzzles
During the investigation - a trip to 5 countries of the world
Over 60 fully voiced characters

"Penumbra 1. Origins of Evil"
A nasty sticky fear confidently settles in the depths of the soul, forcing you to breathe nervously and tightly squeeze the mouse in your sweaty hands. The atmosphere of an infernal nightmare attacking directly from the subconscious slowly but surely seeps through the monitor screen and headphone speakers.
Horror games are a special genre. Perhaps the most important thing in them is the atmosphere. However, until recently, the action of horror games was hampered by technical limitations that filled the gameplay with offensive clichés. The whole nightmare sometimes boiled down to the predictable “and they will jump like-a-ak.”
Game Features:
*A tense stealth thriller with a mysterious, intriguing plot
*Unique interactive features, innovative control
*Armed with sophisticated artificial intelligence opponents
*Powerful simulation of the laws of physics, based on physics puzzles

"Penumbra 2. Diaries of the Dead"
One of the scariest computer games of recent years is the mystical thriller Penumbra: Black Plague (Penumbra 2. Diaries of the Dead).
The final part of "Penumbra" turned out better than the original. Even if you're the kind of gamer who winces at the mere mention of adventure games, try to swallow your pride for a second and play this game. If you decide to immerse yourself in the world of "Penumbra", be prepared for a journey into the world of horror worthy of Lovecraft's pen, frightening sounds and constant tension in anticipation of something scary. For optimal results, the creators recommend playing at night, alone, preferably with headphones. In this case, immersion in the atmosphere of the game will be maximum. There is also the possibility of involuntary excretions of the body on a nervous basis, but the likelihood of this is small - such cases were recorded in 15% of beta testers.
Game Features:
* Dark tense atmosphere of a psychological thriller.
* Original puzzles built according to the laws of physics.
* Great sound effects and music.

2. Call of Cthulhu RPG - Collection of very rare Call of Cthulhu rulebooks (pdf)
Release year: 1999
Genre: RPG
English language
Publisher: Chaosium, Wizards of the coast
Quality: Scanned pages
Volume / size: 2.5 GB (RAR archive), after unpacking 3.4 GB
Format: pdf
PDF viewer: AdbeRdr810_en.exe (on disk)

Description:
A collection of rulebooks for CoC RPG by Chaosium and D20 CoC by Wizards of the coast, all in pdf.
Quantity - 142 pcs.

image: ghostlylands.ru

In Russian localization, the game is known as "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of Cthulhu", which once again demonstrates the "powerful" level of domestic translators. For those not in the know, "awakened" translates as "awakened"; there is no talk of any secrets and Cthulhus here. The game's plot is a crossover between Sherlock Holmes and the Cthulhu mythos. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson have to face a mysterious sect that makes human sacrifices to an ancient sea deity (who lives at the bottom of the ocean?).

In 2008, a Remastered Edition was released with improved graphics and performance. This version of the game is available on Steam. Since 2012, the game has been available on the iOS platform and can be played from iPhone or iPad.

Robert D. Anderson and the Legacy of Cthulhu (2007)
Action, PC, Homegrown Games, Austria

image: igromania.ru

image: whazzup-u.com

If you remember the game Crimsonland, then you will immediately understand what is at stake. A lone hero (in our case, this is none other than Nikola Tesla) with the help of a variety of weapons fights hordes of monsters (creatures from Lovecraft's mythology).

image: bitru.org

Having received a letter from his right-handed wife a year ago, the main character sends him to a mysterious mansion, in which a magical rite takes place and he is transferred to another dimension - the world of Luss "ghaa. The game focuses on scenes of erotica and BDSM, so I cannot recommend it to people, under 18. Luss "ghaa is a direct reference to the Cthulhu mythos, and some monsters look like Lovecraft's monsters, but still, the game is very mediocre to Lovecraft's work. May I recommend it? More likely no than yes. In addition to the erotic surroundings, throwing dust in the eyes, there is nothing interesting in the game, only endless wandering through the levels and searching for objects. I found the game boring and uninteresting.

image: steam

As I understand it, the game will resemble the old Call of Cthulhu: Dark Cornes of the Earth. At the moment, it is already possible to pre-order this game on Steam, at a price of 1,349 rubles. Play as private detective Edward Pierce, investigating the strange sert of the Hawkins family. The action will take place in 1924, in New England. The game is based on the myths of Cthulhu.

