First of all, this game was made for those that are familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so if you have not read his work, you may want to before purchasing. It will give you a greater understanding of the themes and key players in the game.
First lets cover the many positives. This game is genuinely creepy, from beginning to end. The pixelated art is beautiful, if you appreciate pixelated art. I would have done so many screenshots, but sadly with DOSBox I was unable to. The town of Innsmouth is charming, yet you can definitely sense the sinister presence that surrounds and invades the town. The people themselves are also not quite right. It's fun trying to discern who is there to help, or bring about your demise. The soundtrack is very creepy, letting you know that you are about to enter a world of nightmare. The sound effects are also great. There are times when you are walking through a forest, and you can hear the animals, which can create either a very pleasant or sinister effect, depending on when you go. There is an instance when you have to visit a cemetary, and there is no soundtrack. The sounds of what you would expect to hear in a cemetary at night is all you need to set the mood. The voice acting, for the most part is pretty good, with just a hint of cheese. You can either read the dialogue, listen to the spoken dialogue, or use both. If you use both, expect lag. The written text stays much longer than what the actors say. You can right click if you want to skip the awkward pauses. This really is the only technical hiccup, and I find it forgivable, since there are other modes available.
Now the puzzles. They range from everywhere to pretty easy, to having to use your head, to receiving no help at all, and just figuring it out by trial and error. Don't worry, there is not a lot of the latter. Save often, since there a million ways to die. The game takes place over a span of three days. The first day lays the groundwork for the mystery and the horror that you will encounter. The second day is the most stressful, yet it is very rewarding once completed. The third is...well that would be telling.
Now I must cover the things that separates this from every point-and-click I've played to date. First, instead of using your mouse and clicking where you want Mr. Parker to go, the mouse is in the shape of an arrow, and you move him by choosing which direction you want him to go. Once you get the hang of it (it shouldn't take long), it's easy to maneuver. Next, and this is the awesome thing, is that if you are within eyesight of something you can pick up, a dotted line appears, directing your gaze to an object. NO PIXEL HUNTING! It's great because you find things you didn't know you needed, and when you get to the part of the game when you need said item, you have it! However, you still have to open cabinets and search places, but once you see it, you'll know immediately if you can pick it up. Why don't other point-and-click games do that?
I could talk quite a bit more about this game. The look, the sounds, the soundtrack, the game mechanics, are just great for the time it was made. You also have a journal to keep notes that can help you on your way. The cut scenes and animations are creepy, disturbing, and well done. Lovecraft would be pleased.

BottomLine at the Top: A classic title whose story and atmosphere holds up much better than its interface and programming.


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Pros
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-One of the most impressive features of this game is its, for the time, detailed environments. To understand that this was produced on comparatively primitive PC's of the early 90's makes this accomplishment all the more impressive. Early retro pixel graphics really were an artform and this game is a great example of that.
-The character close ups during speech really immerse you in the strangeness of the game world.
-The story in this game is an amalgamation of several Lovecraftian tales. Works pretty well and will probably satiate fans of his work.
-The combination of art, story, and music really gives this game a creepy vibe to this day.
-This is the "CD-ROM Version" (lol) which means it is an early example of a P&C game with fully voiced characters. Voice acting is on par for an early 90's game. More professional than just having the developers and their friends do the voice work but overall best compared to a B movie.
-Does have a notebook function that can help you keep track of what you were doing should you not play for a while.


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Meh.
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-This game runs in DOSBox. It was also designed originally for computers literally hundreds if not thousands of times less powerful than what you will be playing this on. As such the timing is difficult to calibrate (but if you are a DOSBox expert or have the time to scour the internet for tips on adjusting settings you might be able to make it work more as intended.) The game animations end up just being too fast. All the characters look like their having seizures when they talk as a result. I just put up with it as I didn’t want to deal with fighting around with DOSBox and it’s pretty much to be expected with a 25+ year old game.
-Obviously no Steam interface support, no screenshot capture ability or achievements.
-I wish the "save" and "load" buttons were just labeled with text instead of the icon they choose. It’s easy to accidently save over a game you didn't want too. Also, typing in a description is awkward in that you have to just highlight a save slot with your cursor and start typing then click to save. Only has about 10 or so save slots which I'm not thrilled with but will give a pass as it is a 25+ year old game and disk space was a concern back then.


