Call of the Sea is a first-person adventure puzzle game, the debut title of Spain-based studio Out of the Blue Games. First revealed back in May at Inside Xbox. It’s a very beautiful looking title, taking place in the 1930s on a lush, vibrant island in the South Pacific. But underneath the fantasy and wonder, there’s something more sinister lurking on the island.
Back in June, Out of the Blue co-founder, Tatiana Delgado spoke to USgamer about how the studio was planning on utilizing the net-gen capabilities on Xbox Series X. “We wanted to target the next-gen,” said Delgado. “As soon as we saw what was possible, we wanted to do it because although we have a stylized, visual style, so it’s not realistic but we wanted to get as much as possible from the graphics side. And I think we can benefit a lot from the next-gen and, we’re kind of different for what you would expect from a next-gen game.”
In the Gamesradar Future Games Show, Call of the Sea received a new trailer that showed off more of the game’s gorgeous landscapes and locations, as well as some new insight into the game’s inspiration.
“As you can see, although our game is heavily influenced by his tales, Call of the Sea is a twist on the traditional H.P. Lovecraft works,” said Delgado within the trailer. “We’re trying to focus on the surreal and the oneiric more than the horrific and the grim. In short, Call of the Sea isn’t a descent into madness but a rise to sanity. Losing your mind makes you see a dream-like, colorful world.”
Lovecraft’s works have been used in video games before – notable example include survival horror title Call of Cthulu or action roguelike Lovecraft’s Untold Stories– but many games have taken more indirect inspiration from his writings, like the popular Silent Hill or Amnesia series. Call of the Sea takes inspiration from Lovecraft in ways we haven’t seen before, and I know that I, for one, am excited to see how it develops.