I will not undertake to judge which of these two games will be better. Time itself will put everything in its place. We will see the new Call of Cthulhu this year, and I will definitely tell you about it. The Sinking City is due out in the first quarter of 2019 and let's hope it doesn't get pushed back.

That's all. Thank you for attention!

Games that cite the works of Howard Philips Lovecraft as one of their main sources of inspiration come out almost every week. The genre diversity of such projects is quite wide: it includes both the detective RPG "", and the survival race "Howard Phillips Lovecar" and the horror adventure "Inner Voices" taking place in the labyrinth. Looking at all these names, one gets the feeling that the authors dispose of the term “Lovecraftian” somewhat freely.

In a broad sense, Lovecraftian literature is considered a literary subgenre of horror that adheres to the style and structure of the texts of the Cthulhu Mythos, written by Lovecraft himself. In this light, many games call themselves the adjective "Lovecraftian" unfairly, as they only adopt the general concepts of the Mythos, having nothing to do with the structure and leitmotifs that run through all of Lovecraft's works.

Many game makers refer to their creations as "Lovecraftian" for their monster designs based on marine animals, but both of these visuals rarely adhere to the writer's own descriptions. The atmospheric motifs of darkness, enclosed spaces and hazy locations draw their inspiration from the basic foundational elements in general rather than from the more specific worlds of Lovecraft.

The first appearance of these horror elements dates back to 1819 and is associated with John Polidori's short story "The Vampire". But horror in the modern sense began to take shape only with the advent of works like "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Stevenson in 1886 and "Dracula" by Bram Stoker in 1897. The monsters appearing in them showed their presence only after sunset. On the other hand, Lovecraft was somewhat more imaginative in choosing the setting for his writings.

The plot of his key works unfolds in the snows of Antarctica ("The Ridges of Madness"), in small fishing villages like Innsmouth ("Shadow over Innsmouth") and in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean ("Dagon"), both at night and during the day, calling out both to claustrophobia, and to agoraphobia of readers. So games in the spirit of SOMA, Conarium and The Call Of Cthulhu do not come out of the twilight reflect only part of the aesthetics of Lovecraftian literature.

In addition, many games, including The Sinking City and Tesla vs. Lovecraft, distort the images of Lovecraft's oceanic monsters, which most players associate with the cuttlefish-like ancient god Cthulhu. Cephalopod creatures were first described by the writer in the story "The Call of Cthulhu", which characterizes Cthulhu as "a grotesque cross between an octopus, a dragon and a man." This description guided the authors of the illustrations for the tabloid magazines in which Lovecraft published his work during his lifetime.

However, the writer partly refutes his own words towards the end of the story, saying that "Cthulhu defies description in our language." In general, the inability to describe the appearance of monsters is a recurring motif of Lovecraft's prose, designed to emphasize the inexpressibility and primitiveness of what is happening on the printed pages of horror that is beyond human imagination. The less we know about the described creature, the more terrible it appears in our imagination.

But the developers have no other choice but to endow the monster with a visible physical shell, thereby violating one of the fundamental principles of the Cthulhu Mythos. From time to time, the author provides us with specific details of the appearance of entities that pose a threat to all of humanity, but game creators rarely have the opportunity to play with the player's imagination.

When skillfully applied, horror can serve as a powerful and expressive medium for reflecting the current state of society and the personal fears and doubts of the writer, and Lovecraft knew this better than anyone else, expressing his own racist views through the prism of unreality. "Shadow over Innsmouth" is one of the best examples of his latent xenophobia. In the story, the author expressed in literature his dissatisfaction with the mixing of races that took place before his eyes and expressed the possible consequences of this through a horror plot.

The fish-like appearance of the people of Innsmouth was the result of many years of interbreeding with the deep-sea inhabitants of the sea, which symbolize immigrants from other countries, diluting and polluting the "pure" Anglo-Saxon blood of the native Innsmouthers. In other stories like The Horror at Red Hook, Lovecraft makes little effort to hide his racism, comparing the immigrant population to the scariest monster.

As you might guess, in our era of tolerance, such controversial views of the writer are a stumbling block for igrodelov. And while lovers of Lovecraft for the most part do not attach much importance to his personal beliefs, the process of becoming Others is one of the main motifs of the Cthulhu Mythos, running through the entire author's bibliography. So while Lovecraft's writings do feature more comprehensible monsters other than the completely alien Ancients, they inevitably have an undesirable otherness leitmotif from white people that would elicit a wave of criticism these days.

