The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu Review: Co-op Horror like Never Before

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is one of the most interesting games I've played in a long time. There are a lot of amazing things going on in the game that elevate the genre beyond what other games like Lethal Company or REPO do, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's all worthwhile.

This co-op horror game goes the extra mile by instilling some realistic graphics with some truly disturbing creatures and challenges that will make you feel like you're actually losing your mind. It isn't without struggle, but even with those issues, the game stands out as being a unique experience.

Whether in single player or co-op, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a great horror game that will have you questioning your sanity. I'd never played a game where I felt like I couldn't trust my eyes or ears, and that experience will definitely stick with me even after putting the game down.

What is The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu?

At its core, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a game all about delving into a very cursed jungle to find what every explorer is truly after: gold. That curse is absolutely no joke, as players are hunted by all manner of monsters, from the humanoid beings with extra limbs to the more Lovecraftian horrors that everyone knows and loves.

There are several maps, all of which have secrets to learn and understand, with several pathways that all seemingly lead to the same place. Hidden in various nooks and crannies will be treasures to grab and store in your trusty Ox cart, which operates like a sort of traveling storage for everything you find in the forest.

The main objective of the game is to reach The Mound and walk away with as much treasure as possible as you navigate the ever-increasing dangers of the forest. Each mission can be played on almost any map except for a few, and they determine what kind of items you'll start the game with.

These starting items can range from melee weapons to different kinds of guns and some helpful things like healing or revival items. While you can fight, that's not always the best choice as it'll anger the forest, and that's something you want to avoid if you hope to make it out alive.

Once you've ventured onto the map and found enough treasure to meet your quota, you can tell the driver of the cart that it's time to go home. This will start some chaos as you attempt to navigate your way back to the starting point and return to your boat, where you'll be judged on how well you did.

The Horrors of the Forest

I have never in my life played a game where I couldn't trust what I was looking at. It felt incredibly disorienting and thrilling as your mind works overtime to determine if what you're looking at is a monster from the beyond or just simply an odd-looking tree.

Some people may say that isn't new, and up to a point, they're correct, but in The Mound, the forest is constantly trying to trick you and is not above any form of trickery. See that shiny object on the pedestal? Just kidding, it's actually just a hole for you to fall into and take a lot of damage.

This isn't a rare occurrence either, as the game has many ways to mess with your mind as you delve into the forest. Mimics taking on the forms of your comrades, monsters that seemingly appear out of thin air, and so much more will force you to really consider what you're looking at.

The game does a disturbingly good job of making you feel constantly on edge. You can master that somewhat by accruing the only resource that truly matters: knowledge. In a game like this, knowledge is power, and knowing how to deal with the various beasties will be what helps you return home safe and sound.

With so many things going on, you would imagine the game has some way of giving you a chance of competing with what it throws at you. You would be wrong, as the game effectively leaves you at the same power level that you begin at for the entirety of the game.

This does a few things, but it mostly leaves you feeling a bit like you can't compete as things start getting more and more complex. Usually, a game offers some kind of way to deal with the horrors it presents, or at least gives you some upgrades to make things a little less difficult.

That doesn't seem to be present in a meaningful way here, but there's a bit of nuance to that. Knowledge is what sets you apart, and, unlike other games, map and game knowledge can be what keeps you alive. After looking for a logbook a few dozen times, I had finally simply memorized the path I needed to take, which made it significantly easier.

It was so odd because I'd never really played a game like this that demanded something like that of me. It made me feel proud of myself for a moment before I moved on to the next map and proceeded to be totally crushed by the horrors that awaited me in the shadows.

There is some meta-progression in the form of levels, and some wood carvings, but the level rewards are subpar and don't add much. The wood carvings are supposed to be a greater equalizer, but they were either bugged or I grossly misunderstood how they worked.

You can purchase them for 100 coins, which is a sizable amount, and then equip them to your cart for bonus effects on the mission. My carvings seemingly never appeared on the cart when I equipped them, so these may be incredibly helpful, or they may not.

