Haunted Lands is currently on sale on Steam but that is not the point of this article. Simply making sure more fans know about this interesting mix of Abadox and Contra is. Oh yeah, there is apparently inspiration from id Software classics too so you know there is going to be blood everywhere.
Blast, Blast, Reload, Blast Some More
I was a huge fan of both Abadox and Contra back on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Sadly, I do not know of any games that combined the aesthetic of Abadox with the action of Contra. Sure, the last level of the first Contra was close and there were hints in some of the bosses in Super C, no full-on game in that style ever released.
Was it Nintendo’s hardcore censorship? I don’t think so because many bloody games saw release with no problem. Plus, there have been companies that came out years later saying they erred on the side of caution rather than pushing the envelope in any way.
The action looks wild and bloody in Haunted Lands. Now available on Steam for a very reasonable price.
Paying Homage to the Classics
According to Time Extension the developer stated a classic id Software title is the inspiration for Haunted Lands.
Haunted Mansion was the basic inspiration for Haunted Lands. You can even head over to itch.io and grab an early EGA inspired version of Haunted Lands for free.
Time Extension goes on to mention the developer having plans to release Haunted Lands on GoG.com and EGS (no idea on what that one is). This is great news for fans that want DRM free versions of games, like they used to be.
Let me know in the comments what was a combination of games that you wanted to see but never did. Mine is Abadox and Contra, Haunted Lands looks to be very close to what I envisioned.