To avoid this, the developers of "Lovecraftian" games deprive such enemies of any clear racial distinction, as seen in Bloodborne, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and At the Mountains of Madness. But this, along with a detailed visual depiction of the Ancients, directly contradicts one of the laws by which the Cthulhu Mythos are built. The inability of the developers to convey all the unknowability of cosmic entities and the completely faceless depiction of earthly creatures do not honor the source material of the Lovecraft games. However, some games try to compensate for this by paying close attention to the psychological state of the protagonist.

While many of Lovecraft's writings end in the protagonist's madness or psychological trauma, the writer rarely devotes enough time to this, only mentioning it in passing. Despite the fact that Lovecraft was literally obsessed with the theme of madness, his works are completely devoid of any interest in the psychological analysis of their characters. Missing the opportunity to play with the elusive sense of reality of the narrator, slowly plunging into the world of irrational illusions, the Cthulhu Mythos are built on the assumption of the reality of the existence of supernatural entities, the mere sight or awareness of the existence of which can deprive a person of reason.

In this light, the introduction of sanity indicators and other mechanics designed to reflect the mental state of the hero, such as in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, is another fundamental mistake of the developers. For Lovecraft, there are only two states of mind - complete awareness and complete insanity, the switch between which is interaction with cosmic forces; and in games, the mind is lost gradually, in parts.

Thus, the writer violates the literary archetype of the "hero's journey", according to which the character, once in the other world, necessarily takes something useful out of it. Instead, in Lovecraft's texts, the unknown and the subconscious are inevitably associated with boundless horror. The turning point for Lovecraft's heroes is the realization of the insignificance and insignificance of humanity in the face of cosmic forces, which goes against the anthropocentric system of seeing the world, which is taken for granted by writers and readers.

This, by the way, also speaks of the inappropriateness of using the adjective "Lovecraftian" when describing computer games. By their very nature, games are designed to give the player the power to fight back against any enemy lurking in the darkness. Lovecraftian literature, on the contrary, emphasizes the impossibility and futility of any resistance. Thus, video games with weapons, various magical powers, and characters' resilience to environmental horrors can only capture the Lovecraftian spirit at the most superficial level.

The term "Lovecraftian" is often used without justification, solely to draw public attention to the game. But the problem is not exhausted by this - the very concept of a computer game according to Lovecraft does not hold water. The aesthetics of the writer's works - both in terms of design and in terms of the arrangement of the world as a whole - are extremely difficult to reproduce due to the author's refusal to describe his monsters in human terms.

And in cases where the writer descends to the mundane human level of the reader, he expresses through his antagonists racist and xenophobic views that would look out of place in the modern era of political correctness. And finally, the very essence of video games puts the capabilities of the player and space forces on the same level, which is completely unthinkable in the Lovecraftian universe. From all of the above, it follows that Lovecraftian computer games have very little in common with the rich legacy of the master of horror.

"The oldest and most powerful of human emotions is fear, and the oldest and most powerful kind of fear is the fear of the unknown."

H. F. Lovecraft

On August 20, 1890, in the city of Providence (Rhode Island), in the family of jewelry salesman Winfield Scott Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips Lovecraft, a boy was born, sanctified by the radiance of an unknown star from an incomprehensible distance of space. A boy who, by the age of 14, will write his first stories and tell the world about the terrible threatening secrets of the universe in the form of terrifying monsters, unknown creatures from the depths of space and aliens from other dimensions. This was the "father of scary stories about incredibly ancient monsters" - Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The writer, with his bright and stormy fantasy, changed the concept of horror and created a new direction, which would later be called “Lovecraftian horrors”. One of the writer's close friends, August Derleth, would come up with a general term for this style and specificity - "Myths of Cthulhu". Numerous authors have written about this common creepy concept: Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, Robert Howard, Brian Lumley, August Derleth, Stephen King and others.

Lovecraft rightfully occupies a high position in the genre of mystery and horror along with Edgar Allan Poe, in whose works Mr. Lovecraft drew his inspiration. But if Poe or Arthur Machen played with the gloomy realm of shadows and graveyard coldness, then Lovecraft in his works looked into the depths of these shadows and what he saw there broke the boundary between logical normality and the incomprehensible chaos of madness. Terrifying slimy creatures, whose age is comparable to the age of the universe itself, escaped from the pen with each new syllable outward under the disgusting chilling howl of the devil flutes and loud disgusting howls. An ancient evil lurking in the depths of icy space and the darkest corners of the Earth, nightmarish cults and blasphemous sorcery - a terrible madness created by a great genius.

