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CALLING (WII)
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Publisher: Konami.
Developer: Hudson Soft. Released: March 2010 (Europe). Genre: Survival Horror. Posted 12th September 2022. By Tom Clare © 2022 |
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One of the last titles to come from veteran Japanese developer Hudson Soft, Calling would take the survival horror template and give it an imaginative, Wii-centric twist. It doesn't sit at the peak of the horror hierarchy, but there’s creepiness writ large in Calling's gloomy décor and macabre characters, evoking comparisons with the Ju-On films. Its gaming parallels are more closely aligned with the Fatal Frame / Project Zero titles, except instead of wielding a camera, the protagonists must utilise phones.
For the majority of its story, Calling follows Rin Kagura, a schoolgirl drawn suddenly into a spooky, otherworldly realm. This spirit plane is described as the Mnemonic Abyss: a sort of between-worlds purgatory, where the player is neither living nor dead. Awakening in a dark and seemingly-deserted school, it soon becomes clear that Rin is not alone. Trapped spirits, not all of whom are friendly, wander the halls along with a few other captives trying desperately to engineer their escape. With the player’s aid, Rin must get to the bottom of what has been causing people to disappear after visiting a website known as The Black Page.
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Those familiar with films like The Grudge and The Ring will appreciate the spooky, Japan-centric locations and spiritual overtones
The Wiimote is used as both a light source and a phone, alongside the nunchuck which handles movement. Calling keeps the player on their toes thanks to its creative use of intimidation tactics. Early on, you’ll receive taunting calls from ghosts piped straight through the pad’s speakers, as they let Rin know in no uncertain terms that they’re coming for her. It’s really quite unnerving. The phones offer a range of useful features: the ability to record electrostatic energy and decode it as spiritual dialogues, to receive picture files as visual clues and, most importantly, the ability to dial significant numbers that teleport Rin to a new location.
These functions combine nicely. Calling does a decent job of drumming up tension: its visuals may not be the most attractive, but the claustrophobic, detailed surroundings and murky, washed-out colour schemes lend it the feel of a turn-of-the-millennium Japanese horror film. Long, dark corridors and strong, discombobulating sound effects help create a tense, lingering sensation of isolation. Small touches, such as ghosts popping up during staircase transitions or as the player exits the phone interface, are enough to keep you twitchy. With all this going on, you’ve got to hold it together, collecting notes and keys whilst solving the occasional numeric safe or password puzzle by searching for clues in the surroundings.
These functions combine nicely. Calling does a decent job of drumming up tension: its visuals may not be the most attractive, but the claustrophobic, detailed surroundings and murky, washed-out colour schemes lend it the feel of a turn-of-the-millennium Japanese horror film. Long, dark corridors and strong, discombobulating sound effects help create a tense, lingering sensation of isolation. Small touches, such as ghosts popping up during staircase transitions or as the player exits the phone interface, are enough to keep you twitchy. With all this going on, you’ve got to hold it together, collecting notes and keys whilst solving the occasional numeric safe or password puzzle by searching for clues in the surroundings.
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A few small issues prevent Calling from being considered a top-tier survival horror. Whilst the genre has never been known for its award-winning dialogues, the poor English voicing feels like a genuine missed opportunity. With malevolent spirits talking directly through the Wiimote, it’s easy to imagine stronger performances making for a seriously scary experience. The controls work fine for the most part, but when the player is forced to shake the Wiimote to escape attacks, it can become difficult to quickly reacclimate your direction with motion controls before the next assault begins. Examining areas and items with the pointer is great, but if anything, the process can be a little over-interactive. Sifting through desks regularly involves checking five or six drawers and whilst they tend not to yield anything, there are just enough instances of keys and phone numbers being stashed in such places that you feel obliged to check them all.
Experienced survival horror fans will reach the end credits in around six hours, first time through. Not only does the story end fairly abruptly, but lots of questions are left up in the air. At this point, alarm bells are ringing. Fortunately, this is where Calling plays its joker. It’s home to one of the best New Game + horror scenarios this side of Resident Evil 2. It offers much more than a mere bonus chapter or an epilogue: it’s a greatly expanded, complete telling of the main story. All of the original chapters are reorganised to occur in chronological order and with additional secrets and scenes thrown in. More significantly, there’s about half as many levels again in the form of new content, from the perspective of Makoto, a journalist who Rin crosses paths with briefly during her arc. Plenty of care has gone into ensuring everything fits together: even the circumstances of the pair’s occasional calls are covered from both sides.
Experienced survival horror fans will reach the end credits in around six hours, first time through. Not only does the story end fairly abruptly, but lots of questions are left up in the air. At this point, alarm bells are ringing. Fortunately, this is where Calling plays its joker. It’s home to one of the best New Game + horror scenarios this side of Resident Evil 2. It offers much more than a mere bonus chapter or an epilogue: it’s a greatly expanded, complete telling of the main story. All of the original chapters are reorganised to occur in chronological order and with additional secrets and scenes thrown in. More significantly, there’s about half as many levels again in the form of new content, from the perspective of Makoto, a journalist who Rin crosses paths with briefly during her arc. Plenty of care has gone into ensuring everything fits together: even the circumstances of the pair’s occasional calls are covered from both sides.
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There's a small smattering of nice puzzles, a few more would have been very welcome
As Makoto attempts to investigate the disappearances and the breadcrumb trail left by his colleague Sadao, the game really kicks into life. This isn’t just a few bonus scenes: all of the game’s best bits occur in NG+. The scariest moments stem from Makoto’s chapters. Fleeing a trio of ghosts chasing him through the school, evading a deadly barber in a hair-raising (sorry) encounter in a salon, finding both body and spirit of a significant character in the hospital morgue and enduring her mother sobbing through the Wiimote. The NG+ is essential, because not only is the narrative better fleshed out and more completely articulated, there are a host of new areas to explore and a definitive ending to witness.
You won’t find many copies of Calling doing the rounds these days and it fetches high prices for all the reasons you’d expect. It’s a Wii exclusive, never rebooted or remastered and with no means of a digital download. A survival horror that never received a sequel or a tie-in, created by a once-renowned developer who soon afterwards closed its doors. Whether it’s worth £100 or not is a conversation you’ll have to have with your wallet, but on its own merits, Calling is an impressively singular horror entity. What it lacks in polish and sparkle, it makes up for in clever gameplay dynamics and atmospheric locations. A first-person perspective gives it a different feel and though it lacks the broader quality of the early Resident Evil’s and Silent Hill’s, its thought-provoking narrative and novel use of the Wiimote will player’s invested until they’ve seen the whole story.
You won’t find many copies of Calling doing the rounds these days and it fetches high prices for all the reasons you’d expect. It’s a Wii exclusive, never rebooted or remastered and with no means of a digital download. A survival horror that never received a sequel or a tie-in, created by a once-renowned developer who soon afterwards closed its doors. Whether it’s worth £100 or not is a conversation you’ll have to have with your wallet, but on its own merits, Calling is an impressively singular horror entity. What it lacks in polish and sparkle, it makes up for in clever gameplay dynamics and atmospheric locations. A first-person perspective gives it a different feel and though it lacks the broader quality of the early Resident Evil’s and Silent Hill’s, its thought-provoking narrative and novel use of the Wiimote will player’s invested until they’ve seen the whole story.
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VERDICT
"Calling is an atmospheric survival horror that makes strong use of the Wii's features. What initially appears a brief venture is both saved and elevated by an expansive New Game +. Scares, puzzles and atmosphere make for a strong effort." OVERALL: 7/10 |