Calling (video game)

Calling
Developer(s)	Hudson Soft
Publisher(s)	WW: Hudson Soft EU: Konami
Platform(s)	Wii
Release	JP: November 19, 2009 NA: March 9, 2010 EU: March 19, 2010
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

Calling, or Calling: Kuroki Chakushin (CALLING～黒き着信～, lit. Calling: Dark Message) in Japan, is a survival horror video game developed by Hudson Soft exclusively for the Wii console. The game was released in Japan on November 19, 2009, in North America on March 9, 2010, and in Europe on March 19, 2010.

Gameplay

From a first-person perspective, players explore the Mnemonic Abyss' haunted locations such as a doll-filled house, Shosei High School, an internet cafe, a hospital, a bedroom, and a hair salon. Players can use the Wii Remote's pointer function to interact with objects and move around. The controller also acts as a mobile phone through which ghosts speak to the player character via the speaker. The player can also use the phone to warp to different locations, as well as take pictures and record ghostly voices.

The ghosts also confront the player in featured "fight events." The player must fight the ghosts off by swinging the Wii Remote and following button commands.

Plot

Rin Kagura, Shin Suzutani, Chiyo Kishibe, and Makoto Shirae visit "The Black Page", a website with only a counter that is said to show the number of people who have died after visiting the website. Rin is drawn there because six years ago, she promised Kureneko, a little girl in a hospital, over an online chatroom that she would visit her. After entering a chatroom on the website, Rin, Shin, Chiyo and Makoto are soon drawn into a Purgatory void that lies between life and death, which manifests the memories of the dead and is known as the Mnemonic Abyss. Using their mobile phones, these people must try to escape from it.

Shin is the first to end up in the Abyss. He wakes up in the home of a man who became obsessed with doll-making. After finding Chiyo unconscious on the floor and several of the doll maker's creations (which are alive), he flees back to the point where he began. A ghost of a little girl holding a black cat doll soon appears and attacks him.

Rin is next to enter the Abyss. She finds herself in a school after having a dream that she has not had for a long time. Shin soon runs in, hiding from a ghost. Following a different ghost, she meets Makoto, who explains the connection between the Abyss and the Black Page and the fact that people who lose hope become spirits. Makoto is worried that Shin's condition may cause him to become a spirit. The phones they possess can be used as teleporters. As Rin tries to leave, the door closes and the girl who attacked Shin says "Just you stay here forever with me." She grabs Rin, but let's go, calling her a liar before disappearing.

Rin tells Shin that they can use their phones to teleport to another, but you can't phone your own number. Before being able to tell Shin that it'll kill him, Shin phones himself, having a stroke and vanishing. Before she can retrieve Shin's phone, a ghost appears and takes it. There, she learns about the black page and sees a phone number. Rin teleports, and lands in what appears to be a room full of dolls; the same room where Makato was. There, she meets Chiyo, an elderly woman who has no idea how she got there. Rin hears a phone and tells Chiyo to stay there until she returns. Chiyo sees a ghost of a mailman, and follows it into a void, which leads to a hospital, where she was meant to get hospitalized before she found "The Black Page". Rin comes back, finding a note in Chiyo's place, having a phone number on it.

On dialing the number, Rin teleports into what looks like a 2-story house and wanders around until she finds another number. Eventually, Makato contacts Rin, telling her that she can contact ghosts with her phone. She talks to Kuroneko, telling her that she didn't break their promise and that she got in an accident, and their beds were right next to each other. She explains that she too, will be a part of this world soon, so they could be friends again. Kuroneko walks away to the third floor, with Rin chasing after her. There, she tries to jump out the window again. Rin tries to stop her by grabbing her, but falls right through her, falling to the ground and dying, closely followed by Kuroneko jumping face-first, causing a snapping sound, supposedly indicating her death.

Chiyo wakes from the nightmare in a hospital, surrounded by her family. Then time rewinds itself just when Rin gets to the hospital, but rewinds itself completely for Makato. He wakes up in what looks like an anime-obsessed man's room, in a barber shop, to the school, until he meets his deceased partner, Sadao. Sadao kills Makato, deciding that they can be "partners" again. Meanwhile, Rin meets Kuroneko for the second time. She apologizes over and over. And, this time, while Rin is running after Kuroneko, she isn't saying that it'd be better if she never existed. They get to the part where Kuroneko jumps, showing what the nurse did when she and Kuroneko were still alive. Except Rin grabs onto Kuroneko and hugs her, them both falling down, and down as the credits play.

In a post-credits scene, Rin, still alive, wakes up in her bed and finds Kuroneko's cat doll on her bed. She takes it and hugs it quietly, mourning Kuroneko's death.

Development

The game was originally unofficially unveiled when gameplay footage was leaked onto the internet in October 2008. Hudson reported that the footage was stolen from a PR company's servers. The game was officially revealed in Famitsu in July 2009.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	51.40%
Metacritic	49/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Game Informer	4.5/10
IGN	3.5/10

Calling has received a mostly mixed reception from critics. Based on 28 reviews, the game holds a Metacritic score of 49/100 and 51.40% on GameRankings based on 20 reviews.