Given time, Cthulhu can only get to you.
The game looked different; that's what got me at first. I'm typically always looking for a game that will challenge me in interesting new ways. I wasn't much of a reader then and hadn't heard of H.P. Lovecraft, but a game based off a book? That's not done all that often. CoC more than just piqued my interest as I read further into it.
I eventually bought it a year or so later when I had too much money to spend on nothing. I was very fickle towards the number of games I was buying and gave this one a ten minute chance. I just barely got through the first stealth sequence and thought it was interesting but I had other much better games to play.
Give it a few years, and now less than a week ago, it's my birthday and my sister buys me an H.P. Lovecraft short story collection because she knows I like Edgar Allan Poe (the absolute master of horror for those that do not know). Now that I'm an aspiring writer, I read constantly and the few stories I did read through captured the horror in a slow and plodding, but ultimately different way. I couldn't say I loved these stories like I did Poe, but they did do their own thing, and I liked that.
A few days later I decided to explore a number of the old games I bought and never gave much of a chance and remembered Cthulhu, completely forgetting it had anything to do with Lovecraft. I play through about 30% of the game, and loving the atmosphere and story I then remember that it was based off of a book or story or something. So I look it up and there it is: H.P. Lovecraft. The strange coincidence surrounding this discovery only laid even more influence into how I felt about the game and this author in general. Was it even coincidence? Stranger things have happened.
Now that I knew Cthulhu was a Lovecraft creature, I noticed the plodding attack of insanity that spread through the game. In game, I was running for what seemed like ever trying to keep ahold of my character without a weapon... but it seemed to get stranger once I finally did get a weapon.
Let's just say, the game will likely give you a headache and that's intentional. If you look at dead bodies in it or are being chased or what-not, Jack Walters (your character) will get blurry vision and if exposed for prolonged amounts of time will go completely nuts and *POW* it's game over. It's really quite strange when he speaks in a normal tone for dialogue then whispers, crazed, to himself in-game.
The game has plenty of problems of course. It may have been released at the end of Xbox's run, but it was in development actually since near Xbox's beginning, so the graphics and some of the mechanics do feel incredibly dated and slow. Cthulhu makes up for this however, by just having quality scenarios. Running away, hiding, figuring out puzzles and getting bits of info from NPCs is all quality and engaging. Also, when you do get a weapon, the game doesn't just become some shoot 'em up, you still have to think. Just not as much. *Phew*
Cthulhu plays out somewhat like Half-life in that you're pretty much just figuring out where to go or what to do next. Like Half-life, the path is linear, but figuring out that linear path is more than half the battle.
I really do want to stress the quality of this game though. It looks and feels and plays pretty dated and may turn anyone away from it after 30 minutes to an hour. However, sticking with it, it becomes quite immersive and, in some ways, even ingenious. The attention to the absolutely unnerving atmosphere, whether through music, sound effects, or visuals never wavers. Instead of always having cheap thrills, Cthulhu slowly builds this atmosphere till it feels like you yourself are going slightly insane with the game. Anyone weak-willed may want to quit, but those that can stomach it, will find a very terrifying and challenging experience to be had.