Review: Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land (iPad)

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7 mins read

If there’s any justice in the world, Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land will be the start of a SRPG franchise that will rival Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics as a popular, commercially successful name.

It oozes style, is amongst the best looking iPad game out there, and features a nuanced combat system that remains compelling through the entire game. But first, the plot.

The Wasted Land was developed with the blessing and support of Chaosium. This is a pretty big deal for Lovecraft fans, but for the uninitiated: Chaosism owns the rights to the superb Call of Cthulhu pen and paper game. H.P Lovecraft’s unique brand of supernatural horror, which has become known as the Cthulhu mythos (Cthulhu being one of the supremely powerful monster-things that makes a habit of sending people insane), is notoriously difficult to recapture in video game (or film) form.

There are a few different theories to why this is the case, but essentially the problem the Cthulhu mythos faces is this: Lovecraft wrote his books in such a way that the horror was in what you, as the reader didn’t see. The reaction of the characters to what they saw (usually ending in insanity), coupled with Lovecraft’s unique writing style, built such a sense of dread and menace that his stories were the concept of the “fear of the unknown” put into eloquent practice.

So long story short, this kind of horror doesn’t work so well in film and other visual media because it’s difficult to have a monster movie or game where there isn’t a monster on the screen. The reason Chaosium is so well renowned is because it, more than anyone before or since, understood the style and atmosphere of Lovecraft, and captured it perfectly in game form.

The Wasted Land is not a Chaosism RPG, and does miss the mark from being truly Lovecraftian, but it’s clear the developers did care about the source material, and it’s not surprising that Chaosium did endorse this game. The pace of the game is deliberately slow. Coupled with the menacing soundtrack, the game does work hard to build tension and suspense. For a genre not usually suited to horror themes, this is an impressive effort indeed.

Backing up that theme is the gameplay, which is genuinely strategic, and a nice, reasonably original take on the tactics RPG genre. It works on two main principles – each character has a certain number of action points per turn, and successful attacks with various weapons level up a character’s skill in those weapons.

So for instance, a character with a handgun has enough action points to take two shots. A rifle gunner only gets the one shot. Additionally, there are two stances characters can take. Shooting from the hip, so to speak, reduces accuracy but uses fewer action points. Taking the time to shoot properly will give you a better chance to hit the enemy, but you won’t move as far that turn.

Further complicating things is a cover system which makes positioning your units critical for survival, and a system whereby if a character has some action points left at the end of the turn, and the enemy passes in his direction, he’ll get an automatic free shot. The wonders of ambushing hellspawn and all that.

There’s plenty of meat to the game, and the quest will last you long enough. I liked that individual missions in the game were quite long, and broken up seamlessly into shorter objectives. In terms of narrative this allows the developer to focus in on extended dramatic scenes, and means the plot is less epic, and more focused on the personal exploits, bravery and horrors. Just as it should be.

The only real problem the game is, again, the Lovecraftian roots it borrows inspiration from. That problem is the difficulty level on a conceptual level. Were this game completely true to its Lovecraftian roots, it would be far harder than it is. Impossible even. Lovecraft was always writing about people being little more than flecks of dust in the wind. This game however gives players control over the fate of the characters, and this does mean they’ll be able to take down the otherworldy horrors.

In practice though, it would be commercial suicide to make the game as difficult as it should be. From that perspective, Red Wasp has wisely opted to build a challenging, but fair game. To take the fate of the characters away from the players with the understanding that the evils they face are insurmountable would be a design decision ripe for criticism, so as compromises go, this is a reasonable one.

Aside from the difficulty in bringing Lovecraft to video games, The Wasted Land is a superbly balanced SRPG, with real depth and stunning production values. It’s an atmospheric, tense experience, and now, Red Wasp, we’re ready to see what you can do with a sequel, perhaps even a PC or console game.

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  • This title looks really good – excellent review.  The subject matter is obviously tricky to do justice to, but it sounds like the devs have done just that.

