CoC saps all the potential horror out of the game by a) making the scenarios the worst of Resident Evil's "Do or die" boss strategies, like Cthulhu said, and b) they give you the fire power and the ability to kill Mythos stuff. Not just here and there, but a whole level filled with Mythos creatures that you gun down. Despite the fact the first half of the game takes place in the most boring environment of the game, and is practically event for event a recreation of A Shadow over Innsmouth....it's MORE interesting than the late game to me.
The injury system is also shit. It should be a great piece of realism enforcing mechanics, but in a world with virtually NOTHING else going on it, it's more like an elaborate penalty for EVER screwing up.
Undying is an OK game. Sort of scary but has this layer of semi-cartoony graphics that can ruin it for you. I agree the game starts well then basically falls apart later on. When you're running across the damn mansion 4 and 5 times to try and figure out where to go next, you're not scared anymore and most of the "tricks" game devs pull to scare you have long since stopped working.
Undying seems to almost make a better novel then a game.
That's because Clive Barker is a better novelist than he is a gameplay creator. Jericho, anyone?