The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu caught my eye as I’m a big fan of co-op multiplayer experiences, and I enjoy the Lovecraftian aesthetic found in media pertaining to Cthulhu.
I’m happy to report that The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a tense and atmospheric romp into the jungle that brings with it a fun and digestible roguelite experience made even better with a couple of friends. I will admit, I was unfamiliar with ACE Team, the developers behind The Mound, but after taking a look at their track record, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they’re the developers responsible for the game Rock of Ages, one of my favourite games on the PlayStation 3 that I discovered via PS Plus, all the way back in 2013.
Of course, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a very different game, but knowing it’s made by a developer that worked on a game I enjoyed made me even more excited to jump into the experience. The Mound is a game best enjoyed with at least two other friends, with the game supporting up to 4 total players. Two friends (or bots, if you must) are necessary as The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu can be a challenging game, often overwhelming players with increasingly tough situations the longer players remain in a run.
Before talking about the main gameplay hook and loop of The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, let’s take the time to talk about its narrative setup. As the name may suggest, the titular Mound is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella of the same name, with the game changing things up a bit. The biggest change is its location, which takes players to the jungles of Chile in 1652 from the short story’s Oklahoma setting. Players become the unlucky souls tasked with exploring the jungle in search of the enigmatic Mound, said to be a portal to a legendary city of gold.
In essence, the whole point of The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, including all the runs you can participate in, boils down to getting gold or other valuable resources. Value-wise, resources can be broken down into several categories, with the most valuable resource in the game being Lovecraftian and otherworldly idols. Outside of the idols, every item in the game that can be picked up can then be placed into the trunk, which at the end of the run goes towards your total tally. Other key resources include flora and fauna, and all weapons and gear that you find while within a level.
“The sanity system in The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is fully realized, taking advantage of proximity chat, which can mess with you and your friends, including both visual and auditory hallucinations.”
On the topic of fauna and flora, hunting is a legitimate way of levelling up your character within the world of Omen of Cthulhu. Like any good roguelite, hunting your prey is a risk-versus-reward game; causing too much noise by using a gun or giving chase to a deer might just lead you into a den of zombies. Focusing on ranged weapons like the bow or bolt gun instead can get you a quick and stealthy kill, but cripple your resources for tougher encounters.
Similarly, straying from your primary task and taking too much time on gathering resources or hunting for idols (which can be found hidden all over the map) can be rewarding but make it nearly impossible to complete the level, as time in The Mound can quickly dwindle your expedition’s sanity. The sanity system in The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is fully realized, taking advantage of proximity chat, which can mess with you and your friends, including both visual and auditory hallucinations. Often, you’ll see zombies in place of your trusted comrades, otherworldly apparitions, distorted sounds and other unsettling imagery that genuinely feel unpredictable and true to the source material.
Thankfully, to combat the sometimes overwhelming odds, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu breaks up the grind into different contracts players can take on at the start of a run, which gives clear and concise goals, making it possible to focus on easier missions in order to level up your squad before making real progress. Levelling up grants players access to higher-quality gear, including useful items exclusive to the level system, such as maps and torches, making it easier to more efficiently take on some of the more daunting levels present in the game.
Speaking of levels, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu’s ultimate goal is to get your party to the fabled and titular Mound, but before being able to do that, there is a whole lot of island between you and your crew. Level variety includes beaches, lush jungles, abandoned forts, caverns, and even otherworldly dimensions that take you to some unexpected places. All of this is brought to life in vivid detail via Unreal Engine, from the unsettling mist and fog to the sun-bleached wreckage and debris that flank the entrance to the dense jungles. The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu brings the world of H.P Lovecraft to life in stunning clarity.
Weapon variety and combat mechanics are also solid in the game, with weapons ranging from the aforementioned bow and bolts to guns, rapiers and axes, among a whole host of smaller pocketable knives. Enemies, which mostly consist of zombies and tougher, more alien-like oddities, are usually taken down in a variety of ways, including hacking off limbs and other vitals, making it possible to take down your foe more quickly. Distracting enemies is also a legitimate tactic, as others can then sneak behind a target, going in for an assassination that can save on time and resources.
My biggest issue with The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is one of difficulty, with the early game being relatively hard. This makes at least a three-man team almost compulsory, particularly against some of the tougher enemies found in the game, which also sometimes tend to spawn randomly, making those early few hours harder to digest. Once you find your footing, however, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu has a rock-solid foundation that will spell a good time for those looking for a cooperative experience to play with their friends, one that doesn’t fall into the usual trappings of survival and crafting mechanics that bog down the experience.
