The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu

One of the better Lethal Company-style games I’ve played. My laptop is not very powerful, but after lowering a few settings and using the high-performance mode, the game ran well enough. What makes this game stand out is that it has an actual story and ending. I first played in public lobbies and met some cool people, although players without microphones can make the hallucination mechanic frustrating. Sometimes you need someone else to confirm whether what you saw or heard was real. The insanity system is probably the best part of the game. It regularly makes you question what is happening, and you quickly learn not to trust everything you see or hear. Story progression can be confusing. The forest maps are difficult to navigate, and playing with random people is not ideal because you may keep repeating the same contracts without making progress. Things became easier when I started hosting and realised that the white lines on the map showed where I needed to go for the story. The guidebook helps, but it does not explain enough. I learned most things, such as parasite cures, monster behaviour and tool usage, from experienced players. I finished the game before the blocking update. At that time, fighting monsters usually did not feel worth it, so running away was often the better option. I actually liked having to decide whether a fight was necessary. Reaching the Mound was confusing but enjoyable. Entering the Underworld was even less clear because I did not realise that I needed to choose a specific contract and collect the Tulu Cylinders. The Underworld itself was a good experience, although the game crashed when I reached the Great Tulu. After restarting and repeating the mission, it worked normally. The medallion used to find the orbs also needs improvement. It helped with two of them but did not seem to point towards the last one, which made the search take much longer than it needed to. Finishing the story was satisfying, but there is not much reason to continue afterwards. I would like an option to reset the story, replay it on a harder difficulty or unlock some kind of endgame mode. The game also feels harder after the blocking update. Monsters can spawn near the boat while you are waiting for teammates, so you may have to survive there while the rest of the team is still trying to escape the forest. Overall, I enjoyed the game and think it was worth the money. It just needs more content, better explanations and more replay value after completing the story. It also got me interested enough to start reading H. P. Lovecraft’s *The Mound*, which helped me understand some of the game’s inspiration.