Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is a turn-based strategy game set during World War I, in a world inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos. This does not necessarily mean that Cthulhu himself will make an appearance throughout the game, but other classic aspects of the Lovecraftian theme, such as magic, the loss of sanity, or the ability to reanimate the dead, do carry weight.

The story of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land takes place in the year 1915, in the midst of World War I. The British Secret Service has sent Professor Brightmeer, a professor at Miskatonic University, and Captain Hill, an army officer, to the front lines with the sole objective of finding and neutralizing a secret cult of Germans, who are using strange technology and magic from the myths to reanimate an army of the undead. Along the way, Brightmeer and Hill will be able to recruit some new companions for the cause, but they will also have to face German soldiers, undead and some creatures from the Cthulhu Mythos.

Although the game's plot will gradually develop between dialogues and secret documents, turn-based combat is undoubtedly the key element of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land. Players will carry out their turn first, being able to move all their units around the battlefield, always bearing in mind that the movement itself consumes quite a lot of action points. Then it will be the turn of the enemies, whose actions will depend largely on what type of units they are. Soldiers, for example, tend to stay behind the trenches and shoot. The reanimated, on the other hand, are much more direct and aggressive.

As players win battles and progress through the story, characters will improve their attributes and skills. At the beginning of the adventure, for example, Professor Brightmeer is not very skilled with firearms, but by shooting and surviving battles, he will improve his aim. The same is true for the rest of your team. As in the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game itself, the more you use a particular skill, the more chances you have to improve it. And, considering the high difficulty of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land, it is a very good idea to try to improve the skills of the whole squadron as much as possible.

The Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land campaign has a duration of approximately ten hours. That is, of course, in normal difficulty mode. The hard mode, only suitable for the bravest and most experienced in the genre, may require much more time and dedication, as the fights will be much harder. Throughout these ten hours, Professor Brightmeer and his squad will visit trenches, ruined cities, and secret laboratories. All this while fighting against creatures that will make them lose their sanity little by little.

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is a tough and demanding Lovecraftian SRPG, which has clearly been developed by a small team that enjoys and respects the source material. The result is a hybrid between the first X-COM and a World War Cthulhu game with a bloodthirsty game director. That said, the game with which it shares the most similarities, without a doubt, is the almost unknown Gorky-17, another turn-based strategy game with RPG touches, set in modern times but plagued by nightmarish creatures.