Calling brings new heights to the horror genre, with a breath-taking control system that immerses the player into its nightmare scenario. The player begins the game trapped in a strange room, with the Wii Remote doubling as the on-screen protagonist’s mobile phone. Using a torch to scour the dimly-lit area, players will also receive mysterious calls to their handset, which are answered by raising the Wii Remote to their ear. From this simple basis, CALLING then ramps up the fear, as a ghostly voice speaks directly to the user…

The story revolved around the urban legend of the ‘Page of Black’ website. Rumour has it that anyone accessing the site will die from a coma brought on by an unknown cause. The site is a simple black page with a numeric counter in the centre, but is linked to a low-key chat room. Not everyone can enter the chat room, but on doing so, the player’s psyche starts to receive calls from ‘Abyss’,. They then enter a state of limbo in a place known as ‘Border’ which is seemingly located between life and death.

There are several areas in the ‘Border’, and they are inhabited by Spirits which start contacting its various feelings via the user’s mobile phone. Occasionally, these spirits will also attack the player. As such, while avoiding their attacks, the user must attempt to solve the mysteries of ‘Border’ and has to seek an escape route.

Calling is a horror title like no other. The fear generated by the received phone calls and the eerie location serve to create a tense, nightmarish situation. A clever mix of exploration and puzzle-solving is called into play, while the claustrophobic locations hide secrets and danger within their many shadows. From the moment the first, crackling call is received, Calling will scare the player and make them wary of picking up the phone…