Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land App Reviews

Standard turn-based strategy game. The game ran smooth, had decent graphics, and I did not encounter any glitches or bugs. Well worth the $1.99.

First a disclaimer: I have played through only the original campaign, so my review doesnt take the prequel DLC into account. The developers nailed the horror elements perfectly. In addition, the mechanics of the turn-based strategy reminded me of the old X-Com games. Also the RPG elements were well implemented and made me think hard about how best to improve my teams skills. The characters dialogues were a bit too heavy on exposition (show, dont tell!), but everything else about the game was great.

Im not an expert at turn based strategy games, but I have played quite a few of them including mecho wars, fire emblem, advance wars and transformers awakening, and I was able to finish thos games. I dont know if Im playing this game wrong or if the game itself is just really hard, but either way I cant enjoy this game because I end up finishing the first three levels with almost my whole team knocked out, and I cannot get past later leves. I really love the cthulhu mythos, and would love to experience this games story and characters, but it is simply too hard for me. I would really like to see an easy mode that would significantly decrease the difficulty.

What could be worse than playing through a game that you enjoy to the end only for it to lock up on the final scene. Simply terrible. Fix this and I would gladly rate it much higher. Im on a 4th generation iPad so it shouldnt be a problem. Otherwise the gameplay is progressive and solid with the right amount of difficulty.

Cthulhu loves it, and so do I!

Best game for I phone yet. I beat it and I would love to have more missions with captain hill and his gang.

Only wish would be more than one storyline. Needed to be longer. Excellent turn based rpg though. No qualms.

I love Cthulhu Mythos and this is a great game. Each level took several run-throughs before being able to beat it, and there is decent replayablility if you alter strategy and/or weapons in your group. Far less luck than in E.S. and its a riot when you miss a target despite a 99 chance to hit but the the next shot is a critical off a 10 chance!! Worth the $$ but skip the rip-off "FREE" version which does not give you a decent preview before paying but then your payment is a one-time opportunity.

It has it all. Turn based tactics, eldritch horror, and WWI setting that you dont see too often. Nice graphics, smooth controls, and quite challenging. Possibly my favorite ios game ever.

One of the best on ipad, but doesnt go far enough. We need a lot more games from chaosium to delve further into the mythos. Shub niggurath, nyarlathotep

This is a truly engaging strategy, turn-based, tactics grid game that I have fully enjoyed. It takes some getting used to--there is quite a learning curve even if youre familiar with similar games (Final Fantasy Tactics, etc). If you cannot figure out how to properly exploit the system to work in your favor, youre going to spend many turns on the same battleground, being stabbed by cultists and shot by machine guns. That, and not enough explanation behind the sanity system (as simple as it turns out) or how to work the investigator upgrade or quartermaster must be the only hangups about this game. It has a higher difficulty rating for an iPad game, but can easily be done right. I definitely enjoyed the original sounds for this game. It adds so much spook factor to an already unsettling plot. I highly recommend this hidden gem to anyone who reads Lovecraft or wants a fun, slightly disturbing, engaging strategic board-game-on-the-go.

This game is unusable on an iPhone. On an iPad its clumsy and repetitious, with very irritating controls (particularly when it comes to upgrading your characters, which is the whole point) and a story line that goes essentially nowhere. If you played the Sandy Peterson game from the early 1980s it (or anything having to do with that game) is irresistible, though, and I did play all the way through. Stats based on % rule.

Needs more levels please! By far one game I have no buyers remorse over. The games dynamics are great. A little bit of a pain to play on a iPhone, but do able. I recommend it for tablets or anything bigger than a i5.Storys pretty consistent, a couple cheesy parts but easily over looked. Just to dam short, even with the extra content. But hay keep up the solid work. Thanks for the much needed Lovecraft game.

If you are a fan of XCOM or similar turn based strategy games, this is a must buy. The battles can be tough but are rewarding. Dont get discouraged if you keep missing your shots, especially in the beginning. Until you level up your weapon skills, your hit percentage is pretty low. On the bad side, the touch screen can be finicky. It really needs an undo button. The worst thing about the game is that its very confusing as far as knowing what everything means. I still dont know what improving the "Cthulhu Mythos" skill does. I also dont like the Mania system. Its a constant bother that doesnt really add to the gameplay, and is a real deterrent to using spells. Overall though, its a great (if not too short) experience. It can be tough, but it allows you to replay from the beginning of the mission, objective, and even the last turn. It just takes patience and strategy, and youll do fine.

I found this game to be very engaging and fun on the iPad, though I the occasional problems I had moving and targeting using the touch interface makes it hard to see how if would be as fun on the iPhone. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the storyline, the RPG and leveling elements, and especially the creepy atmosphere and WWI setting. The investigators and soldier units were well-balanced in capabilities, and advanced just barely enough between missions so that with good strategy in mind, each new, more difficult mission was still doable. Result was a lot of heart-stopping moments, where I was never sure if I could complete the mission--yet somehow I just managed. I highly suggest reading the field manuals and equipment and unit descriptions before starting the game, and to make it a priority to boost your units sanity and psychoanalysis abilities with each leveling opportunity. That helped a lot for the final few missions. Its a difficult, at times frustrating game, but extremely satisfying to finish, so I doubt it is for everyone. But if you like the genre and this sort of gameplay, its the best game of its kind on the App Store. With fewer crashes an a bit more polishing it deserves all 5 stars, but Im leaving it at 4 for now. Kudos to the developers for bringing this gem to mobile devices! Dan

Great game I really really enjoyed this title...reminded me of fallout tactics I hope they make more like this one not too long but just right.

There is a lot I want to love about this game, story, graphics, etc but the interface to select an enemy or objective is so frustratingly difficult that easily every 3 out of 5 times something is selected it doesnt work and youre left deselecting your object and having to try again. And when this spans across having to scroll across the battlefield it becomes quickly unbearable. Id love to see some sort of select/hold/drag to connect a choice. Fix this and its easily one of the gems of the ipad.

I had a great time playing through this game. I dig Lovecrafts stories and felt that did a first-rate job capturing the erie mood. Game play was fun. Took a couple minutes to get the hang of the controls, but after that no problems. Some of the levels were quite tricky and alas, my team died several times. BUT- that added to the fun because to beat the level I had to try different tactics and combinations of crew. Re-trying levels until I muddled my team through them ended up being one of the best parts of the game :) Also, on several levels it seems completely hopeless- just too many horrors coming at you... hopeless... but somehow you manage to get through it when it seemed impossible. It was a rush. Graphics and sound are great. After a minor learning curve with controls, they were great. I never had a crash.

Excellent game except by the 3rd mission my team is massively outnumbered. No way to beat the amount of baddies that come out of the sides! Im playing on the lowest level too but there are only two levels of play. My gosh, make an easy level or just lessen the opposition as its way too heavy on opposition.

The game mechanics are fun and detailed, but very little effort seems to have been put into the interface. The turn based tactical combat and individual character development are well done, and Lovecraft fans will enjoy the story and creepy adversaries. Its a nice balance between micromanaging and action. On the other hand, the rest of the interface may put some off this game. Proper 3D rotation, scaling and scrolling are all missing from a game that would greatly benefit from them. As it is now, other than the (restricted to four fixed angles) 3D view, the interface looks and acts like something from an early 90s PC game: crude and far from intuitive. Im enjoying this game, and its worth a few bucks for the hours of play it can deliver, but some may be put off the go-cart dashboard and suspension stuck on a BMW frame and engine.