Go Fanboy - Everyone Has A Favorite

The Japanese horror scene has thrived over the last couple of decades by ignoring the conventions of Western horror movies, and focusing more on atmosphere and using the viewer’s imagination and fear than filling time with blood and guts. Series like The Ring and The Grudge aren’t scary because there’s blood everywhere. They simply create dark and scary places which feed on people’s imaginative fear and scare the living heck out of us. That is Hudson’s goal with Calling for the Nintendo Wii.

Right away you’ll know this game got the rush treatment in its localization from Japan. This can sometimes be a good thing because some games retain their original feel better when publishers don’t strip them down on the way from Japan to the US. However in the case of Calling, we get some of the worst voice acting heard lately.

With a variety of locations ranging from the creepy school to the scary hospital, among others, Calling builds up an atmosphere that is perfect for a horror game. The problem is that everything is so “Wii-ish” that the atmosphere created can never be maintained. The idea of being drawn into another dimension via an online chat room where the dead and the living co-exist is perfect for today’s gamers. Even the use of a cell phone as a way to teleport from one location to another is a great idea that could appeal to today’s young, tech-savvy gamers if the game didn’t keep pulling you out of the moment with load times and an inability to see.

The only point of the game is to essentially escape to the next location without getting too scared and becoming a spirit yourself. This is handled via your fear meter, which goes up depending on the situation and typically peaks if a ghost actually grabs you. You can easily get away by shaking the Wiimote a couple times. Once you’ve escaped the grasp of your ghostly assailant your fear will immediately begin to subside on the meter. I don’t know about you, but if I just shook out of the grasp of a ghost who’s been calling me on my cell phone telling me that he’s coming to get me, I wouldn’t calm down so quickly.

Besides trying to avoid becoming a ghost yourself, you must collect particular objects hidden throughout each location. The problem here is that the locales are so dimly lit. Combine that with a lack of any glimmer or shine from the objects you’re searching for and it results in a test of patience and frustration.

Visually, Calling could be the poster child for Wii games. That’s not a compliment in any regard. The static textures are bland and boring. On top of that the level designs are lazy and repetitive. The ghosts who are supposed to instill fear aren’t even that scary looking. It’s possible this was intentional since it’s a Wii game, but the story and gameplay lay a foundation for getting the poo scared out of you. Instead, it’s boring and bland everywhere you look.

Sound is okay except for the voice acting I mentioned before. The concept of using the tiny speaker on the Wiimote to deliver conversations from spirits is neat, but was a little poorly done. Besides the actor’s lazy delivery of their lines in the game, the audio is possibly the only highlight, though. The atmosphere certainly gets a nice boost from the scary tones filling the Calling.

Overall, Hudson’s Calling is likely to be forgotten next week like so many other titles on the Wii. The sad thing is that with a little more time and polish, this game could have ranked up there with the Silent Hill and Fatal Frame series. Since Wii games published by anyone other than Nintendo since 2006 don’t make money, I can’t blame Hudson for shoving this one out the door. If you love J-horror and only own a Nintendo Wii, then I still suggest only renting. Hudson’s Calling should not be answered.

Related:

Hudson Entertainment's Calling for Nintendo Wii Goes Gold

Calling Screens (Wii)