Gamertell Review: Calling for Wii

Title: Calling
Price: $39.99
System: Wii
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher (Developer): Hudson Soft (Hudson Soft)
ESRB Rating: “T” for violence
Pros: It’s actually scary, intriguing characters, solid controls, nice blend of horror and puzzle solving
Cons: Production values are a bit below the current level set by horror games, takes a while for the story to get moving, retreads familiar horror territory, linear
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 84/100; B; *** out of 5

I am not frightened of empty-eyed children, be they Japanese or not. It’s hard to be scared by dead beings who are more afraid of eating lima beans or going to bed before Ni Hao Kai Lan ends than I am of them stealing my soul. And yet, I’m apparently alone in this, since so many horror movies and games these days center around little kids with big eyes and dark hair getting all up in your face.

Such is the case with Hudson Soft’s Calling, the latest survival horror game for the Wii. There have been plenty of these as of late, and Calling is happy to wedge itself somewhere between Ju-On: The Grudge (a haunted house simulator) and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (a psychological thriller), except that Calling is actually better than both.

You heard me…Hudson’s Calling is better than Konami’s Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, and that’s simply because it’s scarier.

Much scarier.

I just called to say I’ll scare you

It being Japanese horror and all, Calling’s premise is quite simple and fairly preposterous. There’s a website often referred to as “the black page.” Visit it, and you see a counter. Some believe the counter represents the number of people who have died after viewing the site, while others believe the site allows you to talk to the dead. These are both logical conclusions to reach, right? I believe a quick search at Network Solutions or a call to the site’s host would confirm or deny these theories, but what’s the fun in that? Instead, we get four people who have visited the site, only to find themselves awakened in the “mnemonic abyss,” which is a fantastic name for an emo band.

Here, though, the mnemonic abyss is an area between life and death where the living walk amongst the dead (you know, like an emo band). Although the game centers around the brave and determined Rin, you’ll control three other characters as well: the nerdy and timid Shin, the sad and elderly Chiyo, and the mysterious and grim Makoto. Why are each of these people in the menomic abyss, and how are their fates intertwined? It’ll take you 30+ hours of gameplay to sort it out (if you play at my speed and want to find all the hidden items to get the best ending).

I just called to say how much you’re dead

Like Ju-On and Silent Hill, you mostly play the game alone in dark, creepy settings, armed only with a flashlight (and oftentimes, not even that). At its heart, the game is about exploration and puzzle solving, as you’ll need to find objects and know how to use them in order to trigger the next event. It’s stuff like finding clues on a calendar to learn the code to a safe to find the key to unlock the computer lab. Only, the whole time you’re doing this, you’ve got random noises interrupting the silence to startling effect (there’s no soundtrack to be heard during gameplay…it’s just you and the empty echoes of your footsteps), the dead calling you on the phone, creepy images randomly flashing on the screen, and ghostly figures appearing in the room.

The flashlight is implemented quite well, using the Silent Hill control scheme of walking with the Nunchuck and pointing the flashlight with the Wiimote. You don’t need to worry about battery life, and that’s good, because that allows you to explore at your own terrified pace.

Your other main tool is the cell phone you’ll find (I guess the dead wouldn’t need them anymore, and that’s kind of a scary thought, anyway; the mnemonic abyss provides better converage than AT&T). You use the phone to take pictures, make calls, record conversations, and more, the audio for which is played through your Wiimote speaker. It’s an excellent element for gameplay and story; if I were trapped in a realm between the living and the dead, I’d certainly want my iPhone with me, if only to remind myself of a time when I was more worried about beating my score in Jungle Style Pinball and less about being consumed by the dead.

I just called to say I’ll KILL you

So, although the story and delivery are formulaic Calling succeeds for a couple of reasons. First, it’s scary. Seriously scary, and I don’t frighten easily. Filled with long (albeit repetitive) darkened hallways with many doors to open and objects to look behind, you know that something could jump out at you at any time. And yet, your guesses will often be wrong. The developers did a great job of sneaking up on you with the “startle” scares, while building heavy tension throughout.

In addition, they’ve added these moments where your character is so scared that he/she can’t move; you can only sloooooowly turn to see what’s about to happen, and what happens is usually big. You know it’s coming, but you have to get there, and that’s 15 flavors of awesomesauce. Play this game alone in the dark (although it’s just as much fun to run through with a friend), and you’ll likely leave a couple more lights on than normal when making your way to bed.

But the game is also sad. There’s a degree of melancholy and depth to the stories and the characters I wasn’t expecting. The overall presentation isn’t up to the level of Silent Hill, but there’s still more here than just the horror element to keep you playing. And considering this game is so much scarier than Silent Hill, it’s a fair trade. (Also, unlike with Silent Hill, Calling doesn’t have those horrible and useless nightmare sequences, and when you’re required to shake ghosts off of you, it actually works.)

And I mean it from the bottom of my creepy pale face

The game has its flaws, though. As mentioned, the production levels will seem a bit low if you’re fresh off of playing Silent Hill. The game also retreads familiar horror territory. I get that abandoned hospitals and schools are scary, but so are abandoned prisons and textile mills and anything else you have to walk through in the dark while being chased by angry dead people, so let’s get some variety, okay? It also doesn’t help that each of the locations within Calling is quite repetitive, and you’ll be retracing your steps often both as part of solving the puzzles and in order to even find the puzzles.

But Calling succeeds despite these flaws because it remains consistently scary and surprising, and because the mystery and puzzle-solving elements give you something to think about other than what creepy face will be next to suddenly appear in the doorway. Calling challenges your mind even as it’s messing with it, expertly blending its puzzle and legitimate horror moments. I’d be happier if it were priced at $30 instead of $40, but considering it’s likely the scariest experience you can currently have on the Wii, it’s certainly worth a buy…even if you’re not afraid of children.

“Leave me alone, little ghost girl, or there’ll be no Don’t Let the Pidgeon Drive the Bus for you tonight!”