Nintendo Wii Game and Accessory Reviews

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Calling

Is Calling a scary game that progresses the J-Horror genre, or is it a setback?

J-Horror (short for Japanese Horror) is a genre of films deriving from the rich history of horror movies in Japan. Some of these movies have made their way over to the U.S. in the form of remakes. If you've ever seen The Grudge series, The Ring series, or One Missed Call, then you have seen a J-Horror film, even though it was remade.

 

Calling, developed by Hudson Soft, attempts to take many elements of the popular genre and create a scary video game in the spirit of the movies. The plot fits in with many of the movies, influenced heavily by One Missed Call and The Grudge specifically. You play as four different characters who are attempting to unravel the mystery behind a website called "The Black Page."

 

One of the 4 main characters of the game, inches from a facepalm.

 

There have been rumors swirling that there is some type of otherworldly connection with the page, where the dead and living can communicate. As the characters further explore the mystery, they realize something evil is behind The Black Page.

 

Gameplay is simple, as players mostly explore environments with the Wii Remote acting as the flashlight. Pointing with the IR sensor allows the character to look around. The A button is used to interact with objects such as doors and drawers. Pressing minus on the Wii Remote controls your cell phone, which performs a few tasks, like transporting to different locations and communicating with ghosts.

 

Encountering ghosts causes your heart rate to increase.

 

You can choose to play the audio through the Wii Remote or through the television speakers. Filtering it through the Wii Remote can be interesting at times, but since all the audio spoken by the ghosts comes through the Wii Remote as well, it gets "cluttered."

 

As you unravel more about the mysterious website, ghosts become more and more prevalent, and your only defense is to resist their attacks. When a ghost springs its attack, you have to waggle the Wii Remote and follow button prompts to shake the ghosts. If you don't shake the ghosts off in time, your horror gauge (a heart rate monitor) maxes out and you die. This gets annoying, and ruins the game.

 

About as fun as it looks...

 

Creepy. Many of the environments have a creepy feel to them thanks to dim lighting and ambient noises.

 

Four Characters, Four Perspectives. The story plays out like a mystery and does a decent job of holding a few surprises up its sleeve. It isn't until you've played as all four characters that you really get a feel for what is going on.

 

"Fighting" Ghosts. Perhaps the most disappointing part of this game, as shaking away ghosts is frustrating and anything but scary. The moments leading up to the encounter with the ghosts are tense, making the payoff even more unsatisfying.

 

Slow Pacing. The story is all right, but the pacing of is so slow that most players will die of boredom before any ghosts get to them.

 

Exploring? Don't Bother. In a game that operates like one big mystery, you would expect to explore several areas, collecting clues before moving on. Instead, the game is incredibly linear, and there is nothing to gain from extra exploration.

 

Psychologically Boring. As opposed to Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem's "Sanity Meter," Calling's heart rate meter doesn't add to the game, it helps flat-line it.

 

Calling is not a good game. While the environments have the ability to make you tense and somewhat nervous, there is nothing to support this. Enemy encounters are nothing but useless encounters. Instead of feeling scared, you'll begin to feel frustrated and want to either quit playing, or beat the game ASAP so you can wash your hands of it and be done.

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