Some hardcore PC recreation genres have had a renaissance in recent times. Baldur’s Gate 3 reinvigorated love for the CPRG, whereas Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 tapped right into a communal love for hardcore first-person RPGs that hadn’t been satiated shortly. Not all traditional PC gaming genres have been so fortunate. We have but to see a brand new stealth-tactics recreation like Commandos or a dungeon administration recreation like Dungeon Keeper turn into a breakout hit. That is not for lack of attempting, as video games like Desperados 3 and Evil Genius 2: World Domination have saved the legacy of those genres going, albeit in a manner that has stayed area of interest. Kuuasema’s Cthulhu Keeper goals to resurrect these struggling genres and turn into that shock success.
Cthulhu Keeper is a real-time ways recreation break up into two components: One half sees gamers build up their residence base of operations and defending it from intruders, whereas the opposite sees the participant command cultists and Lovecraftian monsters with particular talents to finish stealth missions. I had the possibility to go hands-on with Cthulhu Keeper solely following its reveal final month, and I discovered it to be an entertaining hybrid of these traditional PC recreation genres.
The model of Cthulhu Keeper I performed did not have a lot narrative content material, though the eldritch theming nonetheless emanated from all the things I performed. There is no scarcity of Lovecraftian video video games on the market, however the distinct perspective of Cthulhu Keeper helps it stand out. As I hear my topics say, “Sure, grasp” after I give them instructions throughout stealth missions and slowly amass energy by constructing my cult’s compound, I really feel like a puppet grasp in the way in which Cthulhu and different horrors usually are in Lovecraftian tales.
That vibe stays sturdy once I’m commanding minions inside my cult compound, digging out areas so I can construct altars, libraries, and different constructions to extend my energy and defend in opposition to potential intruders. Then, when intruders arrived–they ranged from real snoopers to a lovey-dovey couple who ended up on the unsuitable place on the unsuitable time–I might see all the things I constructed work in concord to maintain these invaders at bay.
Administration video games like Two Level Museum are good enjoyable, however I respect how Cthulhu Keeper is extra in tune with the gameplay loop that made Dungeon Keeper such a traditional. This cult compound gameplay is the spine of Cthulhu Keeper, however constructing defenses or incomes upgrades does require sources. To earn these sources, I needed to enterprise out and full stealth missions around the globe. This a part of Cthulhu Keeper is what performs extra like Commandos, or modern examples like Desperados 3 and Sumerian Six.
Stealth missions took two completely different kinds. There are story missions that function the set piece ranges, whereas expeditions had been mini-roguelite runs the place I needed to strategically get my models by a collection of smaller encounters as unscathed as doable. I really like stealth-tactics video games as a result of they reward my sensible planning but additionally require me to suppose on my toes based mostly on how enemies react to my actions.
Cthulhu Keeper doesn’t reinvent this model of gameplay; I nonetheless should delicately select the place to position my models to navigate round enemy imaginative and prescient cones and neatly make the most of every unit’s talents to kill enemies or open up alternatives to maneuver previous a unit with out getting noticed. Participant models are fragile, so I wasn’t profitable in Cthulhu Keeper every time I attempted to run and gun by a state of affairs.
The Lovecraftian twists Cthulhu Keeper applies to this tried-and-true system do present a singular aptitude inside the stealth-tactics house. After I began missions, I solely had one unit to command: Lilith West, a corrupted neurobiologist. Lilith might stealthily kill an enemy simply tremendous, however she would not have a lot in the way in which of offensive talents. As a substitute, her abilities centered on rising the variety of models at my disposal.
After killing an enemy, I might harvest their corpse to get an eyeball or select to reanimate them. The previous would enable me to see an enemy’s imaginative and prescient cone and environment even when they had been out of my sightline, whereas the latter would create an entire new unit I might use to assault enemies or injury the sanity of civilians scattered all through every stage. As soon as I terrified a civilian, I might have Lilith use her Enlighten skill to show them right into a unit below my command.
These models could not kill enemies however had been helpful for scouting areas or briefly beautiful enemies so I might get previous them. Sometimes, I’d encounter a pylon in a stage and destroy it to summon eldritch monsters. These monsters had been the models that might tear by enemy forces, however even then, I needed to rigorously handle their well being to make sure they didn’t die. That was notably powerful within the prolonged story mission, as I might not depend on rapidly working to an encounter’s exit to maneuver on.
Even from this gentle smattering of encounters, I am already having fun with the stealth-tactics a part of Cthulhu Keeper as a lot as I get pleasure from video games like Desperados 3. When a recreation juggles two completely different genres of gameplay, it dangers changing into a jack of all trades however a grasp of none. I didn’t get that feeling whereas taking part in Cthulhu Keeper, as I discovered it to offer equally polished and fascinating takes on stealth-tactics and dungeon-defending gameplay.
It is also a strong entry level to each of those hardcore genres. The menus and currencies required to construct out the cult compound aren’t overly complicated. In the meantime, the bite-sized encounters of expeditions ought to make studying the intricacies of stealth ways much less overwhelming and reliant on save-scumming. Cthulhu Keeper might reanimate PC gaming genres which have struggled to have a breakout hit in recent times, Lovecraftian-style.
Cthulhu Keeper is in improvement for PC. A public playtest for the sport will start on March 17.