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Cons
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-Weird, unintuitive interface. I think this was designed for a time in PC gaming where it was not a given that everyone had a mouse.
Can click to move around the screen however interactions icons are used by moving close to what you want to manipulate and then clicking the verb action in the action bar. I ended up using the arrow keys to move around, which by the way is very mechanical. Your character does not move in diagonals.
-The backgrounds are so detailed but the clunkyness of the interface makes it so you have no idea what is or is not interactable unless it’s an item you can pick up (which relies on this awkward "dashed line from the eyes to show something you’re looking at" mechanic that doesn’t always work.) However, there is no highlight function for things that are not objects for instance cupboard doors, a statue you can look at, under a carpet, a hidden space in the floor etc. I really don't understand how people were supposed to play this game without getting constantly (and frustratingly) stuck.
-Again, the detailed environments end up being a total waste due to not being able to click the look icon and see a description. This aspect of game play makes you feel totally disconnected from the game and is not immersive at all.
-Right click skips dialogue as well as opens the interaction menu bar so if you are trying to skip dialogue you can end up freezing the screen for a moment especially if some else is about to talk after a brief animation.
-Underwhelming ending, especially considering how difficult some of the sequences in this game were.
-This game has by far the most brutal catacomb/maze sequence I have ever seen in a P&C game (way, way harder than Kings Quest 6). I doubt very many people finished this game back in the day (or today) without a walkthrough. I also have no idea how people made a walkthrough for this game it must have taken forrrrevvverrr...


Final Thoughts: This game is important for its historical gaming value, but you must have a high tolerance for old, tedious game mechanics. I've been trying to play this game for a long time now (I originally saw it over at the old "Home of the Underdogs" page, how about that for a name drop?!?). Overall kind of underwhelming on the whole but as a P&C aficionado/historian I'm glad I finally got to experience it. For a certain group of older gamers, I'm sure this is a good title to hit the nostalgia button. Also recommended for fans of the Cthulhu Mythos. As long as you are going into this understanding that it’s an older game with a clunky interface and you’re a P&C fan I think you'll have some fun!


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I played this for the first time at 26 years old (no nostalgia here) and I enjoyed it. However, it has a lot of flaws.

If you seriously have a thing against walkthroughs, this probably won't be a good time. The map is huge, making it really easy to oversee an item, plus, if you don't pick up something on the first day you might screw yourself over and not notice until hours later. So yeah, I played this with a walkthrough. I mean I had it lying next to me and double checked every step before I did anything and I used every save slot three to four times. I still died at least twenty times, because almost all of the death traps are bull. Which is why I saved a lot.

On the other hand, the story's fascinating. I mean, I got a bit lost towards the end, but it was intriguing enough to make me want to keep playing and finish it.

One of the finest and most atmospheric Lovecraftian games you can play. The difficulty will propably force you to use a walkthrough and controls are not the best but the beautiful pixel-art, voice acting and a really good story make it a worthwile experience.

I bought this on 75% discount.
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet is a point and click adventure, with old graphics and rather dated voice acting for today's standards. Nevertheless I found it interesting, especially because of the lovely colors and the story.
The player is a reporter, who visits an eerie American town and tries to solve a mystery, facing many difficulties mainly because of the hostile inhabitants.
It is a difficult game (the character can easily die!) with a few illogical puzzles and others which make more sense.
But there are walkthroughs online for those (including me), who may find it difficult to finish the game.
One of the trickiest parts is escaping the lair of a "monster"/ancient "god" and I admit that I had to consult a walkthrough to manage to survive during such a pursuit!

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱

Mister Paaaaaaaaarker, you must solve the puzzles that make no sense! But really, it's pretty fun, even if there are a few BS puzzles. Having to look up how to develop film comes to mind. If you want to play one of the grandfthers of Cthulhu Mythos Games, this is it, besides the OG Alone in the Dark. There are a lot worse things to spend 6 bucks on, just try not to take it as seriously as it tries to present itself. It's a tad too silly to take seriouslyat times, such as literally flying. I'll let you decide WHICH time Parker flies I'm talking about.

