Call of Cthulhu: Wasted Land

A strategy game based on Cthulhu mythos.

While horror and mobile gaming seem to be antagonists, an England based company called Redwasp dares to fetch the inspiration from the one of the most powerful and difficult horror writers. Yes, I'm talking about Lovecraft and all concerned to him, from unpronounceable lost gods to a parallel study of human psyche through the deepest Freud-ism. In Lovecraft's tales, reality and sanity are torn to tatters and thrown into the fire of human incomprehension while mankind is scourged and whipped by powers far beyond our control, much less understanding. (Gasp)

It wasn't an easy feat, and is highly appreciated the alliance with Chaosium, creator of Call of Cthulhu board RPG back in the early eighties. Wasted Land brings us to the muddy, dirty and stinking trenches during WWI, where a group of British soldiers (yours) engaged against German forces (AI's) while trying to survive to war's own attacks (poison gas...). However, as if picture wasn't bad enough, strange stuff starts to happen onto the battlefield, and what started as a rifle and bayonet close quarters fight quickly becomes a nightmarish wrestling with preternatural creatures which ask for being defeated through spells and hexes instead of mundane and prosaic arms.

So far, the story line. Wasted Land is a turn based strategy game. You have to weight up every move and every shot, use items (gas masks, first aid kits, obscene dark knowledge...) and balance power, skill and mental health; trying your men not panicking nor die from natural or unnatural reasons. It seems hard because it is. Stats aren't overwhelming, but the few that have to be looked up are to be crucial.

The best, its great replayability based on a smart use of experience points and rewards, the awesome and thrilling atmosphere (rather difficult from a non real time strategy game) and a technical flawless side, being a pleasure to rotate and zoom in the screen. Wasted Land may not be the panacea game of casual gamers (who will discover a new brave world, though) but it can definitively be the Holy Grial of strategists and more mature players.

Even though we should ask for even more characters, even more monsters, even more powers and more tentacles and slimy stuff, nothing can avoid we rate this game with a deserved five out of five for 48 Mb of breath taking awesomeness.