Review for Call of the sea. Game for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 08/12/2020
With the winter season upon us, the - hopefully long - list of exclusive titles on Xbox Series X consoles (in this case also playable on Xbox One and obviously PC) finally takes shape with Call of the Sea: graphic adventure characterized by an old-fashioned gameplay but enriched by a resolution in 4K. This is the first work created by Out of the Blue, an independent studio based in Madrid, whose motto is “A company for Narrative and Puzzle games. We design puzzles. We tell stories. We love games ”words that we will see well represented in Call of the Sea which, not surprisingly, was distributed by Raw Fury, a Swedish publisher specializing in independent titles.
We are therefore ready to abandon the dreary greyness that characterizes this period of time that goes from the end of autumn to the beginning of winter to dive into the tropical waters of Call of the Sea where we will help Norah in her search for her husband, who disappeared during an expedition to a mysterious island in the South Pacific.
A mysterious, hereditary disease afflicts Norah forcing her to a period of forced rest where her room and especially her bed become the only world known to her. However, the mind, free to wander, plays strange tricks on the woman through surreal dreams in which she finds herself immersed in the depths of the sea where she finds familiar objects and places. The beginning of Call of the Sea is just one of these nightmares and then brings us to reality: It is 1934 and Norah is traveling on a ship heading towards a small island in the South Pacific where the track of her husband Harry has gone away to find a possible cure for his beloved wife's illness.
Once we land on this mysterious island, full of traces of a vanished civilization, we will find deserted camps and a whole series of clues that will lead us on the trail of Harry while at the same time we will discover details about the couple's past and the "curse" that leads Norah to a life of ups and downs.
The plot, as confirmed by the developers themselves, draws on themes of Lovecraftian memory, although the romantic element in the works of the American writer is a rare commodity. We can certainly say that some elements, especially in the advanced stages of the game, have instead evoked reminiscences of The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro but, avoiding possible spoilers, we can limit ourselves in saying that these ideas can be limited to the people who worship mysterious amphibious creatures, an element that is revealed already in the second of the six chapters that make up the title of Out of the Blue. In general, the story narrated from the perspective of Norah, narrator of the entire gaming experience, is well written and interesting, touching peaks of good romanticism thanks to the strong love story that we are going to discover.
The title then is characterized by a fairytale atmosphere, steeped in mystery, while darker and horrifying elements, and here the reference to Lovecraft, paint the madness that takes over a handful of lonely men on an "alien" island in which they try, through human technology, to find answers acceptable to the human mind.
We could limit ourselves to calling Call of the Sea the classic adventure on rails, however the gameplay setting is decidedly more inclined to combinations with classic point and click in which the search for clues and objects to unlock mechanisms and puzzles are the masters. We will therefore find ourselves facing, through the first-person view, puzzles that will vary in difficulty and complexity, reaching interesting ideas especially in the final chapters.
Of course, the interaction will be limited to documents and certain key and non-key objects, without however limiting the gaming experience thanks to the care taken in the construction of high-definition environments and in which it will be easy to get lost in breathtaking views to be grasped through the brand new Share button of the next-gen controller from Microsoft.
As was easily imaginable, the Unreal Engine 4 is used magnificently here thanks to a graphic style characterized by the mixture of warm and pastel chromatic tones that paint dream environments full of charm and mystery. Without daring too much, and given the simultaneous availability on Xbox One, Call of the Sea proves to be fluid and with stable frame rates even while plays of light and shadow rage on the screen. The setting of the game naturally helps thanks to this uninhabited island in which, apart from a few birds here and there, the only form of life to move will be Norah, excluding leaves, plants and the water that will flow copiously in several points of the territory. visible.
In any case, the perennial breeze, together with the climatic changes that will take place in the final chapters of the title, will make this mystical desert island "alive" together with all the corollary of sounds that will characterize its exploration.
As expected from a graphic adventure, with a general difficulty of the puzzles calibrated on parameters tending to the downside, the title is scarcely replayable and on average short, if not to collect all the collectibles: the six chapters that make up Call of the Sea can be completed, taking it very comfortable, in about 7-8 hours of play. Among the painful notes of longevity, however, the good merit of the sound sector stands out, which plays a key role thanks to the narrating voice of Norah, excellently voiced by Cissy Jones, and the secondary voiceovers all in English (but subtitled in Spanish) of the few other characters in the story.
Good effects, albeit limited given the genre, and an inspired soundtrack, with some truly evocative songs, conclude the audio package of a title that is well packaged in every respect.
Call of the Sea is undoubtedly an excellent first work for Out of the Blue and represents an interesting puzzle-adventure enriched by a deep and well-structured plot. The enigmas present will not be many and too complex, often overcome with a little backtracking, but they make a story in which the narration plays a really important role pleasant. Visually it's a great taste of what you can expect from Xbox Series X, with the revived Unreal Engine 4 exploited here in an excellent way, and accompanied by a well-packaged sound sector. The title is short but has a budget price and is included in the game pass, so it would be a real shame not to take advantage of it.
► Call of the Sea is a Puzzle-Adventure type game developed by Out of the Blue and published by Raw Fury for PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, the video game was released on 08/12/2020