  • This title looks really good – excellent review.  The subject matter is obviously tricky to do justice to, but it sounds like the devs have done just that.

  • Thanks! 

    Playing this game made me want to go back and play the other great Lovecraft game, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. I think that will be my next retro review 🙂

  • Thanks! 

    Playing this game made me want to go back and play the other great Lovecraft game, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. I think that will be my next retro review 🙂

  • GamesandBiz, may I ask if you reviewed developer code or the final release through Apple?
    Sorry, I don't know how this sort of thing works, but I have not been able to enjoy the game I paid for due to crashes and unresponsive controls in version 1.0 and 1.2.

    I adore the game format and subject matter, and am all for championing small indie houses, but kind of regret ignoring some user comments on the App Store in my marketplace. It's just that the folk who write reviews on iTunes are usually not as savvy as those who do so on sites like these.

    Here's hoping that version 1.2 does this software house and this title justice.

  • GamesandBiz, may I ask if you reviewed developer code or the final release through Apple?
    Sorry, I don't know how this sort of thing works, but I have not been able to enjoy the game I paid for due to crashes and unresponsive controls in version 1.0 and 1.2.

    I adore the game format and subject matter, and am all for championing small indie houses, but kind of regret ignoring some user comments on the App Store in my marketplace. It's just that the folk who write reviews on iTunes are usually not as savvy as those who do so on sites like these.

    Here's hoping that version 1.2 does this software house and this title justice.

  • Hi Randolph,

    Good to see a fellow Lovecraft fan drop by 🙂

    I was playing the same game that is available on the App Store now, and while I did have a couple of problems with the game crashing, I didn't mention it in the review for two reasons:

    1) The crashes weren't frequent, and certainly I haven't experienced anything as bad as some other people are claiming. 

    2) I was working on the assumption that the game will be updated to fix the bugs. The developers have confirmed they are working on the issues. 

    As for the unresponsive controls, are you playing the game on iPhone or iPad? I didn't have any trouble with the iPad version, and I didn't test on iPhone. 

    I hope the game is fixed up for you in the next version – it's a big pity that technical problems are holding you back from enjoying a really, really good game. 🙂

  • I'm using an iPhone 4 and should have thought that the iPad functionality would differ.
    My bad.

    I noticed on the Red Wasp site that 1.2 is already being worked on and does touch on control issues and stability. I hope all goes well as I'd love to rate the game higher for them.

    Thank you for the reply.

  • I'm using an iPhone 4 and should have thought that the iPad functionality would differ.
    My bad.

    I noticed on the Red Wasp site that 1.2 is already being worked on and does touch on control issues and stability. I hope all goes well as I'd love to rate the game higher for them.

    Thank you for the reply.

  • We are really pleased to say that version 1.2 of Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is now out on the app store.  This update fixes the bugs that have been found and  and improves the controls for the game. We have replaced the old double-tap system with a touch & hold for attacking, using equipment and buying/swapping items. We’ve also added a pinch zoom. http://redwaspdesign.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/call-of-cthulhu-the-wasted-land-updates-improves-controls/

  • I can confirm, having downloaded the update and tested the game on both iPhone and iPad, that it does indeed fix many of the control issues and stability problems that people might have had. 
    So consider that the one and only reason to hold off getting this game squashed. Good work guys 🙂

  • I can confirm, having downloaded the update and tested the game on both iPhone and iPad, that it does indeed fix many of the control issues and stability problems that people might have had. 
    So consider that the one and only reason to hold off getting this game squashed. Good work guys 🙂

  • Agreed. Just played through in two long sessions – the strategy is well implemented and whenever a bullet impacts it looks feels and sounds like satisfaction.

    Wish it was longer / more levels / being expanded / give us a sequel / something!

  • Glad to hace another fan, welcome to the party!

    I too can't wait for some DLC quests or a sequel, I've already finished the game twice, and I only play a game a second time when I really love it, because my time is limited 🙂

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