The bigger problem here is that nothing ever tells you about progression and how it works. The game offers meaningful exploration of levels and plenty of goodies to find, but never takes the time to explain what you might want to do next.

Discovery VS Explanation

There is certainly something to be said about a sense of discovery in a new game, but that sense of discovery is usually helped along by some explanation and direction of what you should do next. Because of the game's design, you don't ever get that explanation.

I figured that the game would provide me with some kind of explanation as to how to get stronger, but that doesn't happen. I progressed deeper into the forest without ever even looking for survivors on the other maps, because the first survivor you find just gives you an alternate playable character, which has no bearing on the gameplay.

They never really give you a reason to think the survivors will be anything beyond that. It became increasingly frustrating as this problem seemed to persist as maps got harder and harder. It became less about the fun of discovering something new and more about not pulling your hair out as you found some new way to die.

There is a great sense of discovery in the game that I really enjoyed in the early hours of the game, but as the difficulty of the game increased, I found myself struggling to keep pace with it. This sentiment seemed to be shared by others I played with, as everyone believed the game had simply become too difficult to progress.

The Difficulty of Horror

Some of the best horror games can be considered really difficult, but that difficulty is often undercut by game mechanics that help players out. The Mound genuinely does not care about you and will absolutely throw you under the bus just for the fun of it.

I've spent a lot of this review talking about how different aspects add to the difficulty of the game in good and bad ways, but let's take a step back and just talk about the difficulty in general. In this game, it just feels like everything is working against you.

From the monsters that will block your path to the lack of useful equipment you get to deal with them, nothing seems created for you to succeed. Part of the problem was the lack of a focused group of adventurers. With no real way to get a group together consistently, I was mostly on my own.

The difficulty does scale based on the number of players, so in some respects, the game was easier on my own. That did end up making other aspects of the game way harder, though, as I lacked anyone to coordinate with. It really proved that the game is meant to be played with a group, and without one, you will be missing out on some of the best moments.

The Humor in Horror

One thing that became very apparent as I played with other people is how hilarious the game can be. Much like other games in recent times, there is a built-in proximity chat that can really change the game in a meaningful way. Some curses can make you sound different to other players, with your distance and surroundings also being factors.

Even with the strangers I played with, there were some truly hilarious moments. Screaming at each other to run for your lives as you are being chased by some unseen beast, or trying to tell your crew that the thing currently piloting your corpse is not in fact you.

Those moments, even in the scariest parts of the game, brought a great sense of levity to the game that helped to make things a bit more entertaining. You weren't walking around constantly tense anymore, and instead were having an amusing journey through the forest with friends.

Beauty in the Face of Eldritch Abominations

Sometimes horror can be beautiful, and this game undoubtedly proves that. Everything in the game looks so good, even from a horror perspective, where looking at it makes you a little uncomfortable. The monsters are monstrous, but they share those human aspects to make them just relatable enough to be even more horrific than normal.

Not only do the creatures themselves look downright terrifying, but the environments are the perfect mix of remarkable and spooky. They really captured the atmosphere of the kind of game they're going for without sacrificing any of the visual fidelity that adds that extra layer of horror.

It was surprising, given that games that push this hard for realism usually end up running into issues where things feel uncanny in a bad way. The Mound doesn't feel uncanny; in fact, many of the silhouettes of the regular monsters look human from a distance.

It really just goes to show that even though you want something scary, you can still envelop that in realism without falling back on something more cartoony. You can certainly tell a lot of work went into making the creations look like they fit in the real world while also making them appear as horrors beyond comprehension.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a spectacular co-op horror game that can fool players using all manner of cunning tricks. It makes for a great game to enjoy with a dedicated group or with strangers, although the difficulty of the game gets in the way occasionally. Even with many good aspects, it still seems to reach a point where progressing feels frustratingly difficult. The game doesn't always give you the best tools for the job, and, with limited meta-progression, players are left with knowledge as their only weapon. Making it to The Mound could take as little as five hours or as many as forty, and that makes the title far more interesting than its predecessors, but also significantly more frustrating to play.