Nightmare scenario for gamers

This year, the horror world of author HP Lovecraft gets a fresh airing. While his Cthulhu series has spawned imitation books and occasional screen appearances, it has only truly come into its own when it has been allowed to drag others into its mad, terrifying universe.

It starred as a role-playing game, relying on dice and imagination to involve others, and now gets the chance to do the same on computer and possibly console.

Lovecraft's masterpiece, the world of Cthulhu, based stories around a race of demonic beings, the Old Ones, who existed in the spaces between things and yearned to break through into our dimension. West Midlands games company Headfirst Productions is preparing to release the first-person adventure game, Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth, set in the 1920s.

Andrew Brazier, artist and designer at Headfirst, said the horror-survival game was designed to be as immersive an experience as possible. One way of drawing the player in has been to dispense with the heads-up display, which usually monitors health, skills levels and ammunition.

Players will have to physically check how many bullets are left by breaking open a gun and looking in the chamber. Damage will be relayed through the control system, so a bang on the head might distort vision for a while or a sprained ankle restrict speed.

Skills will automatically improve through the game and through repetition - the more a weapon is used, the quicker the player will aim, fire and reload.

The player will not have the ability to absorb bullets or go on a shooting spree. Bullets will become scarce and deadly, placing the emphasis on sneaking and generally being clever.

'We've always resisted the temptation to make Cthulhu more action-orientated. It doesn't suit the source material and has already been done in games such as Quake.' Lovecraft always illustrated how horrifying the creatures in the world of Cthulhu were by having the weird characters in his stories gradually go insane. Headfirst is also dealing with this, awarding the player sanity points when they see something horrifying. When a certain level is reached, the player might start hallucinating - seeing friends as monsters or vice versa.

Other signs might include nervous twitching or obsessive behaviour, such as constantly loading and unloading their gun.

And Brazier's advice? 'The player can avoid these to a certain degree by trying to avoid confrontations with creatures - by using stealth and brainpower to work out how to steer clear of battles and therefore preserve their sanity.' The game is due for British release in September. Be afraid...