Horror when madness is good for a tormented inflamed mind.

It should be noted that Lovecraft himself was an unusual person. Since childhood, he had a wild imagination. And it was in his childhood that turning events happened in his life that influenced the formation of his work. I want to note that the future writer did not have a beautiful childhood with a loving family. Basically, his grandfather, a strict and pedantic person, and a couple of aunts were engaged in his upbringing. Howard practically did not know his father - he was sent to a hospital for the mentally ill when the future writer was only two years old. The mother, on the other hand, was a hysterical and constantly excited woman, and after severe breakdowns and depression, she ended up in a psychiatric hospital, in the same place, in fact, where her husband was. Both parents died early.

From an early age, Howard grew up withdrawn and lonely. So he spent his life, never leaving his native Providence, living a modest hermit, enjoying the familiar feeling of loneliness. He did not like to appear in public, and even his many friends, in fact, were such only by correspondence, which Lovecraft actively conducted, devoting his fellow writers to the next details of his work.

Since childhood, Howard loved to read. His grandfather had the largest library in the city, with over two thousand volumes. Here the boy spent round the clock, reading and leafing through old folios for long hours. One day, his mother caught him reading one of these books. Taking the book from him and leafing through it, the woman fell into a real panic. And she immediately threw the volume into the fireplace. The book by HG Wells was called The Island of Doctor Moreau. Mrs. Lovecraft considered that such literature would only harm the fragile psyche of her seven-year-old son. What she didn't realize was that Howard had already begun to try writing his own stories.

Another moment, which actually influenced his subsequent literature, also takes its roots from childhood. Little Howard had terrible nightmares almost every night. And every time he screamed heart-rendingly. He even had to be taken away from the boarding school, because other children had insomnia from his cries. Terrifying creatures with huge black webbed wings in these nightmares seized him with their cold paws, and the terrible valley of Lang flashed before his eyes; a disgusting giant (later Lovecraft would call him Dagon and fully describe this dream in the story of the same name) got out of the seething black waters and clasped the towering ancient monolith with his scaly hands with sharp black claws; and from the dark skies, vile creatures from the depths of space descended to earth. Undoubtedly, Lovecraft took most of the ideas for his stories from his own dreams and nightmares. Moreover, a number of works focus entirely on the general concept of dreams.

Howard Lovecraft was poor and not too happy. Alas, he lived a short life, making ends meet, in almost complete poverty. The cancer developing in his body slowly devoured the writer. And his works were never published during his lifetime. Most editors regarded such literature as second-rate. And pulp fiction became more and more. Only after his death, through the efforts of his friends, “Lovecraftian horrors” appeared in the first collections. And in the second half of the 20th century, Lovecraft gained worldwide recognition and popularity, which has not faded to this day. And now numerous publishing houses reprint and publish his works in different collections over and over again.

On a wide scale, Lovecraft gained a foothold in mass art: in music, cinema and, of course, the gaming industry, which we will discuss below. But if in the cinema “Lakraftian horrors” are mostly only distant motifs with a transfer to our time, then game adaptations rarely descend to real trash, carefully transferring the general atmosphere of hopelessness, suspense and a terrible secret to the screen.

A distant star shone brightly, illuminating the Lang plateau with radiant light, and on the incomprehensible unknown Kadat, looking at the centers of the spheres through space and time, surrounded by colossal creatures, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a mad genius who looked beyond the brink, sits on a throne of black onyx.

"Efficiut Daemones, ut quae non sunt, sic tamen quasi sint, conspicienda hominibus exhibeant..."
lactation

Numerous games use Lovecraftian references in one way or another, including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, which seem to be far from the general idea of ​​​​cosmic horror. However, we will focus specifically on Lovecraftian games and the list here is quite solid.

One of the best game adaptations of Lovecraft's works is the game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, which, despite the poor graphics, numerous bugs and extreme complexity, had a great story and a creepy tense atmosphere, and some moments made the heart beat faster. It is not surprising - two important stories by Lovecraft are taken as the basis of the plot: "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and "Beyond Time". However, there are also many references to other works. In addition to the scene - the dirty, neglected town of Innsmouth - in the game there are even characters invented by the writer, for example, Zedok Allen.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, Cyanide Studios will release a game with a similar name Call Of Cthulhu - Depths Of Madness, which is an adaptation of the board game of the same name. The game will be a detective with the study of the world. But there will be no action with numerous skirmishes, as in the aforementioned game. How well the developers will recreate the oppressive gloomy atmosphere and the lurking threat somewhere beyond, we will only know towards the end of the year.

