Hands-On Preview: The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu - An Eldritch Nightmare with Friends

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a horror Co-Op game set in a more medieval time period. With every Lovecraftian horror game, some magical and mystical elements play into things, and this game is no different.

I got to sit down with the team behind The Mound, based on the book of the same name, and run through a few different missions while learning some things about what's going on in this terrifying world. It came across as a game similar to things like R.E.P.O. and Lethal Company, but significantly upscaled.

I played the game for about an hour along with a few other previewers and a developer. While there's a lot left unanswered, what's there so far is very promising and should provide a small group with several very interesting hours of play. This game isn't just a jump scare simulator and does a fairly good job of creating a very eerie atmosphere.

What is The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu?

In the most basic terms, it is a co-op horror game that revolves around going on missions to obtain a certain number of items. As you travel around the maps on the island, your only two goals are to find treasure and not be eaten by whatever otherworldly monsters are out there.

You and up to three others will embark on various missions across the island with differing difficulties in the hopes of discovering whatever hidden treasure is in this New World. You'll encounter some humanoid zombie-like monsters that you can kill again with the weapons you bring and find, or you can try to avoid them in the hopes of drawing less attention to yourself.

Every mission will spawn a set amount of equipment for you and other players to divide amongst yourselves. Choosing what to bring and what not to bring is critical, as you can only take so many items with you. The gear you get will improve as the difficulty of the mission improves as well.

Each mission works functionally the same. Spawn on a map, walk around looking for treasure as you venture further inland, and put whatever treasure you want on the ox-drawn cart. The more treasure you have, the better, but there is a hidden timer, and overstaying your welcome is not a good idea.

Missions last around 20 minutes, so you have to plan accordingly about how deep you might go before you want to head back. With built-in proximity chat and a very eerie atmosphere, you'll be flinching at anything moving nearby, hoping it isn't some eldritch horror. When you finish, you'll be judged based on how much loot you got back, and that will determine your success on the mission.

A Deeply Unsettling Atmosphere

One of the very first things I realized about this game is that the atmosphere is incredible for the setting. The sound design, combined with the visuals, really lends itself well to the style of the game.

Hearing screams in the distance or seeing a shape through the fog, which could be a friend or foe, was an unbelievable experience. Aside from the game looking good, even with how realistic it is, it does a phenomenal job with the design of enemies. Zombies aren't just the walking dead; they're distorted versions of human bodies.

While we only ran into a few of the eldritch horrors, I can say that they are creepy in the best way. That otherworldly feeling is captured very well visually when looking at these disturbing creatures. One, described as a bat-like creature, shone a light on individuals, making them the target of any nearby enemies.

I had played a few games similar to this, but nothing has really come close to making the hair on my neck stand up so straight. It was just unsettling in the best way possible. You'd imagine playing with others would take some of that away, but here it seems like the team has taken extra care to make co-op even more enjoyable.

A Fantastic Co-op Experience

I played in a group of four people, so everyone played one of the characters. They don't have any major differences, unless you're looking to roleplay, which you totally can. What was more interesting was how different the experience felt with other people.

I had to play the tutorial mission alone, and while that was rightfully creepy, it somehow felt less creepy than when playing with a group. There's a surprising amount of humor in watching your friend puke up an eldritch worm because they walked into something they shouldn't have.

That, combined with some screaming from people you might not be able to see as they yell for you to run away from some unseen monster, makes the game one of the funniest horror games yet. The design of the game seemed to encourage staying in smaller groups to cover more ground or to separate. There was danger in both being separated and staying together, so the balance of both felt pretty good.

Playing with people you don't know isn't quite as entertaining as playing with a group of friends, but this game brings out that feeling of cooperation that makes games like this enjoyable. You can't just do everything yourself, and if you try, you'll end up getting everyone killed. They really nailed the overhanging danger that encourages players to work together.

A Strange Mix of Gameplay

Since I didn't get a ton of time with the game, I can't say one way or the other what the gameplay will feel like for longer periods of time. That was probably my main concern when I went hands-on with the game. There are a lot of weapons to use, but almost all of them have drawbacks that limit what you can use realistically.

In the rain, you can't light a fuse, so some of the guns just straight up don't work. That's a really awesome world-building thing, but gameplay-wise, it can make you feel a little silly for bringing it. Louder weapons also attract the harder monsters, so it's really a push and pull of what you want to do.

The main reason I bring this up is that I found, very quickly, that you can backstab enemies, and it's basically a one-shot. It's a little tricky to do at first, but once you can do it consistently, there's almost no reason to do anything else. This may change as the levels get more difficult, but it won't change the next most pressing concern. This game has an end.

Unlike a lot of similar horror co-op games, The Mound is a finite experience as far as I've been told. That doesn't mean you can't go back and replay old missions, but it does seem like once you reach the end of your journey, that is the actual end.

That can always change, and the team did bring up potential extra content, but that wouldn't happen until post-launch, so for now, what's there is what's there. That's not such a bad thing, as what's available is still pretty good, and if you have a crew to play with, it'll be an even more enjoyable experience.

All in all, The Mound offers a new sort of take on the horror co-op genre by taking things in a more realistic direction. This direction doesn't seem to diminish the eldritch horrors that show up; in fact, it seems to add to that. Although there's no way to know what will come in the future, The Mound is certainly an ambitious horror game that players should keep an eye on.