When confronted with certain, sometimes literally mountainous obstacles, that can make the game feel more overwhelming than fun.įrustrations aside, Call of the Sea is a game with surprising emotional resonance. As it stands, in Call of the Sea, you, like the game’s heroine, are typically on your own. This said, a further level of hint-giving for struggling players would have been welcome, perhaps in the form of voice-over from Norah. It’s an elegant help system that generally saves the player from a lot of running back and forth, or trying to replicate the pictograms of the island’s forgotten inhabitants. Do you open and close each tube before pushing the primary button? Do you open all the relevant tubes, then close them before activating? Do you open a tube, press the button, then close the tube, and press the button again? If this hint was removed, chances are the player would more easily reach the right solution, simply by applying real-life logic.įor the record, Norah diligently uses her notebook to record information useful to puzzle solving. It’s just that Norah and the player are following Harry’s trail, and some of his “helpful” notes are anything but – confusing the issue instead.įor example, advice like “Open and close the tubes to active the machine” is ambiguous. Very often it’s simply a case of turning gears or activating buttons in the right order. To be fair, many of the puzzles in Call of the Sea are made to seem more complicated than they really are. The effect is like turning over a high school geometry exam and finding a 30-mark, multi-stage problem that demands you solve the incomprehensible first step to progress. You won’t be alone in grumpily closing the game at that point. However, while the game starts and ends with a diversity of puzzles that allow your brain to switch gears, there is a middle portion of back-to-back code-cracking trials that demoralise with their obtuseness. The challenge curve ramps up significantly with each level, which is expected. Call of the Sea is brutally difficult at times, to the point that frustration overwhelms the goodwill that the game has worked so hard to generate. What does hurt the sense of immersion are some of the puzzles. The graphics have already been discussed, but the game also benefits from top-notch sound design. This objective dovetails with uncovering the ancient secrets of the island and its lost, technologically advanced civilisation.Ĭall of the Sea is an engrossing mystery that clearly strives to create as immersive an environment as possible to hook you in. Her quest forces her to put aside her ill health, and takes her to a nameless Polynesian island where Harry’s expedition vanished.Ĭall of the Sea is essentially one part leisurely walking sim, and one part traditional puzzle adventure, as Norah must piece together what happened to Harry and his colleagues. Taking place largely under clear open skies, Call of the Sea is a refreshing departure from the usual gloomy and oppressive tales involving Eldritch abominations.īilled as an otherworldly adventure, in Call of the Sea you play as mild-mannered art teacher Norah Everheart, who resolves to find her missing archaeologist husband, Harry. There are the expected elements of death, darkness and the descent into madness, but they’re sidelined as part of past events that you uncover as you explore the island. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.ĭespite its inspiration (there are liberal Lovecraft references throughout the game), Call of the Sea is not a horror game. Modelled in Unreal Engine 4, Call of the Sea’s Pacific island setting is tropical and inviting – unexpected for a game that draws heavily on H.P. Its use of vivid colour stands out in particular, while light and water effects layer up the atmosphere to the point that you can practically feel the cool stone and streaming water prevalent throughout the game. With an aesthetic that’s two steps into cartoony stylisation, the game is sumptuous and striking. Very little online footage does the beauty of Call of the Sea justice. It turns out that the gamble paid off as Call of the Sea is a dazzling next-gen showcase. Microsoft seemed to be throwing its support behind an untested collective of (admittedly veteran) developers, specialising in niche narrative and puzzle games.
#Call of the sea switch series
Call of the Sea is the first game from fledgling Spanish studio Out of the Blue Games, which made it something of a surprise when the first-person puzzle adventure featured prominently at the first Xbox Games Showcase for Series X|S earlier this year.
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