And next year, another game from the developers of quests about the adventures of Sherlock Homes (Frogwares) will be released - The Sinking City. This is an adventure quest where a private detective is trying to unravel the mystery of the terrible floods that hit a small town. The concept of the game is reminiscent of Lovecraft's magnificent story "The Temple", where the protagonist in a heavy scuba gear - a "metal grave" - ​​descends into an incredible depth full of nightmarish secrets. So the game will try to inspire horror before diving into the icy darkness of the sea.

Turkish studio Zoetrope Interactive also noted for games based on the works of Lovecraft. In particular, she released a very interesting horror movie in the quest-investigation genre - Darkness Within. First part - Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder- was a classic quest, with a great creepy atmosphere and some kind of threatening mystery along with the action of some forces and ancient cults. The second part - Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage- turned into a kind of adventure game with investigations and incredible horrors. And unlike the first game, there is much more Lovecraft here, and the mysterious evil takes shape in the form of the creeping horror of Nyarlatotep, herald and messenger of the ancient unknown gods.

In 2017, the studio plans to release a new game called Conarium about the confrontation of four scientists with supernatural powers. The following is known about the plot: Frank Gilman, a member of the Department of Anthropology at Miskatonic University, participates in an expedition to Upuaut led by Dr. Faust. He is trying to go beyond human consciousness with the help of the Conarium device. When Frank regains consciousness, he finds himself alone at the base of the expedition in Antarctica and does not remember anything. He soon realizes that while using the device, he died, but then returned, slightly changed, he has other people's memories, and he remembers places he has not been. The doctor has lost something important or gained something terrible. And death is part of the game itself.

Atmospheric and united by a common concept of loneliness and suspense, the games of the Swedish studio Frictional Games turned out - Penumbra and Amnesia, and although there is nothing directly "Lovecraftian" there, the influence of the horror master's works is quite noticeable.

The game Alone in the Dark based on Lovecraft's favorite haunted house horror concept. By the way, it is considered one of the best Lovecraft horror films. indie horror white night is also based on this idea, and although in fact the game has little in common with Lovecraft, it is quite remarkable for its noir black-and-white graphics and an eerie atmosphere with oppressive frightening shadows.

There is no doubt that bloodborne is also based on the myths of Cthulhu, more precisely uses the general idea and design. In the plot of the game, almost the entire population of the city of Yharnam worships the Great (The Great Ones) - powerful supernatural beings. Atmosphere of a role-playing turn-based indie game Darkest Dungeon is also very similar to the works of Lovecraft, moreover, the design of some monsters and spells has a characteristic "Lovecraftian" style.

And as I write these lines, the distant stars of the Hounds of the Dogs mysteriously blink in the black sky. And somewhere out there, outside the solar system, in the black depths of space, the god-idiot Azathoth tosses and boils under the wild howl of demonic flutes. Mad Nodens rushes through space, urging a flock of terrible black creatures with faceless heads and huge membranous wings, and the spheres of being unite and diverge in multiple ways, as it was predicted and as it has already happened, that the mystical Yog-Sothoth knows, for he is the present and the past, coming future and multiplicity of events. Deep under water, in a strange and incomprehensible R'lyeh for human understanding, the ancient Cthulhu is dozing with a host of his creatures. Ordinary human fuss and a miserable stay on planet Earth fade before the incredible events of universal proportions. Man is just a toy in the cold clutches of nightmarish forces. And the familiar world is collapsing under the terrifying facts of reality and the opening secrets of the universe.

“That which lives in eternity is not dead,
With the death of time, death will die"
H. F. Lovecraft

Do you love horror, horror and Lovecraft the way we love them? Share your favorite horror games. By the way, I wonder, do you remember the moment when a book, movie or game really scared you for the first time? Or did it never happen?

On August 20, fans of horror and science fiction celebrate the 126th anniversary of the birth of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The author of The Cthulhu Mythos became famous for stories in which he frightened readers with cosmic horrors and ancient gods who secretly inhabit Earth. The heroes were driven crazy by the mere mention of the names of these creatures, not to mention the meeting face to face. The leitmotif of Lovecraft's entire work is that people are just grains of sand in the Universe that do not decide anything and do not influence anything, and the fate of all mankind is in the hands (or tentacles) of much more powerful creatures.

