Do you enjoy the classic works of Lovecraft?
Oh, you don’t know who that is…
Hmm.
Ok, ok… you love yourself some tactics/strategy RPGs?
Bingo!
I’ll be honest, I’m not a Lovecraft connoisseur, but I dig the cult-riddled themes. Better yet, The Wasted Land is set in World War 1; which I also really dig and plays right into the arms of turn-based action’s pacing. Red Wasp Design’s latest iOS jam is proof that these guys and gals can produce a quality product, and not just toss around the name Chaosium Inc. without producing one hell of a strategy game. Chaosium, being the brains behind the Call of Cthulhu board & card role-playing games, set the foundation for The Wasted Land; a decision that proves to truly benefit this game.
The audio’s on point, the graphics are just fine, and more importantly; the game is a long challenging stroll through the trenches. The Wasted Lands’ campaign gets interesting quite early and only gets better from there, with kudos to some fun characters and dialogue. The touch controls work–maybe not perfectly–but enough to leave you free of frustration, which is a sigh of relief for a game in its genre.
Ultimately, the game is a must have for turn-based tactics fans looking for a creepy little gem to play before they go to sleep. The amount of squad customization allowed, and the range of variables on the battlefield can keep any strategist content. In fact, at its asking price I can’t gather but one complaint. Red Wasp deserves a little love, they aren’t just slapping together games over on their block, they’re working to deliver a solid product for fans of a niche genre, and do so in triple-A fashion.
