Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics Trailers
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics Launch trailer
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics - Announcement Trailer
Critic Reviews for Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics
While Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics doesn't quite capture the intensity of the tabletop game it's based on, it still does an admirable job of doing something a little bit different with the tactics genre. By focusing more on story and the horror aspect of its lore, you get to experience intense close-quarters battles and ranged skirmishes while building on an unknown threat that could appear at any time, and in any form. Pacing problems and a lack of environmental variety can affect how well this all comes together, but if you're looking for a more focused tactical/strategy title on Switch, this Lovecraftian odyssey awaits.
At the end of the day, Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is perfectly functional. If you’ve got a solid chunk of free time and any interest in the subject matter, this game will fit the bill. However, the little issues stack up so high that it’s hard to really recommend playing this over any other game in the genre.
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is akin to playing a tabletop game with an unimaginative DM who was going through the motions and throwing combat rather than story at my team. This may be an unfair criticism – after all the game sells itself on being a tactics game – but I found myself bogged down in combat situations that felt repetitive with little narrative drive to progress. The RPG aspects of the game are held back by the lack of real character allowed for your team members who were more like chess pieces than scripted individuals. There is so much potential for the four unlikely allies to be developed through dialogue and roleplay, but this potential is not realised here. As it stands, Achtung! is a competent tactical combat game with an interesting setting that promises more but never realises it.
In short, Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics has some new ideas, but mostly retreads familiar territory. The game invokes unknowable forces beyond our comprehension. But, it does so with mechanics that are, by and large, known quantities. Who would have suspected that scaling the mountains of madness could be this rote?
A World War 2 setting mixed with Lovecraftian horror influences is cool, but the game is average at best.
Even if I didn’t like it at all on a technical level I wouldn’t bar someone from it. I would caution those who play. I had a horrible experience, the game was unstable, so I warn you. Otherwise, enjoy yourself. It’s not awful to like the local brands.
Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is an accessible turn-based strategy title on the PS4, but it lacks the polish, depth and variety needed to have real staying power.