References to Lovecraft in games are not uncommon. For example, the creators of Mass Effect, World of Warcraft and The Secret World were inspired by his stories when they described and. On the occasion of the writer's birthday, we recall the developments that most accurately recreate the spirit of his works.

Darkest Dungeon

Despite the cartoony visual style, Darkest Dungeon is one of those games that Lovecraft would be proud of. According to the plot, the main character inherits an old estate, under which there are mysterious catacombs. His ancestor somehow descended into these dungeons, hoping to find untold riches, but unearthed something so terrible there that he went crazy and committed suicide. Now the main task of the heir, and with it the player, is to recruit adventurers and send them to clean up the catacombs from evil.

In Lovecraft's works, many characters lose their minds when confronted with the vile minions of the ancient gods, and Darkest Dungeon plays this masterfully. All fighters in the game have an insanity meter. And the scarier the creature, the more difficult it is for the adventurers to maintain clarity of mind: even the bravest knight, destroying dozens of ordinary zombies, can fly off the coils in a matter of seconds, entering into battle with a covered tentacle.

dead space

It is enough to look once at to draw parallels between the Dead Space series and Lovecraft's work. Even more strongly, however, the series of games Visceral Games and "Myths of Cthulhu" are connected by a common theme: the impotence of the human race. Necromorphs and the mysterious alien obelisks that spawn them are a threat not only to the heroes of Dead Space, but to all people in general. No one can say for sure where these monsters came from or how to stop them, and it is this feeling of hopelessness that is familiar to all who have read Lovecraft.

Sunless Sea

Sunless Sea - a game about desperate sailors, ancient gods and travel across the most terrible seas. The world of Sunless Sea is strange and unusual: according to the plot, some mysterious forces moved London deep underground, right into the center of a giant ocean. The player gets the role of the captain of a small ship, who, together with the team, surfs the expanses of water, fights pirates and various monsters, and then retells his adventures to the inhabitants of the capital for money.

Almost all the characters in the Sunless Sea with whom you have to communicate are eccentric eccentrics, and the same can be said about the sailors who got a job on the ship. This is not surprising: anyone will become inadequate, faced with the disgusting inhabitants of the underground ocean. Going on sorties, you need to closely monitor the team's insanity indicator and be prepared for force majeure. It happens that the ship's cannon suddenly breaks down, and fuel and provisions run out too quickly. Finding a way out of such troubles is difficult, but real: for example, you can sacrifice one of the sailors to the ancient gods so that supernatural entities send coal to the ship. Such moral dilemmas turned out very much in the style of Lovecraft.

bloodborne

Bloodborne begins as a classic gothic horror movie with werewolves and vampires, but around the middle of the game it becomes clear whose work inspired Hidetaka Miyazaki who invented it. It turns out that the inhabitants of the city of Yharnam, where the protagonist arrives, massively worship powerful gods from outer space. They look very much like Cthulhu and other creatures from Lovecraft's stories. The most zealous cultists wanted to elevate humanity to a new level using the rituals of the dark pantheon, but everything went wrong and now the player has to clear the streets of the city from monsters.

In Bloodborne, the hero accumulates insight points, which, just like in the works of Lovecraft, help him see the world as it really is. For example, if you score forty points of insight, you can see alien creatures sitting on the roofs of cathedrals.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Call of Cthulhu is a first-person horror game. The basis for it was Lovecraft's fantastic story "The Shadow over Innsmouth", however, some characters, enemies and even plot twists migrated to the game from other works of the writer. Dark Corners of the Earth tells the story of Detective Jack Walters, who, during the investigation, came on the trail of a mysterious and evil sect. Walters' rash actions led to the fact that he opened the gates to another dimension, and then fell into insanity for several years and ended up in a psychiatric hospital. After undergoing treatment, the detective returned to work, but fate again pushed him onto the path leading to the cultists of the dark gods.

Despite the large number of bugs, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth won the hearts of many fans of the genre. The game is still considered one of the scariest horror games in history: what is it worth alone. Some players were so intimidated by Dark Corners of the Earth that they abandoned the walkthrough halfway through. A better praise for a Lovecraft-inspired game is impossible to come up with.

In the near future, fans of Lovecraft are waiting for a few more interesting games. First of all, this is a new one, which was announced at E3 2016, and a horror sandbox from the Frogwares studio, known for games about Sherlock Holmes. In addition, judging by the fresh one that the authors of Dishonored are working on, the game's scriptwriters are also familiar with Lovecraft's work firsthand. All this pleases and indicates that in the coming years, horror fans will certainly not be bored.