Seriously, though, Steam, the guy's name is "Parker".

The story itself is alright, pretty varied area to experience and walk through right from the get go. But the gameplay doesn't really do the content justice. DOSBox running at a very low resolution isn't really a great way to experience it on modern machines. The mouse flies all over the place, and typing things, like save file names for example, is unresponsive. The sound, including the full voiceover audio, is reasonable. The methods of progressing are often so obscure that you will be very unlikely to figure them out without a walkthrough, and there are few indicators of what you should do next.

Overall, I think it could be recommendable with a better port or remaster, but in its current state it's rather rough, so avoid it unless you really really want some cthulhu-related point and click.

Call of Ctuhlhu : Shadow of the Comet is one of the first generation point-and-click adventure games and was released in 1993 and I have to say, back in the day this games was way eerie and had (and still has) a fantastic truly lovecraftian atmosphere.
Coming back today, you can clearly tell it is dated and there was not really put a lot of effort into improving it even slightly so you can actually play it without making your eyes hurt.
The voice acting is okay, does never go as low as RE, but is also not really Oscar material. The music and sound is actually pretty good, IMHO.
The point-and-click elements and riddles range from easy to mind-bending, and for all of you who are just starting out with point-and-click games, there is NO HELP option, nope, none whatsoever. So besides from using a walkthrough online,you're on your own. Good Luck doing it on your own.
Also this game is a game where you can die. Yep, this time your choices do matter, cause if you enter the wrong doors, or ask the wrong question to the wrong person, you just might end up very dead. So I strongly advise you to save often.
The overall atmosphere is what makes this game shine, even by today standards. It's somehow truly eerie and unsettling sometimes. The townsfolk are all somewhat off and you never quite know if they are helping you or if they are going to kill you the next chance they get.
Controls are not very comfy, quite frankly I've seen way better in the last years, and if they would have put a little more work into it , honestly, I would be more than willing to shell out $15 or so for a truly remastered, maybe even HD version, for this old gem of a game. Heck I'd even pay $20. That's how good it is.

Definitely a must buy for veteran point-and-click gamers with a penchant for a gripping lovecraftian setting and storyline, others beware the dated graphics and the tough riddles.

This is honestly one of my favorite point and click adventure games. It is really quirky and different from most anything I have played before in this genre. If you are a fan of H. P. Lovecraft then this is one of the best video games inspired by his work. If not, but you love a bit of horror and spooks this is equally good. The music and pixel art combine to create something that is truly bone chilling. The way the dialog takes place and the types of characters you meet fit so well in this universe. I had a huge amount of fun playing this game which has a good run time. I completed it in around 7.5 hours. That being said, the game can be brutally hard so if you hate trying things over and over again consider this fair warning.

Overall, this is a fantastic game if you like some spooks or love the mythos. I highly recommend.

Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet was originally released in 1993 for the MS-DOS. Based on the H.P Lovecraft books “Shadow over Innsmouth” and “The Dunwich Horror”.

It’s a classic “Point & Click” game of it’s time. By that I mean it’s got clunky controls, pixel hunting, and a bunch of convoluted and frustrating puzzles. That being said just like most games like it, it’s also very charming. The writing captures some of the eerie vibes of the Cthulhu mythos. Some of the puzzles are actually quite enjoyable and logical, the tension of the game kept me at the edge of my seat. For the time it was a fairly decent and a notable contribution to the genre.

Graphically the game is like most ms-dos games quite simple and composed of sprites. I’d argue the style contributes to the uncanny feeling of the town. Although there was this one person whose face was simply a trace of Jack Nicholson from the Shining, which made me laugh and lose my immersion.

There are some notable issues with the out of sync voice lines and the subtitles. However this is mainly due to the fact that originally the game had no voices. The cycle speed can be changed to try and reduce this issue, however there will still be a notable sync problem.

Overall I’d say that Shadow of the Comet is a decent Lovecraft inspired game with some notable stumbling blocks of the time it was made, and an atrocious ending that kind of ruined the suspense of the rest of the game. If you’re planning on playing it I’d recommend using a guide. Other than that you should have a fairly good time with this one if you’re used to 90s point & click adventures.