When comparing Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land vs Frozen Synapse, the Slant community recommends Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land for most people. In the question“What are the best Turn-Based Tactics games on Steam?” Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is ranked 18th while Frozen Synapse is ranked 21st. The most important reason people chose Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land is:
Each character in the game has a set amount of action points meaning the player needs to tally how much it would take to move and then use a weapon when deciding on where to place each of their characters. this requires careful planning and makes for fun strategy focused gameplay.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Requires good planning
Each character in the game has a set amount of action points meaning the player needs to tally how much it would take to move and then use a weapon when deciding on where to place each of their characters. this requires careful planning and makes for fun strategy focused gameplay.
Pro Good selection of multiplayer
There are 5 different online multiplayer gametypes (Secure, Exterminate, Charge, Disputed & Hostage). There is also a hotseat mode where local players can swap turns on the same PC.
Pro Randomly generated maps
Each game has a randomly generated map, which keeps the game fresh being that it is a different layout each time payed.
Pro Multiple game modes
There' s a campaign, that takes you through a cyberpunk style story where you assisting a resistance faction in a struggle against a corporate government regime; there is a skirmish mode that randomly generates a map based on a number of criteria you can set; and a multiplayer mode with 5 different gametypes.
Pro Play multiple games at once
Since the game is turn-based you can have multiple games running simultaneously. You can even play a game over e-mail.
Pro Watch replays of games
You can watch your own games or multiplayer games of other people.
Pro Great tactical depth
Frozen Synapse has deep tactical possibilities. You have to take into account your environment (there's even destructible terrain), strengths and weaknesses of each squad member, position and viewing angles of every man on the field while developing a coherent plan of action by setting waypoints, aim directions and stance of your squad members to overcome your enemy. You can even run simulations to see how things might play out before committing to action.
Cons
Con Individual characters much more important
While gameplay-wise this is very similar, there are mission fail-states if core characters die, meaning you don't get quite the same meat-grinder recruitment as in the X-COM/XCOM games.
Con Story is forgettable
The story in Frozen Synapse is generic sci-fi.