PC Critic Reviews

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is an atmospheric and well-realised take on the Cthulhu mythos, delivering a solid cooperative experience that fans looking for a challenge will want to set sail towards.

Despite its small mishaps, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a game that I enjoyed playing, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s very intense, immersive and it has the perfect amount of horror, without going overboard. The core expedition loop is fun, and the game certainly makes you feel like an explorer from hundreds of years ago, so it’s successfully fulfilling its premise. However, you need to have patience with this title. It’s a slower-paced game, and you need to rely on your team. But if you get past that, you will find a game which cleverly uses Lovecraftian lore, and which adds its own spin to it as well. It doesn’t chase endless jump-scares like a lot of titles in this genre tend to do. Instead, it brings deliberate horror, it establishes an extraordinary world, and it continues to deliver an outstanding gameplay experience. Yes, it’s not without its faults, but as a whole, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is worth playing especially if you enjoy Lovecraft’s work or solid co-op horror games.

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.

While the journey is not a smooth one, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu takes you on a voyage of co-op terror that assaults the senses and unsettles the nerves. Its cosmic horror bag of tricks offers a refreshing experience, even as its power begins to fade.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulu is a gripping Lovecraftian co-op experience that excels in atmosphere, sound design, and its brilliantly unsettling insanity system, creating genuinely unique moments with every expedition. While the combat and progression systems still need refinement to sustain long-term engagement, the game’s eerie charm and psychological horror make it a memorable and highly promising adventure for fans of cosmic terror.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a polarizing, uneven, but ultimately unique and ambitious title that succeeds at executing its incredibly interesting core ideas a little too well. It ultimately delivers on its premise of reimagining Lovecraft effectively, but lacks the necessary concessions to make it a consistently enjoyable time. The worldbuilding is fascinating and the aesthetic direction is strong, but the clunkiness of the gameplay and combat drag the experience down quite a bit no matter how intentional. The Mound’s dedication to the accuracy and the surreal nature of the original novella is the source of the game’s highest peaks and lowest valleys, and the disparity between both is nothing short of cosmic.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is an entertaining co-op horror excursion that can sometimes feel a bit too oppressive.

Despite its flaws, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu delivers a fun experience with friends, bolstered by an excellent atmosphere and a madness system that truly manages to create unique stories in every playthrough.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a refreshing co-op horror experience that stands out thanks to its clever insanity mechanics and oppressive Lovecraftian atmosphere. While its story and a few rough edges hold it back, it's an easy recommendation for groups looking for tense, memorable multiplayer sessions.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is worth trying with friends for its atmosphere and co-op tension, but solo play and performance issues hold it back.